community.vmware.vmware_export_ovf module – Exports a VMware virtual machine to an OVF file, device files and a manifest file

Note

This module is part of the community.vmware collection (version 5.2.0).

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_export_ovf.

Synopsis

  • This module can be used to export a VMware virtual machine to OVF template from vCenter server or ESXi host.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

datacenter

string

Datacenter name of the virtual machine to export.

Default: "ha-datacenter"

download_timeout

integer

The user defined timeout in second of exporting file.

If the vmdk file is too large, you can increase the value.

Default: 30

export_dir

path / required

Absolute path to place the exported files on the server running this task, must have write permission.

If folder not exist will create it, also create a folder under this path named with VM name.

export_with_extraconfig

boolean

All extra configuration options are exported for a virtual machine.

Choices:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

export_with_images

boolean

Export an ISO image of the media mounted on the CD/DVD Drive within the virtual machine.

Choices:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

folder

string

Destination folder, absolute path to find the specified guest.

The folder should include the datacenter. ESX datacenter is ha-datacenter.

If multiple machines are found with same name, this parameter is used to identify

Examples:

folder: /ha-datacenter/vm

folder: ha-datacenter/vm

folder: /datacenter1/vm

folder: datacenter1/vm

folder: /datacenter1/vm/folder1

folder: datacenter1/vm/folder1

folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm

folder: folder1/datacenter1/vm

folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm/folder2

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.

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 to export.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

uuid

string

Uuid of the virtual machine to export.

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.

Choices:

  • false

  • true ← (default)

Notes

Note

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

  • All variables and VMware object names are case sensitive.

Examples

- community.vmware.vmware_export_ovf:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    name: '{{ vm_name }}'
    export_with_images: true
    export_dir: /path/to/ovf_template/
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

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

Key

Description

instance

dictionary

list of the exported files, if exported from vCenter server, device file is not named with vm name

Returned: always

Sample: "None"

Authors

  • Diane Wang (@Tomorrow9)