vmware_guest_move – Moves virtual machines in vCenter

New in version 2.7.

Synopsis

  • This module can be used to move virtual machines between folders.

Requirements

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

  • python >= 2.6

  • PyVmomi

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
datacenter
- / required
Destination datacenter for the move operation
dest_folder
- / required
Absolute path to move an existing guest
The dest_folder should include the datacenter. ESX's datacenter is ha-datacenter.
This parameter is case sensitive.
Examples:
dest_folder: /ha-datacenter/vm
dest_folder: ha-datacenter/vm
dest_folder: /datacenter1/vm
dest_folder: datacenter1/vm
dest_folder: /datacenter1/vm/folder1
dest_folder: datacenter1/vm/folder1
dest_folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm
dest_folder: folder1/datacenter1/vm
dest_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 existing virtual machine to move.
This is required if UUID is not supplied.
name_match
-
    Choices:
  • first ←
  • last
If multiple virtual machines matching the name, use the first or last found.
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.
use_instance_uuid
boolean
added in 2.8
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Whether to use the VMWare instance UUID rather than the BIOS UUID.
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 manage if known, this is VMware's unique identifier.
This is required if 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.

Notes

Note

  • Tested on vSphere 5.5 and vSphere 6.5

Examples

- name: Move Virtual Machine
  vmware_guest_move:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    datacenter: datacenter
    validate_certs: no
    name: testvm-1
    dest_folder: "/{{ datacenter }}/vm"
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Get VM UUID
  vmware_guest_facts:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
    folder: "/{{datacenter}}/vm"
    name: "{{ vm_name }}"
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: vm_facts

- name: Get UUID from previous task and pass it to this task
  vmware_guest_move:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
    uuid: "{{ vm_facts.instance.hw_product_uuid }}"
    dest_folder: "/DataCenter/vm/path/to/new/folder/where/we/want"
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: facts

Return Values

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

Key Returned Description
instance
dictionary
 always
metadata about the virtual machine

Sample:
{'annotation': None, 'current_snapshot': None, 'customvalues': {}, 'guest_consolidation_needed': False, 'guest_question': None, 'guest_tools_status': None, 'guest_tools_version': '0', 'hw_cores_per_socket': 1, 'hw_datastores': ['LocalDS_0'], 'hw_esxi_host': 'DC0_H0', 'hw_eth0': {'addresstype': 'generated', 'ipaddresses': None, 'label': 'ethernet-0', 'macaddress': '00:0c:29:6b:34:2c', 'macaddress_dash': '00-0c-29-6b-34-2c', 'summary': 'DVSwitch: 43cdd1db-1ef7-4016-9bbe-d96395616199'}, 'hw_files': ['[LocalDS_0] DC0_H0_VM0/DC0_H0_VM0.vmx'], 'hw_folder': '/F0/DC0/vm/F0', 'hw_guest_full_name': None, 'hw_guest_ha_state': None, 'hw_guest_id': 'otherGuest', 'hw_interfaces': ['eth0'], 'hw_is_template': False, 'hw_memtotal_mb': 32, 'hw_name': 'DC0_H0_VM0', 'hw_power_status': 'poweredOn', 'hw_processor_count': 1, 'hw_product_uuid': '581c2808-64fb-45ee-871f-6a745525cb29', 'instance_uuid': '8bcb0b6e-3a7d-4513-bf6a-051d15344352', 'ipv4': None, 'ipv6': None, 'module_hw': True, 'snapshots': []}


Status

Authors

  • Jose Angel Munoz (@imjoseangel)

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