community.vmware.vmware_vswitch module – Manage a VMware Standard Switch to an ESXi host.

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_vswitch.

Synopsis

  • This module can be used to add, remove and update a VMware Standard Switch to an ESXi host.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

esxi_hostname

aliases: host

string

Manage the vSwitch using this ESXi host system.

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.

mtu

integer

MTU to configure on vSwitch.

Default: 1500

nics

aliases: nic_name

list / elements=string

A list of vmnic names or vmnic name to attach to vSwitch.

Alias nics is added in version 2.4.

Default: []

number_of_ports

integer

Number of port to configure on vSwitch.

Default: 128

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.

security

aliases: security_policy, network_policy

dictionary

added in community.vmware 2.4.0

Network policy specifies layer 2 security settings for a portgroup such as promiscuous mode, where guest adapter listens to all the packets, MAC address changes and forged transmits.

Dict which configures the different security values for portgroup.

forged_transmits

boolean

Indicates whether forged transmits are allowed.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

mac_changes

boolean

Indicates whether mac changes are allowed.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

promiscuous_mode

boolean

Indicates whether promiscuous mode is allowed.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

state

string

Add or remove the switch.

Choices:

  • "absent"

  • "present" ← (default)

switch

aliases: switch_name

string / required

vSwitch name to add.

Alias switch is added in version 2.4.

teaming

aliases: teaming_policy

dictionary

added in community.vmware 2.4.0

Dictionary which configures the different teaming values for portgroup.

active_adapters

list / elements=string

List of active adapters used for load balancing.

All vmnics are used as active adapters if active_adapters and standby_adapters are not defined.

failback

boolean

Indicate whether or not to use a failback when restoring links.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

load_balancing

aliases: load_balance_policy

string

Network adapter teaming policy.

Choices:

  • "loadbalance_ip"

  • "loadbalance_srcmac"

  • "loadbalance_srcid"

  • "failover_explicit"

network_failure_detection

string

Network failure detection.

Choices:

  • "link_status_only"

  • "beacon_probing"

notify_switches

boolean

Indicate whether or not to notify the physical switch if a link fails.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

standby_adapters

list / elements=string

List of standby adapters used for failover.

All vmnics are used as active adapters if active_adapters and standby_adapters are not defined.

traffic_shaping

dictionary

added in community.vmware 2.4.0

Dictionary which configures traffic shaping for the switch.

average_bandwidth

integer

Average bandwidth (kbit/s).

burst_size

integer

Burst size (KB).

enabled

boolean

Status of Traffic Shaping Policy.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

peak_bandwidth

integer

Peak bandwidth (kbit/s).

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 a VMware vSwitch
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    switch: vswitch_name
    nics: vmnic_name
    mtu: 9000
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add a VMware vSwitch without any physical NIC attached
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    switch: vswitch_0001
    mtu: 9000
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add a VMware vSwitch with multiple NICs
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    switch: vmware_vswitch_0004
    nics:
    - vmnic1
    - vmnic2
    mtu: 9000
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add a VMware vSwitch to a specific host system
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_hostname: DC0_H0
    switch_name: vswitch_001
    nic_name: vmnic0
    mtu: 9000
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add a VMware vSwitch to a specific host system with Promiscuous Mode Enabled
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_hostname: DC0_H0
    switch_name: vswitch_001
    nic_name: vmnic0
    mtu: 9000
    security:
        promiscuous_mode: true
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add a VMware vSwitch to a specific host system with active/standby teaming
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_hostname: DC0_H0
    switch_name: vswitch_001
    nic_name:
      - vmnic0
      - vmnic1
    teaming:
      active_adapters:
        - vmnic0
      standby_adapters:
        - vmnic1
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Add a VMware vSwitch to a specific host system with traffic shaping
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_hostname: DC0_H0
    switch_name: vswitch_001
    nic_name:
      - vmnic0
      - vmnic1
    traffic_shaping:
        enabled: true
        average_bandwidth: 100000
        peak_bandwidth: 100000
        burst_size: 102400
  delegate_to: localhost

- name: Delete a VMware vSwitch in a specific host system
  community.vmware.vmware_vswitch:
    hostname: '{{ esxi_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ esxi_username }}'
    password: '{{ esxi_password }}'
    esxi_hostname: DC0_H0
    switch_name: vswitch_001
    state: absent
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key

Description

result

string

information about performed operation

Returned: always

Sample: "vSwitch 'vSwitch_1002' is created successfully"

Authors

  • Joseph Callen (@jcpowermac)

  • Russell Teague (@mtnbikenc)

  • Abhijeet Kasurde (@Akasurde)