vmware_cfg_backup – Backup / Restore / Reset ESXi host configuration

New in version 2.5.

Synopsis
Requirements
Parameters
Notes
Examples
Return Values
Status

Synopsis

This module can be used to perform various operations related to backup, restore and reset of ESXi host configuration.

Requirements

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

python >= 2.6
PyVmomi installed

Parameters

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
dest path		The destination where the ESXi configuration bundle will be saved. The dest can be a folder or a file. If dest is a folder, the backup file will be saved in the folder with the default filename generated from the ESXi server. If dest is a file, the backup file will be saved with that filename. The file extension will always be .tgz.
esxi_hostname string		Name of ESXi server. This is required only if authentication against a vCenter is done.
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 Ansible 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 Ansible 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 Ansible 2.6.
proxy_host string added in 2.9		Address of a proxy that will receive all HTTPS requests and relay them. The format is a hostname or a IP. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PROXY_HOST` will be used instead. This feature depends on a version of pyvmomi greater than v6.7.1.2018.12
proxy_port integer added in 2.9		Port of the HTTP proxy that will receive all HTTPS requests and relay them. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PROXY_PORT` will be used instead.
src path		The file containing the ESXi configuration that will be restored.
state string	saved absent loaded	If `saved`, the .tgz backup bundle will be saved in dest. If `absent`, the host configuration will be reset to default values. If `loaded`, the backup file in src will be loaded to the ESXi host rewriting the hosts settings.
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 Ansible 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 Ansible 2.6. If set to `yes`, please make sure Python >= 2.7.9 is installed on the given machine.

Notes

Note

Tested on ESXi 6.0
Works only for ESXi hosts
For configuration load or reset, the host will be switched automatically to maintenance mode.

Examples

- name: Save the ESXi configuration locally by authenticating directly against the ESXi host
  vmware_cfg_backup:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: saved
    dest: /tmp/
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Save the ESXi configuration locally by authenticating against the vCenter and selecting the ESXi host
  vmware_cfg_backup:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: saved
    dest: /tmp/
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key	Returned	Description
dest_file string	changed	The full path of where the file holding the ESXi configurations was stored Sample: /tmp/configBundle-esxi.host.domain.tgz

Status

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

Authors

Andreas Nafpliotis (@nafpliot-ibm)

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/2.9/modules/vmware_cfg_backup_module.html