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
string / required
Destination datacenter for the move operation
dest_folder
string / 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.
moid
string
added in 2.9
Managed Object ID of the instance to manage if known, this is a unique identifier only within a single vCenter instance.
This is required if name or uuid is not supplied.
name
string
Name of the existing virtual machine to move.
This is required if uuid or moid is not supplied.
name_match
string
    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.
proxy_host
string
added in 2.9
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
added in 2.9
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.
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
string
UUID of the virtual machine to manage if known, this is VMware's unique identifier.
This is required if name or moid 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: Move Virtual Machine using MoID
  vmware_guest_move:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    datacenter: datacenter
    validate_certs: no
    moid: vm-42
    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)

Hint

If you notice any issues in this documentation, you can edit this document to improve it.