community.vmware.vmware_host module – Add, remove, or move an ESXi host to, from, or within vCenter

Note

This module is part of the community.vmware collection (version 5.9.0).

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_host.

DEPRECATED

Removed in:

version 7.0.0

Why:

This module has been moved to the new vmware.vmware collection

Alternative:

Use vmware.vmware.esxi_host and vmware.vmware.esxi_connection instead.

Synopsis

• This module can be used to add, reconnect, or remove an ESXi host to or from vCenter.

• This module can also be used to move an ESXi host to a cluster or folder, or vice versa, within the same datacenter.

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
add_connected boolean	If set to true, then the host should be connected as soon as it is added. This parameter is ignored if not state=present. Choices: false true ← (default)
cluster_name aliases: cluster string	Name of the cluster to add the host. If folder is not set, then this parameter is required.
datacenter_name aliases: datacenter string / required	Name of the datacenter to add the host.
esxi_hostname string / required	ESXi hostname to manage.
esxi_password string	ESXi password. Required for adding a host. Optional for reconnect. Unused for removing. No longer a required parameter from version 2.5.
esxi_ssl_thumbprint aliases: ssl_thumbprint string	Specifying the hostsystem certificate’s thumbprint. Use following command to get hostsystem certificate’s thumbprint - # openssl x509 -in /etc/vmware/ssl/rui.crt -fingerprint -sha1 -noout Default: ""
esxi_username string	ESXi username. Required for adding a host. Optional for reconnect. If both esxi_username and esxi_password are used Unused for removing. No longer a required parameter from version 2.5.
fetch_ssl_thumbprint boolean	Fetch the thumbprint of the host’s SSL certificate. This basically disables the host certificate verification (check if it was signed by a recognized CA). Disable this option if you want to allow only hosts with valid certificates to be added to vCenter. If this option is set to false and the certificate can’t be verified, an add or reconnect will fail. Unused when esxi_ssl_thumbprint is set. Optional for reconnect, but only used if esxi_username and esxi_password are used. Unused for removing. Choices: false true ← (default)
folder aliases: folder_name string	Name of the folder under which host to add. If cluster_name is not set, then this parameter is required. For example, if there is a datacenter ‘dc1’ under folder called ‘Site1’ then, this value will be ‘/Site1/dc1/host’. Here ‘host’ is an invisible folder under VMware Web Client. Another example, if there is a nested folder structure like ‘/myhosts/india/pune’ under datacenter ‘dc2’, then folder value will be ‘/dc2/host/myhosts/india/pune’. Other Examples: ‘/Site2/dc2/Asia-Cluster/host’ or ‘/dc3/Asia-Cluster/host’
force_connection boolean	Force the connection if the host is already being managed by another vCenter server. Choices: false true ← (default)
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.
password aliases: pass, pwd 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.
port integer	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. Default: 443
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.
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.
reconnect_disconnected boolean	Reconnect disconnected hosts. This is only used if state=present and if the host already exists. Choices: false true ← (default)
state string	If set to present, add the host if host is absent. If set to present, update the location of the host if host already exists. If set to absent, remove the host if host is present. If set to absent, do nothing if host already does not exists. If set to add_or_reconnect, add the host if it’s absent else reconnect it and update the location. If set to reconnect, then reconnect the host if it’s present and update the location. If set to disconnected, disconnect the host if the host already exists. Choices: "present" ← (default) "absent" "add_or_reconnect" "reconnect" "disconnected"
username aliases: admin, user 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.
validate_certs boolean	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. Choices: false true ← (default)

Notes

Note

• All modules requires API write access and hence is not supported on a free ESXi license.

• All variables and VMware object names are case sensitive.

Examples

- name: Add ESXi Host to vCenter
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add ESXi Host to vCenter under a specific folder
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    folder: '/Site2/Asia-Cluster/host'
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: present
    add_connected: true
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Reconnect ESXi Host (with username/password set)
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: reconnect
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Reconnect ESXi Host (with default username/password)
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    state: reconnect
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add ESXi Host with SSL Thumbprint to vCenter
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_ssl_thumbprint: "3C:A5:60:6F:7A:B7:C4:6C:48:28:3D:2F:A5:EC:A3:58:13:88:F6:DD"
    state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key	Description
result string	metadata about the new host system added Returned: on successful addition Sample: "Host already connected to vCenter 'vcenter01' in cluster 'cluster01'"

Status

• This module will be removed in version 7.0.0. [deprecated]

• For more information see DEPRECATED.

Authors

• Joseph Callen (@jcpowermac)

• Russell Teague (@mtnbikenc)

• Maxime de Roucy (@tchernomax)

• Christian Kotte (@ckotte)

Collection links

• Issue Tracker
• Homepage
• Repository (Sources)