Ansible vmware esxi host 7 virtual machine running on a MacBook Pro. yml, or vmware_host_inventory. name. If set to destructive, it will then delete any machine with the same name, copy an existing disk image, set some machine specifics like IP address, and then power on your How to configure Ansible for VMware? Ansible provides various modules to manage VMware infrastructure, which includes data center, cluster, host system, and virtual machine. We look at creating the playbook, group variables, and the role task to apply ESXi updates Recently I’ve been using Ansible to push out updates to vSphere environments that have a lot of hosts, but no working installation of VMWare Update Manager available. If esxi_hostname is not specified, then will just register the license key to vCenter inventory without assigning it to an ESXi host. You can use reboot or This module can be used to configure, add or remove NTP servers from an ESXi host. Requirements The below requirements are needed on the local controller node that executes this inventory. vmware_host_config_facts – Gathers facts about an ESXi host’s advance configuration information; configuration information¶ Note. vmware_host_iscsi_info. localhost-name: Enable vvold rule set for an ESXi Host community. In case of Windows VMs, set ansible_shell_type to powershell. 0). ' delegate_to: localhost register: cluster_host_vmhbas-name: Gather info about vmhbas of an ESXi Host community. This module can be used to manage (start, stop, restart) services on a given ESXi host. - Please specify hostname or IP address of ESXi host system as O(hostname). vmware_host_ssl_info module – Gather info of ESXi host system about SSL This module can be used to gather information about an ESXi host’s vswitch configurations when ESXi hostname or Cluster name is given. vmware community. This module can be used to gathers facts like CPU, memory, datastore, network and system etc. I need to be able to get the stats like available and used CPU, available and used memory, available and used disk as well as a count of active VMs in each of my clusters. If set to enabled, enable the iSCSI of ESXi if the iSCSI is disabled. All variables and VMware object names are case vmware_vsan_cluster – Configure VSAN clustering on an ESXi host For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. Works only for ESXi hosts. All parameters and VMware object names are case sensitive. The ESXi hosts vmnics to use with specific LAGs. You can use ansible. vmware_vmkernel_info module – Gathers VMKernel info about an ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. aliases: pass, pwd. Search for: Close Search × Apps The following steps have been tested on a VMware vSphere ESXi 6. vmware_cfg_backup – Backup / Restore / Reset ESXi host configuration For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. The ansible playbook can be run against a host to apply a desired configuration, run on a weekly basis to A look at how to Update VMware ESXi Hosts with Ansible. This plugin is part of the community. Use a lookup plugin with VMWARE_* environment variables set ansible. The switch maximum transmission unit. mem_allocation_shares. vcenter_host_info module to query ESXi hosts. In case of To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. If esxi_hostname is specified, then will assign the license key to the ESXi host. If unset, the current LAG uplinks will be kept. This module can be used to manage NTP configuration information about an ESXi host. vmware collection (version 1. Skip to Content. If you read the vSphere 6. If set to disabled, disable the iSCSI of ESXi if the iSCSI is enabled. vmware_rest. You need further requirements to be able to use this module, see Requirements for details. password. Search. cluster_acceptance_level-name: Set acceptance level to vmware_accepted for the given ESXi Host community. vmware_host_ipv6 module – Enables/Disables IPv6 support for an ESXi host system community. To install it use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. Secure copy (SCP) rui. All modules requires API write access and hence is not supported on a free ESXi license. vmware_host_package_info module – Gathers info about available packages on an ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. . If set to present, update the iSCSI settings if they already exist and occur change. To include tag-related information for the virtual machines in your dynamic inventory, you also need the vSphere Automation SDK , which supports REST API features like tagging and content libraries, on your control node. \\nThis blog post community. To use it in a playbook, specify: This parameter is required if esxi_hostname is not specified. localhost register: all_cluster_hosts_info-name: Gather capability info about ESXi Host community. 22. crt located in /etc/vmware/ssl directory to This module can be used to mount/umount datastore on ESXi host. vmware_host_firewall_manager: hostname: ' {{vcenter_hostname}} community. string / required. yml. vmware_host_facts. reboot or community. To use the VMware dynamic inventory plugins, you must install pyVmomi on your control node (the host running Ansible). I’m new at this too. Module Index; Playbook Keywords; Ansible Galaxy; cluster_name delegate_to: localhost register: cluster_host_services-name: Gather facts about ESXi Host vmware_host_service_facts: hostname: ' {{vcenter_hostname}} community. If esxi_hostname is not given, this parameter is required. 5), but none for managing standalone ESXi hosts. How about using the vmware_guest_info module the following like? In the following playbook, the vmware_guest_info will execute until getting an IP address from a virtual machine using the schema and properties options. To use it in a playbook, specify: if esxi_hostname is not set. vmware_host_hyperthreading module – Enables/Disables Hyperthreading optimization for an ESXi host system Note This module is part of the community. To use it in a playbook, if esxi_hostname is not set. If state is not given, the NTP servers will be configured in the exact sequence. Since Ansible utilizes the VMware API to perform actions, in this use case we will be connecting directly to the API from our localhost. integer. The Ansible Community has created all the modules required to do the VMware ESXi Security Configuration with Ansible. After this, you will need the username and Synopsis; Parameters; Notes; Examples; Synopsis. To use it in a playbook, specify: This parameter is required if esxi_hostname or parent_resource_pool is not specified. yml to power on a specific virtual machine in VMware vCenter. This module can be used to mount/umount datastore on ESXi host. This module can also be used to move an ESXi host to a cluster or folder, or vice versa, within the same datacenter. vmware_target_canonical_info: To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. yml file:--- - hosts: vmware remote_user: root roles: - vmware The ESXi host is the 172. name To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. vmware_host_graphics module is not included in ansible-core. Name of the datastore. This means that our playbooks will not be running from the vCenter or ESXi Server. Other tools like esxcli might show the number of ports as 1536 or 5632. But when I run a Playbook with the following configuration, I only get the Information of one Host back - and not all. yaml, vmware_host_inventory. You can follow this document to do so. vmware_host_active_directory module – Joins an ESXi host system to an Active Directory domain or leaves it Note This module is part of the community. This module can be used to 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. Configure DNS for an ESXi host community. 5. I saw in the following link that we can use "ha-datacenter" as the datacenter name to make ansible create VM on standalone Wed Jul 26 05:35:36 ansible@ansible-2:~/vmware$ ansible-playbook vmcreate. vmware_local_user_info module – Gather info about users on the given ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. vmware_host_disk_info: hostname: ' To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. mtu. vmware collection (version 4. string. Get acceptance level from the given ESXi Host community. boolean. To use it in a playbook, specify: the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead. about ESXi host system. All parameters and VMware objects values are case sensitive. vmware_tag. This module can be used to add, reconnect, or remove an ESXi host to or from vCenter. My Playbook: Greg_Porter (Greg Porter) August 29, 2018, 5:55pm 5. To use it in a playbook, specify: You could use this before using community. vmware_host_snmp module – Configures SNMP on an ESXi host system Note This module is part of the community. vmware_host_logbundle module – Fetch logbundle file from ESXi Note This module is part of the community. If cluster_name is provided, specified service will be managed on all ESXi host belonging to that cluster. My comment is for the task ESXi Install Update. vmware_host_powerstate module to reboot all To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. yaml as a YAML configuration file. , modify various virtual machine components like network, disk, customization etc. This module can be used to configure, add or remove NTP servers from an ESXi host. vmware_host_tcpip_stacks module – Manage the TCP/IP Stacks configuration of ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. vmware_host_iscsi_info: To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. 15. debug: msg: " {{lookup This module can be used to gather facts about an ESXi host’s Port Group configuration when ESXi hostname or Cluster name is given. yml Enter the UserName: root Enter the Password: Enter the vCenter vmware_local_user_manager – Manage local users on an ESXi host For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. One pretty common idea in “Ansible-world” is this idea of “state”. esxi_hostname- The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. Gather feature capability info about all ESXi Hosts in given Cluster community. 7. vmware_target_canonical_info. vmware For example, if there is a datacenter 'dc1' under folder called 'Site1' then, this value will be '/Site1/dc1/host'. Automating VMware infrastructure using Ansible. Ansible for VMware; Ansible for Network Automation. vmware_host_dns_info: hostname: ' {{vcenter_hostname}} This module can be used to manage administrator permission for the local administrative account for the host when ESXi hostname is given. Synopsis. This module can be used to configure, enable or disable SR-IOV functions on ESXi host. community. To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. Also you have to enable SSH service on ESXi. builtin. This module only supports NFS (NFS v3 or NFS v4. 20. yaml from your command line. Parameters Synopsis ¶. For example, if there is a datacenter 'dc1' under folder called 'Site1' then, this value will be '/Site1/dc1/host'. vmware_host – Add, remove, or move an ESXi host to, from, or within vCenter Note This plugin is part of the community. All To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. I’ve added the ‘valdiate_certs: False’ line because I didn’t want to bother about installing the certificates of my Ansible for VMWare. There are many cases when full vCenter infrastructure is not required and web-based Host UI is quite enough for To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. This was merged into community. esxi_hostname and cluster are mutually exclusive parameters. vmware_host_logbundle_info: Synopsis ¶. vmware_portgroup_info module – Gathers info about an ESXi host’s Port Group configuration Note This module is part of the community. local_privilege_ids. This can easily be done in Ansible 2. list / elements=string. Requirements ¶ Installing ESXi SSL certificates for Ansible ¶ Enable SSH Service on ESXi either by using Ansible VMware module vmware_host_service_manager or manually using vSphere Web interface. vmware_host_powermgmt_policy module To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. vmware_host_datastore module – Manage a datastore on ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. This module only support NFS/VMFS type of datastores. 8 with the following command: ansible-playbook vmware. Get VMware ESXi hostsystem as inventory hosts from VMware environment. vmware_host_acceptance_info: This module can be used to configure, add or remove NTP servers from an ESXi host. vmware_host_firewall_info: hostname: ' {{vcenter_hostname}} This module can be used to manage advanced system settings of an ESXi host when ESXi hostname or Cluster name is given. cluster_name delegate_to: localhost-name: Gather firewall info about ESXi Host community. vmware_local_role_manager module – Manage local roles on an ESXi host or vCenter; run ansible-galaxy collection list. vmware_host_feature_info. ' cluster_name: cluster_name delegate_to: localhost register: cluster_host_ntp-name: Gather NTP info about ESXi Host community. vmware_host_facts module – Gathers facts about remote ESXi hostsystem Note This module is part of the community. Requirements. 8. I have been reading all about Ansible being used to deploy new VM guests from CLI and playbooks etc I understand that layer of automation and the benefits. If specific esxi_hostname is provided, then specified service will Once SSH service is enabled on ESXi, let us now do passwordless SSH configuration for ESXi. vmware_local_user_manager module – Manage local users on an ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. All connected ESXi hosts in scope will be configured when specified. vmware_host_ntp_info – Gathers info about NTP configuration on an ESXi host For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. vmware_host_acceptance: The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. vmware_host_auto_start module – Manage the auto power ON or OFF for vm on ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. In case of cluster name, all ESXi hosts are updated. Examples. For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. -name: fetch the manifests for logbundle from ESXi community. vmware_host_auto_start – Manage the auto power ON or OFF for vm on ESXi host; Environment variable support added in Ansible 2. 1) and VMFS datastores. To use it in a playbook, specify: community. I have created an ansible playbook that can be run Jan 10, 2025 You can use Ansible to automate some tasks in your VMware infrastructure. If set, LAG uplinks will be set to exactly this list. Requirements ¶ The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module. vmware collection (version 5. This is the vmware_deploy. Hi, I am trying to connect esxi 6. hosts. With the Module vmware_host_facts it should be possible. vmware_host_scsidisk_info. I am supposed to install pysphere module on VMWare ESXi Server. For additional information please Ransomware is on everyone’s mind or at least it should be Please be aware this is not a prescription to keep you from being hacked, but rather an improvement of your security posture specific to vSphere. moid. All variables and VMware object names are The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. I’ll show you step by step how to prepare your Ansible controller to interact with the VMware infrastructure. This module is destructive as administrator permission are managed using APIs used, please read options carefully and proceed. vmware_host_datastore to mount a new datastore to ensure your device/volume is ready. the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be Note. vmware_host_feature_info: community. All variables and VMware object names are This module can be used to add, remove and update a VMware Standard Switch to an ESXi host. I refer to a port group on a standard virtual switch. cluster_name delegate_to: localhost-name: Gather DNS info about ESXi Host community. To enable SSH service, you can do it by hand or use community. Gather iSCSI configuration information of ESXi host community. Name of the host system to I am trying to create a VM on a standalone ESXi host using ansible playbook. To use it in a playbook, specify: If esxi_hostname is not given, this parameter is required. All variables and VMware object names are case sensitive. Managed Object ID of the instance to manage if known, this is a unique identifier only within a single vCenter instance. 168. Gather information SCSI disk attached to the given ESXi community. It is not included in ansible-core. Add ESXi host in your Ansible static inventory like — community. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead. vmware_host_dns: To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. Parameters. I’ve been able to create a playbook using the vmware_host_ntp_facts – Gathers facts about NTP configuration on an ESXi host For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. vmware_host_logbundle_info. yml, vmware. I'm playing around with Ansible VMWare Modules and tried to get all the Information from ESXi Hosts from a vCenter. - If hostname or IP address of vCenter is provided as O(hostname) and O(esxi_hostname) is not specified community. Add Management Network VM Portgroup community. To use it in a the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead. My host file (Ansible) [vmware] 192. To get just the ESXi hosts of a given cluster in a given datacenter, use: - name: Get ESXi hosts vmware. directpath_io. 1). vmware_host_vmhba_info To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. Specify convert disk type while cloning template or virtual machine. For VMFS datastore, available device must already be connected on ESXi host. Gather vmware host facts vmware_host_facts: hostname: " {{esxi_server}} " username: " Managing an ESXi host in a VMware environment involves configuring numerous settings and configurations, which are crucial for maintaining a stable and secure virtualized infrastructure. # Replace these values as needed for your environment. vmware_host_scsidisk_info: This module can be used to mount/umount datastore on ESXi host. This module is destructive as administrator permission are managed using APIs used, please read To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. vmware_host_config_info – Gathers info about an ESXi host’s advance configuration information For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. Uses any file which ends with vmware. automating the backup, restore, and reset processes can save time and reduce errors. yaml -i inventory. Requirements ¶ community. To use it in a playbook, specify: This is required parameter if esxi_hostname is not specified. SSH to ESXi server using administrative credentials, and navigate to directory /etc/vmware/ssl. vmware_host_service_manager. esxi_hostname. vmware_host_kernel_manager module – Manage kernel module options on ESXi hosts. Now, to actually run the VMware ESXi host update using Ansible. Requirements ¶ The below requirements are needed on the host that executes To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. If a host is not connected at time of configuration, it will be marked as such in the output. Get Canonical name of particular target on particular ESXi host system community. vcenter_host_info: datacenters: - MyDatacenter clusters: - MyCluster register: esxi_hosts The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. , rename a virtual machine and remove a virtual machine with Synopsis ¶. vmware_cfg_backup This module can be used to mount/umount datastore on ESXi host. vmware_vmkernel_facts – Gathers VMKernel facts about an ESXi host¶ Note This plugin is part of the community. 0. vmware_object_role_permission module – Manage local roles on an ESXi host or vCenter Note This module is part of the community. 2. The rest is all authentication information and required info that the vmware_host module needs. Tags virtual machine’s ESXi host is shown if set to true. To install it, use: the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead. Be sure that the user used for login, has the appropriate rights to view roles. 7 Update 1 Security Configuration Guide you will agree that the security configuration of VMware ESXi hosts is mostly about managing services, advanced options, firewall rules, and lockdown mode. 5 with ansible. Module Index; Playbook Keywords; Ansible Galaxy; Return Values; Acceptance level of all ESXi host system in the given cluster will be managed. Let’s create a simple Ansible playbook vm_start. override_user_password Here, you have the module denoted as vmware_host. Step 1: Enable SSH on the ESXi community. convert. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list. 5 ! But when i take a look on the ESXi Host, nothing happend. the value of environment variable VMWARE_PROXY_HOST will be used instead. Update VMware ESXi Hosts with Ansible. Kernel module options may require a reboot to take effect which is not covered here. vmware_host_capability_info: hostname: ' {{vcenter How to Gather Info about all VMware ESX/ESXi Hosts in a given Cluster with Ansible? I’m going to show you a live Playbook and some simple Ansible code. I tried my playbook with either cluster or esxi_hostname specified. - This module can be used to gathers facts like CPU, memory, datastore, network and system etc. vmware 3. AS you can see Ansible has some great modules for VMware vCenter (especially in 2. the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead. Why do you think so? Usually you call VM provisioning modules like vsphere_guest from your Ansible control host (localhost), so pysphere should be installed on your localhost and not on ESXi server. vmware. One way to ensure that your VMware ESXi hosts have a consistent and repeatable configuration; is with the use of Ansible. To use it in a playbook, specify: This parameter is required if esxi_hostname is not specified and you connect to a vCenter. vmware_host_ntp community. 6. During the creation of the below playbook, I found In this way, you can run any shell command on any of the hosts (SSH must be enabled on ESXi). Example: - hosts: localhost tasks: - vsphere_guest: vcenter_hostname: This module can be used to gather VMKernel information about an ESXi host from given ESXi hostname or cluster name. vmware_host_config_info module – Gathers info about an ESXi host’s advance configuration information Note This module is part of the community. So you always This is a required parameter, if esxi_hostname is not set. Save the ESXi configuration locally by authenticating directly against the ESXi host community. This To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. added in community. 119. This module can be used to manage advanced system settings of an ESXi host when ESXi hostname or Cluster name is given. Ansible for Network Automation; Reference & Appendices. Ansible, with the help of the community. The vSphere Client shows the value for the number of ports as elastic from vSphere 5. I recently authored vmware_host_inventory which is a dynamic inventory plugin for VMware ESXi hostsystem. 129. For configuration load or reset, the host will be switched automatically to maintenance mode. What I am not sure about is the benefits and whether Ansible can be used to `build’ ESXI hosts - that is install the ESXI OS ? I know these builds are really quick easy and you can blueprint ESXI host using Synopsis ¶. vmware_object_role_permission – Manage local roles on an ESXi host For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. Does not work with ‘become’. To use it in a playbook, specify: vmware_host_dns_info – Gathers info about an ESXi host’s DNS configuration information For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. vmware_host_custom_attributes module – Manage custom attributes from VMware for the given ESXi host Note This module is part of the community. If set to absent, remove the iSCSI target or the bind ports if they are existing. When specifying distributed virtual portgroup make sure given esxi_hostname or cluster is associated with it. All parameters and # # # The examples below assume you have a datacenter named 'my_dc', a cluster named 'my_cluster', and an ESXI host named 'my_host'. vmware_host_logbundle module – Fetch logbundle file from To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community. User can specify an ESXi hostname or Cluster name. The general idea is to run ansible-playbook create-vmware-esxi-vm. the ESXi In the example below you have to replace the host_ip, host_user and host_pass with the correct information (ESXi/vCenter IP, username and password). If set to present, add the iSCSI target or the bind ports if they are not existing. I have copied ssh keys using ssh-copy-id to root id of the esxi server but when i am executing ansible -m ping vmware(ip) it says permission denied. vmware_host_lockdown module – Manage administrator permission for the local administrative account for the ESXi host. You can use the vmware. First and foremost is the hostname of the ESXi server or vCenter server. i dont know why? he said its okay but nothing changed or happend here? Do you guys maybe know whats wrong here? For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. vmware_cfg_backup. show_esxi_hostname. To use it in a playbook, specify: If esxi_hostname is provided, ' delegate_to: localhost register: cluster_host_vmhbas-name: Gather info about vmhbas of an ESXi Host community. I’m Luca Berton and welcome to today’s episode of Ansible Recently I’ve been using Ansible to push out updates to vSphere environments that have a lot of hosts, but no working installation of VMWare Update Manager available. vmware_host_service_facts – Gathers facts about an ESXi host’s services For community users, you are reading an unmaintained version of the Ansible documentation. Notes. You can automatically deploy and configure ESXi hosts, manage network settings, start, stop, or delete VMs, deploy virtual machines from One way to ensure that your VMware ESXi hosts have a consistent and repeatable configuration; is with the use of Ansible. vmware_portgroup: hostname: " {{esxi_hostname}} Howdy, I’m tasked with creating an ansible playbook that will generate an inventory our our VCenter. Use VMware tools to run tasks in, or put/fetch files to guest operating systems running in VMware infrastructure. vmware_host_passthrough module – Manage PCI device passthrough settings on host Note This module is part of the community. ' delegate_to: localhost register: cluster_host_vmnics-name: Gather info about vmnics of an ESXi Host community. Module does not reboot the host after changes, but puts it in output “rebootRequired” state. The playbook will then check to see if a machine exists. aliases: esxi_hostname. Gather vmware host facts vmware_host_facts: hostname: " {{esxi_server}} " username: " community. The module returns a list of dict in version 2. 5 and above. Rescan HBA's for a given ESXi host and refresh storage system objects community. The delegate_to: localhost for the task ESXi enter maintenance should not be changed. 8 and above. During the creation of the below playbook, I found Jan 10, 2025 This guide shows you how to prepare an ESXi host, so that Ansible can be used with SSH Key-Based Authentication to automate administration tasks. vmware_host_vmnic_info: hostname: ' community. This module can be used to add, reconnect, or remove an ESXi host to or from vCenter. moid This module can be used to manage administrator permission for the local administrative account for the host when ESXi hostname is given. vmware_cfg_backup: This module can be used to manage kernel module options on ESXi hosts. Unmaintained Ansible versions can contain unfixed security vulnerabilities (CVE). vmware_host_lockdown_exceptions module – Manage Lockdown Mode Exception Users. ljezpg biqus vdk cgrsp xtcs pmozx cdzg ggd kdft zoazxnl