VMware guest deployment using Ansible

-

To deploy VMware guest using ansible a provision server is required from where ansible playbooks need to be executed. Follow the steps as mentioned in how to build ansible provision server for VMware and make the provision server ready.


We will create three yml files to keep:
  • vmware guest deployment code (vsphere_guest_deploy.yml)
  • vmware environment login details (vsphere_creds.yml)
  • variables used for the guest deployment (vsphere_var.yml)

This vsphere_guest_deploy.yml playbook will perform the following tasks:
  • Make sure to have a template in the vCenter Server
  • VM need to be deployed in a dedicated vm folder and resource pool
  • VM folder and resource pool will be created if not available

For this deployment an application user is needed in vCenter which should have required privilege to perform all the above tasks. 

Content of vCenter credentials yml file:


 Content of vCenter variable file:



 Content of vmware guest deployment yml:



Its not a good practice to keep the vCenter credentials in plain text. So using ansible-vault encrypt the file:

# ansible-vault  encrypt  vsphere_creds.yml
   New Vault password: ******
   Confirm New Vault password: ******


Now deploy the vm using ansible playbook:

# ansible-playbook  --ask-vault-pass  vsphere_guest_deploy.yml
Vault password: ********


This should help to deploy a VM in the vCenter using the template mentioned in the playbook and also it will configure the network of the guest vm which can be used to access the vm post deployment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VNC Configuration using Ansible in CentOS 7

-
1. Install epel repo on CentOS 7 system:   # yum install epel-release -y 2. Install ansible using yum:   # yum install ansible -y 3. Go to '/etc/ansible/roles/' directory and run the below command to create the skeleton directory structure:   # ansible-galaxy init vnc7 --offline   # tree vnc7          vnc7     ├── defaults     │   └── main.yml     ├── files     ├── handlers     │   └── main.yml     ├── meta     │   └── main.yml     ├── README.md     ├── tasks     │   └── main.yml     ├── tests     │   ├── inventory     │   └── test.yml     └── vars         └── main.yml 4. Create the service file to allow 'root' user to access the vncserver using port 5901.    In "/etc/ansible/roles/vnc7/files/" directory create a ...
Read more

How to build Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS OVA with vAPP Properties ?

-
Image
This document will explain how to build an Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS ova with vAPP properties enabled. Requirement: VM Deployment access required in vCenter environment. We have used the vCenter Server 6.7 and ESXi 6.5 while documented the below steps 1. Install a ubuntu server 20.04 lts vm with minimal cpu, ram and HDD(as needed). Make your own partition. 2. Use apt-get to upgrade all the packages along with the additional packages that required to install in the vm:      $ sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y 3. Make sure that 'open-vm-tools' and 'ifupdown' package is installed in the vm:       $ sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools  -y       $ sudo apt-get install ifupdown  -y 4. Take the console of the vm and stop, disable and mask the Network Manager service:       $ systemctl  stop  NetworkManager.service       $ systemctl  disable NetworkManager.service     ...
Read more

LVM Configuration using Ansible in CentOS 7

-
1. Install epel repo on CentOS 7 system:   # yum install epel-release -y 2. Install ansible using yum:   # yum install ansible -y   3. Open '/etc/ansible/hosts' file and make a group called 'dbhosts' to add two hosts in it:   # vi  /etc/ansible/hosts   [dbhosts]    host1.example.com    host2.example.com  4. Configure passwordless ssh to both host1 & host2 from ansible server:   # ssh-keygen Generating public/private rsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/root/.ssh/id_rsa): Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: ce:7d:fd:65:4e:61:4e:a9:09:61:90:d2:75:1b:d1:1d root@server.example.com The key's randomart image is: +--[ RSA 2048]----+ |        ..o. +oEo| |       . o. . o..| | ...
Read more