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Ansible VMware FAQ

vmware_guest

Can I deploy a virtual machine on a standalone ESXi server ?

Yes. vmware_guest can deploy a virtual machine with required settings on a standalone ESXi server. However, you must have a paid license to deploy virtual machines this way. If you are using the free version, the API is read-only.

Is /vm required for vmware_guest module ?

Prior to Ansible version 2.5, folder was an optional parameter with a default value of /vm.

The folder parameter was used to discover information about virtual machines in the given infrastructure.

Starting with Ansible version 2.5, folder is still an optional parameter with no default value. This parameter will be now used to identify a user’s virtual machine, if multiple virtual machines or virtual machine templates are found with same name. VMware does not restrict the system administrator from creating virtual machines with same name.