vmware_tools – Execute tasks inside a VM via VMware Tools

New in version 2.8.

Synopsis
Requirements
Parameters
Examples
Status

Synopsis

Use VMware tools to run tasks in, or put/fetch files to guest operating systems running in VMware infrastructure.
In case of Windows VMs, set ansible_shell_type to powershell.
Does not work with ‘become’.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the local master node that executes this connection.

pyvmomi (Python library)
requests (Python library)

Parameters

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Configuration	Comments
exec_command_sleep_interval float	Default: 0.5	var: ansible_vmware_tools_exec_command_sleep_interval	Time in seconds to sleep between execution of command.
executable -	Default: "/bin/sh"	ini entries: [defaults]executable = /bin/sh env:ANSIBLE_EXECUTABLE var: ansible_executable var: ansible_vmware_tools_executable	shell to use for execution inside container
file_chunk_size integer	Default: 128	var: ansible_vmware_tools_file_chunk_size	File chunk size. (Applicable when writing a file to disk, example: using the `fetch` module.)
validate_certs boolean	no yes ←	env:VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS var: ansible_vmware_validate_certs	Verify SSL for the connection. Note: This will validate certs for both `vmware_host` and the ESXi host running the VM.
vm_password - / required		var: ansible_password var: ansible_vmware_tools_password	Password for the user in guest operating system.
vm_path - / required		var: ansible_vmware_guest_path	VM path absolute to the connection. vCenter Example: `Datacenter/vm/Discovered virtual machine/testVM`. ESXi Host Example: `ha-datacenter/vm/testVM`. Must include VM name, appended to 'folder' as would be passed to vmware_guest. Needs to include vm between the Datacenter and the rest of the VM path. Datacenter default value for ESXi server is `ha-datacenter`. Folder vm is not visible in the vSphere Web Client but necessary for VMware API to work.
vm_user - / required		var: ansible_user var: ansible_vmware_tools_user	VM username.
vmware_host - / required		env:VI_SERVER env:VMWARE_HOST var: ansible_host var: ansible_vmware_host	FQDN or IP Address for the connection (vCenter or ESXi Host).
vmware_password - / required		env:VI_PASSWORD env:VMWARE_PASSWORD var: ansible_vmware_password	Password for the connection.
vmware_port -	Default: 443	env:VI_PORTNUMBER env:VMWARE_PORT var: ansible_port var: ansible_vmware_port	Port for the connection.
vmware_user - / required		env:VI_USERNAME env:VMWARE_USER var: ansible_vmware_user	Username for the connection. Requires the following permissions on the VM: - VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Execute - VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Modify - VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Query

Examples

# example vars.yml
---
ansible_connection: vmware_tools

ansible_vmware_host: vcenter.example.com
ansible_vmware_user: [email protected]
ansible_vmware_password: Secr3tP4ssw0rd!12
ansible_vmware_validate_certs: no  # default is yes

# vCenter Connection VM Path Example
ansible_vmware_guest_path: DATACENTER/vm/FOLDER/{{ inventory_hostname }}
# ESXi Connection VM Path Example
ansible_vmware_guest_path: ha-datacenter/vm/{{ inventory_hostname }}

ansible_vmware_tools_user: root
ansible_vmware_tools_password: MyR00tPassw0rD

# if the target VM guest is Windows set the 'ansible_shell_type' to 'powershell'
ansible_shell_type: powershell


# example playbook_linux.yml
---
- name: Test VMware Tools Connection Plugin for Linux
  hosts: linux
  tasks:
    - command: whoami

    - ping:

    - copy:
        src: foo
        dest: /home/user/foo

    - fetch:
        src: /home/user/foo
        dest: linux-foo
        flat: yes

    - file:
        path: /home/user/foo
        state: absent


# example playbook_windows.yml
---
- name: Test VMware Tools Connection Plugin for Windows
  hosts: windows
  tasks:
    - win_command: whoami

    - win_ping:

    - win_copy:
        src: foo
        dest: C:\Users\user\foo

    - fetch:
        src: C:\Users\user\foo
        dest: windows-foo
        flat: yes

    - win_file:
        path: C:\Users\user\foo
        state: absent

Status

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

Authors

Deric Crago <[email protected]>

Hint

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

Hint

Configuration entries for each entry type have a low to high priority order. For example, a variable that is lower in the list will override a variable that is higher up.

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2019 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.8/plugins/connection/vmware_tools.html