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community.general.xenserver_guest module – Manages virtual machines running on Citrix Hypervisor/XenServer host or pool

Note

This module is part of the community.general collection (version 4.8.3).

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.general.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.general.xenserver_guest.

Synopsis

• This module can be used to create new virtual machines from templates or other virtual machines, modify various virtual machine components like network and disk, rename a virtual machine and remove a virtual machine with associated components.

Requirements

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

• python >= 2.6

• XenAPI

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
cdrom dictionary	A CD-ROM configuration for the VM. All parameters are case sensitive.
iso_name string	The file name of an ISO image from one of the XenServer ISO Libraries (implies type: iso). Required if type is set to iso.
type string	The type of CD-ROM. With none the CD-ROM device will be present but empty. Choices: none iso
custom_params list / elements=dictionary	Define a list of custom VM params to set on VM. Useful for advanced users familiar with managing VM params trough xe CLI. A custom value object takes two fields key and value (see example below).
key string / required	VM param name.
value raw / required	VM param value.
disks aliases: disk list / elements=dictionary	A list of disks to add to VM. All parameters are case sensitive. Removing or detaching existing disks of VM is not supported. New disks are required to have either a size or one of size_[tb,gb,mb,kb,b] parameters specified. VM needs to be shut down to reconfigure disk size.
name aliases: name_label string	Disk name.
name_desc string	Disk description.
size string	Disk size with unit. Unit must be: b, kb, mb, gb, tb. VM needs to be shut down to reconfigure this parameter. If no unit is specified, size is assumed to be in bytes.
size_b string	Disk size in bytes.
size_gb string	Disk size in gigabytes.
size_kb string	Disk size in kilobytes.
size_mb string	Disk size in megabytes.
size_tb string	Disk size in terabytes.
sr string	Storage Repository to create disk on. If not specified, will use default SR. Cannot be used for moving disk to other SR.
sr_uuid string	UUID of a SR to create disk on. Use if SR name is not unique.
folder string	Destination folder for VM. This parameter is case sensitive. Example: folder: /folder1/folder2
force boolean	Ignore warnings and complete the actions. This parameter is useful for removing VM in running state or reconfiguring VM params that require VM to be shut down. Choices: no ← (default) yes
hardware dictionary	Manage VM’s hardware parameters. VM needs to be shut down to reconfigure these parameters.
memory_mb integer	Amount of memory in MB.
num_cpu_cores_per_socket integer	Number of Cores Per Socket. num_cpus has to be a multiple of num_cpu_cores_per_socket.
num_cpus integer	Number of CPUs.
home_server string	Name of a XenServer host that will be a Home Server for the VM. This parameter is case sensitive.
hostname aliases: host, pool string	The hostname or IP address of the XenServer host or XenServer pool master. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable XENSERVER_HOST will be used instead. Default: “localhost”
is_template boolean	Convert VM to template. Choices: no ← (default) yes
linked_clone boolean	Whether to create a Linked Clone from the template, existing VM or snapshot. If no, will create a full copy. This is equivalent to Use storage-level fast disk clone option in XenCenter. Choices: no ← (default) yes
name aliases: name_label string	Name of the VM to work with. VMs running on XenServer do not necessarily have unique names. The module will fail if multiple VMs with same name are found. In case of multiple VMs with same name, use uuid to uniquely specify VM to manage. This parameter is case sensitive.
name_desc string	VM description.
networks aliases: network list / elements=dictionary	A list of networks (in the order of the NICs). All parameters are case sensitive. Name is required for new NICs. Other parameters are optional in all cases.
gateway string	Static IPv4 gateway.
gateway6 string	Static IPv6 gateway.
ip string	Static IPv4 address (implies type: static). Can include prefix in format <IPv4 address>/<prefix> instead of using netmask.
ip6 string	Static IPv6 address (implies type6: static) with prefix in format <IPv6 address>/<prefix>.
mac string	Customize MAC address of the interface.
name aliases: name_label string	Name of a XenServer network to attach the network interface to.
netmask string	Static IPv4 netmask required for ip if prefix is not specified.
type string	Type of IPv4 assignment. Value none means whatever is default for OS. On some operating systems it could be DHCP configured (e.g. Windows) or unconfigured interface (e.g. Linux). Choices: none dhcp static
type6 string	Type of IPv6 assignment. Value none means whatever is default for OS. Choices: none dhcp static
password aliases: pass, pwd string	The password to use for connecting to XenServer. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable XENSERVER_PASSWORD will be used instead.
state string	Specify the state VM should be in. If state is set to present and VM exists, ensure the VM configuration conforms to given parameters. If state is set to present and VM does not exist, then VM is deployed with given parameters. If state is set to absent and VM exists, then VM is removed with its associated components. If state is set to poweredon and VM does not exist, then VM is deployed with given parameters and powered on automatically. Choices: present ← (default) absent poweredon
state_change_timeout integer	By default, module will wait indefinitely for VM to accquire an IP address if wait_for_ip_address: yes. If this parameter is set to positive value, the module will instead wait specified number of seconds for the state change. In case of timeout, module will generate an error message. Default: 0
template aliases: template_src string	Name of a template, an existing VM (must be shut down) or a snapshot that should be used to create VM. Templates/VMs/snapshots on XenServer do not necessarily have unique names. The module will fail if multiple templates with same name are found. In case of multiple templates/VMs/snapshots with same name, use template_uuid to uniquely specify source template. If VM already exists, this setting will be ignored. This parameter is case sensitive.
template_uuid string	UUID of a template, an existing VM or a snapshot that should be used to create VM. It is required if template name is not unique.
username aliases: admin, user string	The username to use for connecting to XenServer. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable XENSERVER_USER will be used instead. Default: “root”
uuid string	UUID of the VM to manage if known. This is XenServer’s unique identifier. It is required if name is not unique. Please note that a supplied UUID will be ignored on VM creation, as XenServer creates the UUID internally.
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 XENSERVER_VALIDATE_CERTS will be used instead. Choices: no yes ← (default)
wait_for_ip_address boolean	Wait until XenServer detects an IP address for the VM. If state is set to absent, this parameter is ignored. This requires XenServer Tools to be preinstalled on the VM to work properly. Choices: no ← (default) yes

Notes

Note

• Minimal supported version of XenServer is 5.6.

• Module was tested with XenServer 6.5, 7.1, 7.2, 7.6, Citrix Hypervisor 8.0, XCP-ng 7.6 and 8.0.

• To acquire XenAPI Python library, just run pip install XenAPI on your Ansible Control Node. The library can also be found inside Citrix Hypervisor/XenServer SDK (downloadable from Citrix website). Copy the XenAPI.py file from the SDK to your Python site-packages on your Ansible Control Node to use it. Latest version of the library can also be acquired from GitHub: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xapi-project/xen-api/master/scripts/examples/python/XenAPI/XenAPI.py

• If no scheme is specified in hostname, module defaults to http:// because https:// is problematic in most setups. Make sure you are accessing XenServer host in trusted environment or use https:// scheme explicitly.

• To use https:// scheme for hostname you have to either import host certificate to your OS certificate store or use validate_certs: no which requires XenAPI library from XenServer 7.2 SDK or newer and Python 2.7.9 or newer.

• Network configuration inside a guest OS, by using networks.type, networks.ip, networks.gateway etc. parameters, is supported on XenServer 7.0 or newer for Windows guests by using official XenServer Guest agent support for network configuration. The module will try to detect if such support is available and utilize it, else it will use a custom method of configuration via xenstore. Since XenServer Guest agent only support None and Static types of network configuration, where None means DHCP configured interface, networks.type and networks.type6 values none and dhcp have same effect. More info here: https://www.citrix.com/community/citrix-developer/citrix-hypervisor-developer/citrix-hypervisor-developing-products/citrix-hypervisor-staticip.html

• On platforms without official support for network configuration inside a guest OS, network parameters will be written to xenstore vm-data/networks/<vif_device> key. Parameters can be inspected by using xenstore ls and xenstore read tools on *nix guests or trough WMI interface on Windows guests. They can also be found in VM facts instance.xenstore_data key as returned by the module. It is up to the user to implement a boot time scripts or custom agent that will read the parameters from xenstore and configure network with given parameters. Take note that for xenstore data to become available inside a guest, a VM restart is needed hence module will require VM restart if any parameter is changed. This is a limitation of XenAPI and xenstore. Considering these limitations, network configuration trough xenstore is most useful for bootstraping newly deployed VMs, much less for reconfiguring existing ones. More info here: https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX226713

Examples

- name: Create a VM from a template
  community.general.xenserver_guest:
    hostname: "{{ xenserver_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ xenserver_username }}"
    password: "{{ xenserver_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    folder: /testvms
    name: testvm_2
    state: poweredon
    template: CentOS 7
    disks:
    - size_gb: 10
      sr: my_sr
    hardware:
      num_cpus: 6
      num_cpu_cores_per_socket: 3
      memory_mb: 512
    cdrom:
      type: iso
      iso_name: guest-tools.iso
    networks:
    - name: VM Network
      mac: aa:bb:dd:aa:00:14
    wait_for_ip_address: yes
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: deploy

- name: Create a VM template
  community.general.xenserver_guest:
    hostname: "{{ xenserver_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ xenserver_username }}"
    password: "{{ xenserver_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    folder: /testvms
    name: testvm_6
    is_template: yes
    disk:
    - size_gb: 10
      sr: my_sr
    hardware:
      memory_mb: 512
      num_cpus: 1
  delegate_to: localhost
  register: deploy

- name: Rename a VM (requires the VM's UUID)
  community.general.xenserver_guest:
    hostname: "{{ xenserver_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ xenserver_username }}"
    password: "{{ xenserver_password }}"
    uuid: 421e4592-c069-924d-ce20-7e7533fab926
    name: new_name
    state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Remove a VM by UUID
  community.general.xenserver_guest:
    hostname: "{{ xenserver_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ xenserver_username }}"
    password: "{{ xenserver_password }}"
    uuid: 421e4592-c069-924d-ce20-7e7533fab926
    state: absent
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Modify custom params (boot order)
  community.general.xenserver_guest:
    hostname: "{{ xenserver_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ xenserver_username }}"
    password: "{{ xenserver_password }}"
    name: testvm_8
    state: present
    custom_params:
    - key: HVM_boot_params
      value: { "order": "ndc" }
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Customize network parameters
  community.general.xenserver_guest:
    hostname: "{{ xenserver_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ xenserver_username }}"
    password: "{{ xenserver_password }}"
    name: testvm_10
    networks:
    - name: VM Network
      ip: 192.168.1.100/24
      gateway: 192.168.1.1
    - type: dhcp
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key	Description
changes list / elements=string	Detected or made changes to VM Returned: always Sample: [{“hardware”: [“num_cpus”]}, {“disks_changed”: [[], [“size”]]}, {“disks_new”: [{“name”: “new-disk”, “name_desc”: “”, “position”: 2, “size_gb”: “4”, “vbd_userdevice”: “2”}]}, {“cdrom”: [“type”, “iso_name”]}, {“networks_changed”: [[“mac”]]}, {“networks_new”: [{“name”: “Pool-wide network associated with eth2”, “position”: 1, “vif_device”: “1”}]}, “need_poweredoff”]
instance dictionary	Metadata about the VM Returned: always Sample: {“cdrom”: {“type”: “none”}, “customization_agent”: “native”, “disks”: [{“name”: “testvm_11-0”, “name_desc”: “”, “os_device”: “xvda”, “size”: 42949672960, “sr”: “Local storage”, “sr_uuid”: “0af1245e-bdb0-ba33-1446-57a962ec4075”, “vbd_userdevice”: “0”}, {“name”: “testvm_11-1”, “name_desc”: “”, “os_device”: “xvdb”, “size”: 42949672960, “sr”: “Local storage”, “sr_uuid”: “0af1245e-bdb0-ba33-1446-57a962ec4075”, “vbd_userdevice”: “1”}], “domid”: “56”, “folder”: “”, “hardware”: {“memory_mb”: 8192, “num_cpu_cores_per_socket”: 2, “num_cpus”: 4}, “home_server”: “”, “is_template”: false, “name”: “testvm_11”, “name_desc”: “”, “networks”: [{“gateway”: “192.168.0.254”, “gateway6”: “fc00::fffe”, “ip”: “192.168.0.200”, “ip6”: [“fe80:0000:0000:0000:e9cb:625a:32c5:c291”, “fc00:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001”], “mac”: “ba:91:3a:48:20:76”, “mtu”: “1500”, “name”: “Pool-wide network associated with eth1”, “netmask”: “255.255.255.128”, “prefix”: “25”, “prefix6”: “64”, “vif_device”: “0”}], “other_config”: {“base_template_name”: “Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)”, “import_task”: “OpaqueRef:e43eb71c-45d6-5351-09ff-96e4fb7d0fa5”, “install-methods”: “cdrom”, “instant”: “true”, “mac_seed”: “f83e8d8a-cfdc-b105-b054-ef5cb416b77e”}, “platform”: {“acpi”: “1”, “apic”: “true”, “cores-per-socket”: “2”, “device_id”: “0002”, “hpet”: “true”, “nx”: “true”, “pae”: “true”, “timeoffset”: “-25200”, “vga”: “std”, “videoram”: “8”, “viridian”: “true”, “viridian_reference_tsc”: “true”, “viridian_time_ref_count”: “true”}, “state”: “poweredon”, “uuid”: “e3c0b2d5-5f05-424e-479c-d3df8b3e7cda”, “xenstore_data”: {“vm-data”: “”}}

Authors

• Bojan Vitnik (@bvitnik)

Collection links

Issue Tracker Repository (Sources) Submit a bug report Request a feature Communication