community.vmware.vmware_host module – Add, remove, or move an ESXi host to, from, or within vCenter

Note

This module is part of the community.vmware collection (version 2.10.2).

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. You need further requirements to be able to use this module, see Requirements for details.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.vmware.vmware_host.

Synopsis

  • This module can be used to add, reconnect, or remove an ESXi host to or from vCenter.

  • This module can also be used to move an ESXi host to a cluster or folder, or vice versa, within the same datacenter.

Requirements

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

  • ssl

  • socket

  • hashlib

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

add_connected

boolean

If set to True, then the host should be connected as soon as it is added.

This parameter is ignored if state is set to a value other than present.

Choices:

  • false

  • true ← (default)

cluster_name

aliases: cluster

string

Name of the cluster to add the host.

If folder is not set, then this parameter is required.

Aliases added in version 2.6.

datacenter_name

aliases: datacenter

string / required

Name of the datacenter to add the host.

Aliases added in version 2.6.

esxi_hostname

string / required

ESXi hostname to manage.

esxi_password

string

ESXi password.

Required for adding a host.

Optional for reconnect.

Unused for removing.

No longer a required parameter from version 2.5.

esxi_ssl_thumbprint

aliases: ssl_thumbprint

string

Specifying the hostsystem certificate’s thumbprint.

Use following command to get hostsystem certificate’s thumbprint -

# openssl x509 -in /etc/vmware/ssl/rui.crt -fingerprint -sha1 -noout

Only used if fetch_thumbprint isn’t set to true.

Default: ""

esxi_username

string

ESXi username.

Required for adding a host.

Optional for reconnect. If both esxi_username and esxi_password are used

Unused for removing.

No longer a required parameter from version 2.5.

fetch_ssl_thumbprint

boolean

Fetch the thumbprint of the host’s SSL certificate.

This basically disables the host certificate verification (check if it was signed by a recognized CA).

Disable this option if you want to allow only hosts with valid certificates to be added to vCenter.

If this option is set to false and the certificate can’t be verified, an add or reconnect will fail.

Unused when esxi_ssl_thumbprint is set.

Optional for reconnect, but only used if esxi_username and esxi_password are used.

Unused for removing.

Choices:

  • false

  • true ← (default)

folder

aliases: folder_name

string

Name of the folder under which host to add.

If cluster_name is not set, then this parameter is required.

For example, if there is a datacenter ‘dc1’ under folder called ‘Site1’ then, this value will be ‘/Site1/dc1/host’.

Here ‘host’ is an invisible folder under VMware Web Client.

Another example, if there is a nested folder structure like ‘/myhosts/india/pune’ under datacenter ‘dc2’, then folder value will be ‘/dc2/host/myhosts/india/pune’.

Other Examples: ‘/Site2/dc2/Asia-Cluster/host’ or ‘/dc3/Asia-Cluster/host’

force_connection

boolean

Force the connection if the host is already being managed by another vCenter server.

Choices:

  • false

  • true ← (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.

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.

reconnect_disconnected

boolean

Reconnect disconnected hosts.

This is only used if state is set to present and if the host already exists.

Choices:

  • false

  • true ← (default)

state

string

If set to present, add the host if host is absent.

If set to present, update the location of the host if host already exists.

If set to absent, remove the host if host is present.

If set to absent, do nothing if host already does not exists.

If set to add_or_reconnect, add the host if it’s absent else reconnect it and update the location.

If set to reconnect, then reconnect the host if it’s present and update the location.

If set to disconnected, disconnect the host if the host already exists.

Choices:

  • "present" ← (default)

  • "absent"

  • "add_or_reconnect"

  • "reconnect"

  • "disconnected"

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.

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:

  • false

  • true ← (default)

Notes

Note

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

Examples

- name: Add ESXi Host to vCenter
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add ESXi Host to vCenter under a specific folder
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    folder: '/Site2/Asia-Cluster/host'
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: present
    add_connected: True
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Reconnect ESXi Host (with username/password set)
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    state: reconnect
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Reconnect ESXi Host (with default username/password)
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    state: reconnect
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add ESXi Host with SSL Thumbprint to vCenter
  community.vmware.vmware_host:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    datacenter: datacenter_name
    cluster: cluster_name
    esxi_hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    esxi_username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    esxi_password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_ssl_thumbprint: "3C:A5:60:6F:7A:B7:C4:6C:48:28:3D:2F:A5:EC:A3:58:13:88:F6:DD"
    state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key

Description

result

string

metadata about the new host system added

Returned: on successful addition

Sample: "Host already connected to vCenter 'vcenter01' in cluster 'cluster01'"

Authors

  • Joseph Callen (@jcpowermac)

  • Russell Teague (@mtnbikenc)

  • Maxime de Roucy (@tchernomax)

  • Christian Kotte (@ckotte)