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community.vmware.vmware_guest_serial_port – Manage serial ports on an existing VM

Note

This plugin is part of the community.vmware collection (version 1.17.0).

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_guest_serial_port.

Synopsis
Parameters
Notes
Examples
Return Values

Synopsis 

This module can be used to manage serial ports on an existing VM

Parameters 

Parameter	Comments
backings list / elements=dictionary / required	A list of backings for serial ports. `backing_type` (str): is required to add or reconfigure or remove an existing serial port.
backing_type aliases: type string / required	Backing type is required for the serial ports to be added or reconfigured or removed.
device_name string	Serial device absolutely path. Required when backing_type=device.
direction string	The direction of the connection. Required when backing_type=network. Choices: client ← (default) server
endpoint string	When you use serial port pipe backing to connect a virtual machine to another process, you must define the endpoints. Required when backing_type=pipe. Choices: client ← (default) server
file_path string	File path for the host file used in this backing. Fully qualified path is required, like <datastore_name>/<file_name>. Required when backing_type=file.
no_rx_loss boolean	Enables optimized data transfer over the pipe. Required when backing_type=pipe. Choices: no ← (default) yes
pipe_name string	Pipe name for the host pipe. Required when backing_type=pipe.
service_uri string	Identifies the local host or a system on the network, depending on the value of direction. If you use the virtual machine as a server, the URI identifies the host on which the virtual machine runs. In this case, the host name part of the URI should be empty, or it should specify the address of the local host. If you use the virtual machine as a client, the URI identifies the remote system on the network. Required when backing_type=network.
state string	`state` is required to identify whether we are adding, modifying or removing the serial port. If `state` is set to `present`, a serial port will be added or modified. If `state` is set to `absent`, an existing serial port will be removed. If an existing serial port to modify or remove, `backing_type` and either of `service_uri` or `pipe_name` or `device_name` or `file_path` are required. Choices: present ← (default) absent
yield_on_poll boolean	Enables CPU yield behavior. Choices: no yes ← (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. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
moid string	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 virtual machine. This is a required parameter, if parameter `uuid` or `moid` is not supplied.
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. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
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. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. 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. 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.
use_instance_uuid boolean	Whether to use the VMware instance UUID rather than the BIOS UUID. Choices: no ← (default) yes
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. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
uuid string	UUID of the instance to manage the serial ports, this is VMware’s unique identifier. This is a required parameter, if parameter `name` or `moid` is not supplied.
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. 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. Choices: no yes ← (default)

Notes 

Note

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

Examples 

# Create serial ports
- name: Create multiple serial ports with Backing type - network, pipe, device and file
  community.vmware.vmware_guest_serial_port:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    name: "test_vm1"
    backings:
    - type: 'network'
      direction: 'client'
      service_uri: 'tcp://6000'
      yield_on_poll: True
    - type: 'pipe'
      pipe_name: 'serial_pipe'
      endpoint: 'client'
    - type: 'device'
      device_name: '/dev/char/serial/uart0'
    - type: 'file'
      file_path: '[datastore1]/file1'
      yield_on_poll:  True
    register: create_multiple_ports

# Modify existing serial port
- name: Modify Network backing type
  community.vmware.vmware_guest_serial_port:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    name: '{{ name }}'
    backings:
    - type: 'network'
      state: 'present'
      direction: 'server'
      service_uri: 'tcp://6000'
  delegate_to: localhost

# Remove serial port
- name: Remove pipe backing type
  community.vmware.vmware_guest_serial_port:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    name: '{{ name }}'
    backings:
    - type: 'pipe'
      state: 'absent'
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values 

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

Key	Description
serial_port_data dictionary	metadata about the virtual machine’s serial ports after managing them Returned: always Sample: [{“backing_type”: “network”, “direction”: “client”, “service_uri”: “tcp://6000”}, {“backing_type”: “pipe”, “direction”: “server”, “pipe_name”: “serial pipe”}]

Authors

Anusha Hegde (@anusha94)

community.vmware.vmware_guest_serial_port – Manage serial ports on an existing VM

Synopsis

Parameters

Notes

Examples

Return Values