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

Note

This module is part of the community.vmware collection (version 3.7.0).

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

  • 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:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

pipe_name

string

Pipe name for the host pipe.

Required when backing_type=pipe.

proxy_uri

string

added in community.vmware 3.7.0

Identifies a vSPC proxy service that provides network access to the service_uri.

If you specify a proxy URI, the virtual machine initiates a connection with the proxy service and forwards the serviceURI and direction to the proxy.

The Use Virtual Serial Port Concentrator option is automatically enabled when proxy_uri is set.

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:

  • 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.

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:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

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:

  • false

  • true ← (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

# Create vSPC port
- name: Create network serial port with vSPC
  community.vmware.vmware_guest_serial_port:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    name: "test_vm1"
    backings:
    - type: 'network'
      direction: 'server'
      service_uri: 'vSPC.py'
      proxy_uri: 'telnets://<host>:<port>'
      yield_on_poll: true

# 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)