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community.vmware.vmware_vm_shell – Run commands in a VMware guest operating system

Note

This plugin is part of the community.vmware collection (version 1.15.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.vmware.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.vmware.vmware_vm_shell.

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
string
The cluster hosting the virtual machine.
If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
datacenter
string
The datacenter hosting the virtual machine.
If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
folder
string
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 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
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
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
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.
timeout
integer
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 Ansible 2.6.

aliases: admin, user
validate_certs
boolean
    Choices:
  • 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 true, please make sure Python >= 2.7.9 is installed on the given machine.
vm_id
string / required
Name of the virtual machine to work with.
vm_id_type
string
    Choices:
  • uuid
  • instance_uuid
  • dns_name
  • inventory_path
  • vm_name ←
The VMware identification method by which the virtual machine will be identified.
vm_password
string / required
The password used to login-in to the virtual machine.
vm_shell
string / required
The absolute path to the program to start.
On Linux, shell is executed via bash.
vm_shell_args
string
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
string
The current working directory of the application from which it will be run.
vm_shell_env
list / elements=string
Comma separated list of environment variable, specified in the guest OS notation.
vm_username
string / required
The user to login-in to the virtual machine.
wait_for_process
boolean
    Choices:
  • 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.
  • All modules requires API write access and hence is not supported on a free ESXi license.

Examples

- name: Run command inside a virtual machine
  community.vmware.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
  community.vmware.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
  community.vmware.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
  community.vmware.vmware_vm_shell:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    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'}


Authors

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

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2021 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/community/vmware/vmware_vm_shell_module.html