vmware_vm_shell – Run commands in a VMware guest operating system

vmware_vm_shell – Run commands in a VMware guest operating system

New in version 2.1.

• Synopsis
• Requirements
• Parameters
• Notes
• Examples
• Return Values
• Status

Synopsis

• Module allows user to run common system administration commands in the guest operating system.

Requirements

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

• python >= 2.6
• PyVmomi

Parameters

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
cluster -		The cluster hosting the virtual machine. If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
datacenter -		The datacenter hosting the virtual machine. If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
folder - added in 2.4		Destination folder, absolute or relative path to find an existing guest or create the new guest. The folder should include the datacenter. ESX's datacenter is ha-datacenter. 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
hostname string		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 support added in version 2.6.
password string		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 support added in version 2.6. aliases: pass, pwd
port integer 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 support added in version 2.6.
timeout - added in 2.7	Default: 3600	Timeout in seconds. If set to positive integers, then wait_for_process will honor this parameter and will exit after this timeout.
username string		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 support added in version 2.6. aliases: admin, user
validate_certs boolean	no yes ←	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 support added in version 2.6. If set to yes, please make sure Python >= 2.7.9 is installed on the given machine.
vm_id - / required		Name of the virtual machine to work with.
vm_id_type -	uuid dns_name inventory_path vm_name ←	The VMware identification method by which the virtual machine will be identified.
vm_password - / required		The password used to login-in to the virtual machine.
vm_shell - / required		The absolute path to the program to start. On Linux, shell is executed via bash.
vm_shell_args -	Default: " "	The argument to the program. The characters which must be escaped to the shell also be escaped on the command line provided.
vm_shell_cwd -		The current working directory of the application from which it will be run.
vm_shell_env -		Comma separated list of environment variable, specified in the guest OS notation.
vm_username - / required		The user to login-in to the virtual machine.
wait_for_process boolean added in 2.7	no ← yes	If set to True, module will wait for process to complete in the given virtual machine.

Notes

Note

• Tested on vSphere 5.5, 6.0 and 6.5.
• Only the first match against vm_id is used, even if there are multiple matches.

Examples

- name: Run command inside a virtual machine
  vmware_vm_shell:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
    folder: /"{{datacenter}}"/vm
    vm_id: "{{ vm_name }}"
    vm_username: root
    vm_password: superSecret
    vm_shell: /bin/echo
    vm_shell_args: " $var >> myFile "
    vm_shell_env:
      - "PATH=/bin"
      - "VAR=test"
    vm_shell_cwd: "/tmp"
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: shell_command_output

- name: Run command inside a virtual machine with wait and timeout
  vmware_vm_shell:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
    folder: /"{{datacenter}}"/vm
    vm_id: NameOfVM
    vm_username: root
    vm_password: superSecret
    vm_shell: /bin/sleep
    vm_shell_args: 100
    wait_for_process: True
    timeout: 2000
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: shell_command_with_wait_timeout

- name: Change user password in the guest machine
  vmware_vm_shell:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
    folder: /"{{datacenter}}"/vm
    vm_id: "{{ vm_name }}"
    vm_username: sample
    vm_password: old_password
    vm_shell: "/bin/echo"
    vm_shell_args: "-e 'old_password\nnew_password\nnew_password' | passwd sample > /tmp/$$.txt 2>&1"
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Change hostname of guest machine
  vmware_vm_shell:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
    folder: /"{{datacenter}}"/vm
    vm_id: "{{ vm_name }}"
    vm_username: testUser
    vm_password: SuperSecretPassword
    vm_shell: "/usr/bin/hostnamectl"
    vm_shell_args: "set-hostname new_hostname > /tmp/$$.txt 2>&1"
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key	Returned	Description
results dictionary	on success	metadata about the new process after completion with wait_for_process Sample: {'cmd_line': '"/bin/sleep" 1', 'end_time': '2018-04-26T05:03:21+00:00', 'exit_code': 0, 'name': 'sleep', 'owner': 'dev1', 'start_time': '2018-04-26T05:03:19+00:00', 'uuid': '564db1e2-a3ff-3b0e-8b77-49c25570bb66'}

Status

• This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]
• This module is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

Authors

• Ritesh Khadgaray (@ritzk)
• Abhijeet Kasurde (@Akasurde)

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/2.7/modules/vmware_vm_shell_module.html