vmware_export_ovf – Exports a VMware virtual machine to an OVF file, device files and a manifest file

New in version 2.8.

Synopsis

  • This module can be used to export a VMware virtual machine to OVF template from vCenter server or ESXi host.

Requirements

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

  • python >= 2.6

  • PyVmomi

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
datacenter
-
Default:
"ha-datacenter"
Datacenter name of the virtual machine to export.
This parameter is case sensitive.
export_dir
- / required
Absolute path to place the exported files on the server running this task, must have write permission.
If folder not exist will create it, also create a folder under this path named with VM name.
export_with_images
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Export an ISO image of the media mounted on the CD/DVD Drive within the virtual machine.
folder
-
Destination folder, absolute path to find the specified guest.
The folder should include the datacenter. ESX's datacenter is ha-datacenter.
This parameter is case sensitive.
If multiple machines are found with same name, this parameter is used to identify uniqueness of the virtual machine. version_added 2.5
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.
name
-
Name of the virtual machine to export.
This is a required parameter, if parameter uuid is not supplied.
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.
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
uuid
-
Uuid of the virtual machine to export.
This is a required parameter, if parameter name is not supplied.
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 yes, please make sure Python >= 2.7.9 is installed on the given machine.

Examples

- vmware_export_ovf:
    validate_certs: false
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    name: '{{ vm_name }}'
    export_with_images: true
    export_dir: /path/to/ovf_template/
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key Returned Description
instance
dictionary
 always
list of the exported files, if exported from vCenter server, device file is not named with vm name

Sample:
None


Status

Authors

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