vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial module – Adds a virtual serial port to the virtual machine.

Note

This module is part of the vmware.vmware_rest collection (version 3.0.1).

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

To use it in a playbook, specify: vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial.

New in vmware.vmware_rest 0.1.0

Synopsis

  • Adds a virtual serial port to the virtual machine.

Requirements

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

  • vSphere 7.0.3 or greater

  • python >= 3.6

  • aiohttp

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

allow_guest_control

boolean

Flag indicating whether the guest can connect and disconnect the device.

If unset, the value is unchanged.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

backing

dictionary

Physical resource backing for the virtual serial port.

If unset, defaults to automatic detection of a suitable host device. Required with state=[‘present’]

Valid attributes are:

  • type (str): This option defines the valid backing types for a virtual serial port. ([‘present’])

    This key is required with [‘present’].

    • Accepted values:

      • FILE

      • HOST_DEVICE

      • NETWORK_CLIENT

      • NETWORK_SERVER

      • PIPE_CLIENT

      • PIPE_SERVER

  • file (str): Path of the file backing the virtual serial port.

This field is optional and it is only relevant when the value of type is FILE. ([‘present’])

  • host_device (str): Name of the device backing the virtual serial port.

If unset, the virtual serial port will be configured to automatically detect a suitable host device. ([‘present’])

  • pipe (str): Name of the pipe backing the virtual serial port.

This field is optional and it is only relevant when the value of type is one of PIPE_SERVER or PIPE_CLIENT. ([‘present’])

  • no_rx_loss (bool): Flag that enables optimized data transfer over the pipe. When the value is true, the host buffers data to prevent data overrun. This allows the virtual machine to read all of the data transferred over the pipe with no data loss.

If unset, defaults to false. ([‘present’])

  • network_location (str): URI specifying the location of the network service backing the virtual serial port.

    • If type is NETWORK_SERVER, this field is the location used by clients to connect to this server. The hostname part of the URI should either be empty or should specify the address of the host on which the virtual machine is running.

    • If type is NETWORK_CLIENT, this field is the location used by the virtual machine to connect to the remote server.

This field is optional and it is only relevant when the value of type is one of NETWORK_SERVER or NETWORK_CLIENT. ([‘present’])

  • proxy (str): Proxy service that provides network access to the network backing. If set, the virtual machine initiates a connection with the proxy service and forwards the traffic to the proxy.

If unset, no proxy service should be used. ([‘present’])

label

string

The name of the item

port

string

Virtual serial port identifier.

The parameter must be the id of a resource returned by vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial. Required with state=[‘absent’, ‘connect’, ‘disconnect’, ‘present’]

session_timeout

float

added in vmware.vmware_rest 2.1.0

Timeout settings for client session.

The maximal number of seconds for the whole operation including connection establishment, request sending and response.

The default value is 300s.

start_connected

boolean

Flag indicating whether the virtual device should be connected whenever the virtual machine is powered on.

If unset, the value is unchanged.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

state

string

Choices:

  • "absent"

  • "connect"

  • "disconnect"

  • "present" ← (default)

vcenter_hostname

string / required

The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter

If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_HOST will be used instead.

vcenter_password

string / required

The vSphere vCenter password

If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_PASSWORD will be used instead.

vcenter_rest_log_file

string

You can use this optional parameter to set the location of a log file.

This file will be used to record the HTTP REST interaction.

The file will be stored on the host that run the module.

If the value is not specified in the task, the value of

environment variable VMWARE_REST_LOG_FILE will be used instead.

vcenter_username

string / required

The vSphere vCenter username

If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable VMWARE_USER will be used instead.

vcenter_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)

vm

string / required

Virtual machine identifier.

The parameter must be the id of a resource returned by vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_info. This parameter is mandatory.

yield_on_poll

boolean

CPU yield behavior. If set to true, the virtual machine will periodically relinquish the processor if its sole task is polling the virtual serial port. The amount of time it takes to regain the processor will depend on the degree of other virtual machine activity on the host.

This field may be modified at any time, and changes applied to a connected virtual serial port take effect immediately.

If unset, the value is unchanged.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

Notes

Note

  • Tested on vSphere 7.0.3

Examples

- name: Look up the VM called test_vm1 in the inventory
  register: search_result
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_info:
    filter_names:
    - test_vm1

- name: Collect information about a specific VM
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_info:
    vm: '{{ search_result.value[0].vm }}'
  register: test_vm1_info

- name: Create a new serial port
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial:
    vm: '{{ test_vm1_info.id }}'
    label: Serial port 2
    allow_guest_control: true
  register: _result

- name: Create another serial port with a label
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial:
    vm: '{{ test_vm1_info.id }}'
    label: Serial port 2
    allow_guest_control: true
  register: _result

- name: Create an existing serial port (label)
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial:
    vm: '{{ test_vm1_info.id }}'
    label: Serial port 1
    allow_guest_control: true
  register: _result

- name: Get an existing serial port (label)
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial_info:
    vm: '{{ test_vm1_info.id }}'
    label: Serial port 1
  register: serial_port_1

- name: Delete an existing serial port (port id)
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial:
    vm: '{{ test_vm1_info.id }}'
    port: '{{ serial_port_1.id }}'
    state: absent
  register: _result

- name: Delete an existing serial port (label)
  vmware.vmware_rest.vcenter_vm_hardware_serial:
    vm: '{{ test_vm1_info.id }}'
    label: Serial port 2
    state: absent
  register: _result

Return Values

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

Key

Description

id

string

moid of the resource

Returned: On success

Sample: "9000"

value

dictionary

Create an existing serial port (label)

Returned: On success

Sample: {"allow_guest_control": 1, "backing": {"auto_detect": 1, "host_device": "", "type": "HOST_DEVICE"}, "label": "Serial port 1", "start_connected": 0, "state": "NOT_CONNECTED", "yield_on_poll": 0}

Authors

  • Ansible Cloud Team (@ansible-collections)