vmware_guest - Manages virtual machines in vCenter

New in version 2.2.

Synopsis

  • Create new virtual machines from templates or other virtual machines.
  • Manage power state of virtual machine such as power on, power off, suspend, shutdown, reboot, restart etc.,.
  • Modify, rename or remove a virtual machine.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

  • python >= 2.6
  • PyVmomi

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
annotation
(added in 2.3)
A note or annotation to include in the virtual machine.
cdrom
(added in 2.5)
A CD-ROM configuration for the VM.
Valid attributes are:
- type (string): The type of CD-ROM, valid options are none, client or iso. With none the CD-ROM will be disconnected but present.
- iso_path (string): The datastore path to the ISO file to use, in the form of [datastore1] path/to/file.iso. Required if type is set iso.
cluster
(added in 2.3)
The cluster name where the virtual machine will run.
This parameter is case sensitive.
customization
(added in 2.3)
Parameters for OS customization when cloning from template.
All parameters and VMware object names are case sensetive.
Common parameters (Linux/Windows):
- dns_servers (list): List of DNS servers to configure.
- dns_suffix (list): List of domain suffixes, aka DNS search path (default: domain parameter).
- domain (string): DNS domain name to use.
- hostname (string): Computer hostname (default: shorted name parameter).
Parameters related to Windows customization:
- autologon (bool): Auto logon after VM customization (default: False).
- autologoncount (int): Number of autologon after reboot (default: 1).
- domainadmin (string): User used to join in AD domain (mandatory with joindomain).
- domainadminpassword (string): Password used to join in AD domain (mandatory with joindomain).
- fullname (string): Server owner name (default: Administrator).
- joindomain (string): AD domain to join (Not compatible with joinworkgroup).
- joinworkgroup (string): Workgroup to join (Not compatible with joindomain, default: WORKGROUP).
- orgname (string): Organisation name (default: ACME).
- password (string): Local administrator password.
- productid (string): Product ID.
- runonce (list): List of commands to run at first user logon.
customvalues
(added in 2.3)
Define a list of custom values to set on virtual machine.
A custom value object takes two fields key and value.
Incorrect key and values will be ignored.
datacenter Default:
ha-datacenter
Destination datacenter for the deploy operation.
This parameter is case sensitive.
disk
A list of disks to add.
This parameter is case sensitive.
Resizing disks is not supported.
Removing existing disks of virtual machine is not supported.
Valid attributes are:
- size_[tb,gb,mb,kb] (integer): Disk storage size in specified unit.
- type (string): Valid values are:
- thin thin disk
- eagerzeroedthick eagerzeroedthick disk, added in version 2.5
Default: None thick disk, no eagerzero.
- datastore (string): Datastore to use for the disk. If autoselect_datastore is enabled, filter datastore selection.
- autoselect_datastore (bool): select the less used datastore. Specify only if datastore is not specified.
esxi_hostname
The ESXi hostname where the virtual machine will run.
This parameter is case sensitive.
folder
Destination folder, absolute path to find an existing guest or create the new guest.
The folder should include the datacenter. ESX's datacenter is ha-datacenter.
This parameter is case sensitive.
Examples:
folder: /ha-datacenter/vm
folder: ha-datacenter/vm
folder: /datacenter1/vm
folder: datacenter1/vm
folder: /datacenter1/vm/folder1
folder: datacenter1/vm/folder1
folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm
folder: folder1/datacenter1/vm
folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm/folder2
force
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Ignore warnings and complete the actions.
This parameter is useful while removing virtual machine which is powered on state.
guest_id
(added in 2.3)
Set the guest ID.
This parameter is case sensitive.
Examples:
VM with RHEL7 64 bit, will be 'rhel7_64Guest'
VM with CensOS 64 bit, will be 'centos64Guest'
VM with Ubuntu 64 bit, will be 'ubuntu64Guest'
This field is required when creating a VM.
hardware
Manage virtual machine's hardware attributes.
All parameters case sensitive.
Valid attributes are:
- hotadd_cpu (boolean): Allow virtual CPUs to be added while the VM is running.
- hotremove_cpu (boolean): Allow virtual CPUs to be removed while the VM is running. version_added: 2.5
- hotadd_memory (boolean): Allow memory to be added while the VM is running.
- memory_mb (integer): Amount of memory in MB.
- nested_virt (bool): Enable nested virtualization. version_added: 2.5
- num_cpus (integer): Number of CPUs.
- num_cpu_cores_per_socket (integer): Number of Cores Per Socket. Value should be multiple of num_cpus.
- scsi (string): Valid values are buslogic, lsilogic, lsilogicsas and paravirtual (default).
- memory_reservation (integer): Amount of memory in MB to set resource limits for memory. version_added: 2.5
- memory_reservation_lock (boolean): If set true, memory resource reservation for VM will always be equal to the VM's memory size. version_added: 2.5
- max_connections (integer): Maximum number of active remote display connections for the virtual machines. version_added: 2.5.
- mem_limit (integer): The memory utilization of a virtual machine will not exceed this limit. Unit is MB. version_added: 2.5
- mem_reservation (integer): The amount of memory resource that is guaranteed available to the virtual machine. Unit is MB. version_added: 2.5
- cpu_limit (integer): The CPU utilization of a virtual machine will not exceed this limit. Unit is MHz. version_added: 2.5
- cpu_reservation (integer): The amount of CPU resource that is guaranteed available to the virtual machine. Unit is MHz. version_added: 2.5
hostname
The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server.
If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead.
Environment variable supported added in version 2.6.
is_template
(added in 2.3)
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Flag the instance as a template.
This will mark VM instance as template.
linked_clone
(added in 2.4)
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Whether to create a Linked Clone from the snapshot specified.
name
required
Name of the VM to work with.
VM names in vCenter are not necessarily unique, which may be problematic, see name_match.
This parameter is case sensitive.
name_match
    Choices:
  • first ←
  • last
If multiple VMs matching the name, use the first or last found.
networks
(added in 2.3)
A list of networks (in the order of the NICs).
All parameters and VMware object names are case sensetive.
One of the below parameters is required per entry:
- name (string): Name of the portgroup for this interface.
- vlan (integer): VLAN number for this interface.
Optional parameters per entry (used for virtual hardware):
- device_type (string): Virtual network device (one of e1000, e1000e, pcnet32, vmxnet2, vmxnet3 (default), sriov).
- mac (string): Customize mac address.
Optional parameters per entry (used for OS customization):
- type (string): Type of IP assignment (either dhcp or static). dhcp is default.
- ip (string): Static IP address (implies type: static).
- netmask (string): Static netmask required for ip.
- gateway (string): Static gateway.
- dns_servers (string): DNS servers for this network interface (Windows).
- domain (string): Domain name for this network interface (Windows).
- wake_on_lan (bool): Indicates if wake-on-LAN is enabled on this virtual network adapter. version_added: 2.5
- start_connected (bool): Indicates that virtual network adapter starts with associated virtual machine powers on. version_added: 2.5
- allow_guest_control (bool): Enables guest control over whether the connectable device is connected. version_added: 2.5
password
The password of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server.
If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_PASSWORD will be used instead.
Environment variable supported added in version 2.6.

aliases: pass, pwd
port
(added in 2.5)
 Default:
443
The port number of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server.
If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_PORT will be used instead.
Environment variable supported added in version 2.6.
resource_pool
(added in 2.3)
Affect machine to the given resource pool.
This parameter is case sensitive.
Resource pool should be child of the selected host parent.
snapshot_src
(added in 2.4)
Name of the existing snapshot to use to create a clone of a VM.
This parameter is case sensitive.
state
    Choices:
  • present ←
  • absent
  • poweredon
  • poweredoff
  • restarted
  • suspended
  • shutdownguest
  • rebootguest
Specify state of the virtual machine be in.
If state is set to present and VM exists, ensure the VM configuration conforms to task arguments.
template
Template or existing VM used to create VM.
If this value is not set, VM is created without using a template.
If the VM exists already this setting will be ignored.
This parameter is case sensitive.

aliases: template_src
username
The username of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server.
If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_USER will be used instead.
Environment variable supported added in version 2.6.

aliases: user, admin
uuid
UUID of the instance to manage if known, this is VMware's unique identifier.
This is required if name is not supplied.
Please note that a supplied UUID will be ignored on VM creation, as VMware creates the UUID internally.
validate_certs
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Default:
True
Allows connection when SSL certificates are not valid. Set to false when certificates are not trusted.
If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS will be used instead.
Environment variable supported added in version 2.6.
wait_for_ip_address
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Wait until vCenter detects an IP address for the VM.
This requires vmware-tools (vmtoolsd) to properly work after creation.
vmware-tools needs to be installed on given virtual machine in order to work with this parameter.

Notes

Note

  • Tested on vSphere 5.5, 6.0 and 6.5

Examples

- name: Create a VM from a template
  vmware_guest:
    hostname: 192.0.2.44
    username: [email protected]
    password: vmware
    validate_certs: no
    folder: /testvms
    name: testvm_2
    state: poweredon
    template: template_el7
    disk:
    - size_gb: 10
      type: thin
      datastore: g73_datastore
    hardware:
      memory_mb: 512
      num_cpus: 6
      num_cpu_cores_per_socket: 3
      scsi: paravirtual
      memory_reservation: 512
      memory_reservation_lock: True
      mem_limit: 8096
      mem_reservation: 4096
      cpu_limit: 8096
      cpu_reservation: 4096
      max_connections: 5
      hotadd_cpu: True
      hotremove_cpu: True
      hotadd_memory: False
    cdrom:
      type: iso
      iso_path: "[datastore1] livecd.iso"
    networks:
    - name: VM Network
      mac: aa:bb:dd:aa:00:14
    wait_for_ip_address: yes
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: deploy

- name: Clone a VM from Template and customize
  vmware_guest:
    hostname: 192.168.1.209
    username: [email protected]
    password: vmware
    validate_certs: no
    datacenter: datacenter1
    cluster: cluster
    name: testvm-2
    template: template_windows
    networks:
    - name: VM Network
      ip: 192.168.1.100
      netmask: 255.255.255.0
      gateway: 192.168.1.1
      mac: aa:bb:dd:aa:00:14
      domain: my_domain
      dns_servers:
      - 192.168.1.1
      - 192.168.1.2
    - vlan: 1234
      type: dhcp
    customization:
      autologon: yes
      dns_servers:
      - 192.168.1.1
      - 192.168.1.2
      domain: my_domain
      password: new_vm_password
      runonce:
      - powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File C:\Windows\Temp\ConfigureRemotingForAnsible.ps1 -ForceNewSSLCert -EnableCredSSP
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Create a VM template
  vmware_guest:
    hostname: 192.0.2.88
    username: [email protected]
    password: vmware
    validate_certs: no
    datacenter: datacenter1
    cluster: vmware_cluster_esx
    resource_pool: highperformance_pool
    folder: /testvms
    name: testvm_6
    is_template: yes
    guest_id: debian6_64Guest
    disk:
    - size_gb: 10
      type: thin
      datastore: g73_datastore
    hardware:
      memory_mb: 512
      num_cpus: 1
      scsi: lsilogic
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: deploy

- name: Rename a VM (requires the VM's uuid)
  vmware_guest:
    hostname: 192.168.1.209
    username: [email protected]
    password: vmware
    uuid: 421e4592-c069-924d-ce20-7e7533fab926
    name: new_name
    state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Remove a VM by uuid
  vmware_guest:
    hostname: 192.168.1.209
    username: [email protected]
    password: vmware
    uuid: 421e4592-c069-924d-ce20-7e7533fab926
    state: absent
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key Returned Description
instance
dict
 always
metadata about the new virtual machine

Sample:
None


Status

This module is flagged as preview which means that it is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface.

Author

Hint

If you notice any issues in this documentation you can edit this document to improve it.

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2019 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.5/modules/vmware_guest_module.html