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.. _vmware_ansible_inventory_using_hostnames:
*************************************************
Using VMware dynamic inventory plugin - Hostnames
*************************************************
.. contents:: Topics
VMware dynamic inventory plugin - Customizing hostnames
=======================================================
VMware inventory plugin allows you to configure hostnames using the ``hostnames`` configuration parameter.
In this scenario guide we will see how you configure hostnames from the given VMware guest in the inventory.
Requirements
------------
To use the VMware dynamic inventory plugins, you must install `pyVmomi <https://github.com/vmware/pyvmomi>`_
on your control node (the host running Ansible).
To include tag-related information for the virtual machines in your dynamic inventory, you also need the `vSphere Automation SDK <https://code.vmware.com/web/sdk/65/vsphere-automation-python>`_, which supports REST API features such as tagging and content libraries, on your control node.
You can install the ``vSphere Automation SDK`` following `these instructions <https://github.com/vmware/vsphere-automation-sdk-python#installing-required-python-packages>`_.
.. code-block:: bash
$ pip install pyvmomi
Starting in Ansible 2.10, the VMware dynamic inventory plugin is available in the ``community.vmware`` collection included Ansible.
To install the latest ``community.vmware`` collection:
.. code-block:: bash
$ ansible-galaxy collection install community.vmware
To use this VMware dynamic inventory plugin:
1. Enable it first by specifying the following in the ``ansible.cfg`` file:
.. code-block:: ini
[inventory]
enable_plugins = community.vmware.vmware_vm_inventory
2. Create a file that ends in ``.vmware.yml`` or ``.vmware.yaml`` in your working directory.
The ``vmware_vm_inventory`` inventory plugin takes in the same authentication information as any other VMware modules does.
Here's an example of a valid inventory file with custom hostname for the given VMware guest:
.. code-block:: yaml
plugin: community.vmware.vmware_vm_inventory
strict: False
hostname: 10.65.223.31
username: administrator@vsphere.local
password: Esxi@123$%
validate_certs: False
with_tags: False
hostnames:
- config.name
Here, we have configured a custom hostname by setting the ``hostnames`` parameter to ``config.name``. This will retrieve
the ``config.name`` property from the virtual machine and populate it in the inventory.
You can check all allowed properties for the given virtual machine at :ref:`vmware_inventory_vm_attributes`.
Executing ``ansible-inventory --list -i <filename>.vmware.yml`` will create a list of the virtual machines that are ready to be configured using Ansible.
What to expect
--------------
You will notice that instead of default behavior of representing the hostname as ``config.name + _ + config.uuid``,
the inventory hosts show value as ``config.name``.
.. code-block:: yaml
{
"_meta": {
"hostvars": {
"template_001": {
"config.name": "template_001",
"guest.toolsRunningStatus": "guestToolsNotRunning",
...
"guest.toolsStatus": "toolsNotInstalled",
"name": "template_001"
},
"vm_8046": {
"config.name": "vm_8046",
"guest.toolsRunningStatus": "guestToolsNotRunning",
...
"guest.toolsStatus": "toolsNotInstalled",
"name": "vm_8046"
},
...
}
Troubleshooting
---------------
If the custom property specified in ``hostnames`` fails:
- Check if the values provided for username and password are correct.
- Make sure it is a valid property, see :ref:`vmware_inventory_vm_attributes`.
- Use ``strict: True`` to get more information about the error.
- Please make sure that you are using latest version VMware collection.
.. seealso::
`pyVmomi <https://github.com/vmware/pyvmomi>`_
The GitHub Page of pyVmomi
`pyVmomi Issue Tracker <https://github.com/vmware/pyvmomi/issues>`_
The issue tracker for the pyVmomi project
`vSphere Automation SDK GitHub Page <https://github.com/vmware/vsphere-automation-sdk-python>`_
The GitHub Page of vSphere Automation SDK for Python
`vSphere Automation SDK Issue Tracker <https://github.com/vmware/vsphere-automation-sdk-python/issues>`_
The issue tracker for vSphere Automation SDK for Python
:ref:`vmware_inventory_vm_attributes`
Using Virtual machine attributes in VMware dynamic inventory plugin
:ref:`working_with_playbooks`
An introduction to playbooks
:ref:`playbooks_vault`
Using Vault in playbooks
|
