Getting Started With VMware¶

New in version 2015.5.4.

Author: Nitin Madhok <nmadhok@clemson.edu>

The VMware cloud module allows you to manage VMware ESX, ESXi, and vCenter.

Dependencies¶

The vmware module for Salt Cloud requires the pyVmomi package, which is available at PyPI:

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyvmomi

This package can be installed using pip or easy_install:

pip install pyvmomi
easy_install pyvmomi

Configuration¶

The VMware cloud module needs the vCenter URL, username and password to be set up in the cloud configuration at /etc/salt/cloud.providers or /etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/vmware.conf:

my-vmware-config:
  provider: vmware
  user: 'DOMAIN\user'
  password: 'verybadpass'
  url: '10.20.30.40'

vcenter01:
  provider: vmware
  user: 'DOMAIN\user'
  password: 'verybadpass'
  url: 'vcenter01.domain.com'
  protocol: 'https'
  port: 443

vcenter02:
  provider: vmware
  user: 'DOMAIN\user'
  password: 'verybadpass'
  url: 'vcenter02.domain.com'
  protocol: 'http'
  port: 80

Note

Optionally, protocol and port can be specified if the vCenter server is not using the defaults. Default is protocol: https and port: 443.

Profiles¶

Set up an initial profile at /etc/salt/cloud.profiles or /etc/salt/cloud.profiles.d/vmware.conf:

vmware-centos6.5:
  provider: vcenter01
  clonefrom: test-vm

  ## Optional arguments
  num_cpus: 4
  memory: 8GB
  devices:
    cd:
      CD/DVD drive 1:
        device_type: datastore_iso_file
        iso_path: "[nap004-1] vmimages/tools-isoimages/linux.iso"
      CD/DVD drive 2:
        device_type: client_device
        mode: atapi
      CD/DVD drive 3:
        device_type: client_device
        mode: passthrough
    disk:
      Hard disk 1:
        size: 30
      Hard disk 2:
        size: 20
      Hard disk 3:
        size: 5
    network:
      Network adapter 1:
        name: 10.20.30-400-Test
        switch_type: standard
        ip: 10.20.30.123
        gateway: [10.20.30.110]
        subnet_mask: 255.255.255.128
        domain: mycompany.com
      Network adapter 2:
        name: 10.30.40-500-Dev-DHCP
        adapter_type: e1000
        switch_type: distributed
      Network adapter 3:
        name: 10.40.50-600-Prod
        adapter_type: vmxnet3
        switch_type: distributed
        ip: 10.40.50.123
        gateway: [10.40.50.110]
        subnet_mask: 255.255.255.128
        domain: mycompany.com
    scsi:
      SCSI controller 1:
        type: lsilogic
      SCSI controller 2:
        type: lsilogic_sas
        bus_sharing: virtual
      SCSI controller 3:
        type: paravirtual
        bus_sharing: physical

  domain: mycompany.com
  dns_servers:
    - 123.127.255.240
    - 123.127.255.241
    - 123.127.255.242

  # If cloning from template, either resourcepool or cluster MUST be specified!
  resourcepool: Resources
  cluster: Prod

  datastore: HUGE-DATASTORE-Cluster
  folder: Development
  datacenter: DC1
  host: c4212n-002.domain.com
  template: False
  power_on: True
  extra_config:
    mem.hotadd: 'yes'
    guestinfo.foo: bar
    guestinfo.domain: foobar.com
    guestinfo.customVariable: customValue

  deploy: True
  private_key: /root/.ssh/mykey.pem
  ssh_username: cloud-user
  password: veryVeryBadPassword
  minion:
    master: 123.127.193.105

  file_map:
    /path/to/local/custom/script: /path/to/remote/script
    /path/to/local/file: /path/to/remote/file
    /srv/salt/yum/epel.repo: /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo

provider

Enter the name that was specified when the cloud provider config was created.

clonefrom

Enter the name of the VM/template to clone from.

num_cpus

Enter the number of vCPUS that you want the VM/template to have. If not specified, the current VM/template's vCPU count is used.

memory

Enter the memory size (in MB or GB) that you want the VM/template to have. If not specified, the current VM/template's memory size is used. Example memory: 8GB or memory: 8192MB.

devices

Enter the device specifications here. Currently, the following devices can be created or reconfigured:

cd

Enter the CD/DVD drive specification here. If the CD/DVD drive doesn't exist, it will be created with the specified configuration. If the CD/DVD drive already exists, it will be reconfigured with the specifications. The following options can be specified per CD/DVD drive:

device_type: Specify how the CD/DVD drive should be used. Currently supported types are client_device and datastore_iso_file. Default is device_type: client_device
iso_path: Enter the path to the iso file present on the datastore only if device_type: datastore_iso_file. The syntax to specify this is iso_path: "[datastoreName] vmimages/tools-isoimages/linux.iso". This field is ignored if device_type: client_device
mode: Enter the mode of connection only if device_type: client_device. Currently supported modes are passthrough and atapi. This field is ignored if device_type: datastore_iso_file. Default is mode: passthrough

disk

Enter the disk specification here. If the hard disk doesn't exist, it will be created with the provided size. If the hard disk already exists, it will be expanded if the provided size is greater than the current size of the disk.

network

Enter the network adapter specification here. If the network adapter doesn't exist, a new network adapter will be created with the specified network name, type and other configuration. If the network adapter already exists, it will be reconfigured with the specifications. The following additional options can be specified per network adapter (See example above):

name: Enter the network name you want the network adapter to be mapped to.
adapter_type: Enter the network adapter type you want to create. Currently supported types are vmxnet, vmxnet2, vmxnet3, e1000 and e1000e. If no type is specified, by default vmxnet3 will be used.
switch_type: Enter the type of switch to use. This decides whether to use a standard switch network or a distributed virtual portgroup. Currently supported types are standard for standard portgroups and distributed for distributed virtual portgroups.
ip: Enter the static IP you want the network adapter to be mapped to. If the network specified is DHCP enabled, you do not have to specify this.
gateway: Enter the gateway for the network as a list. If the network specified is DHCP enabled, you do not have to specify this.
subnet_mask: Enter the subnet mask for the network. If the network specified is DHCP enabled, you do not have to specify this.
domain: Enter the domain to be used with the network adapter. If the network specified is DHCP enabled, you do not have to specify this.

scsi

Enter the SCSI adapter specification here. If the SCSI adapter doesn't exist, a new SCSI adapter will be created of the specified type. If the SCSI adapter already exists, it will be reconfigured with the specifications. The following additional options can be specified per SCSI adapter:

type

Enter the SCSI adapter type you want to create. Currently supported types are lsilogic, lsilogic_sas and paravirtual. Type must be specified when creating a new SCSI adapter.

bus_sharing

Specify this if sharing of virtual disks between virtual machines is desired. The following can be specified:

virtual: Virtual disks can be shared between virtual machines on the same server.
physical: Virtual disks can be shared between virtual machines on any server.
no: Virtual disks cannot be shared between virtual machines.

domain

Enter the global domain name to be used for DNS. If not specified and if the VM name is a FQDN, domain is set to the domain from the VM name. Default is local.

dns_servers

Enter the list of DNS servers to use in order of priority.

resourcepool

Enter the name of the resourcepool to which the new virtual machine should be attached. This determines what compute resources will be available to the clone.

Note

For a clone operation from a virtual machine, it will use the same resourcepool as the original virtual machine unless specified.
For a clone operation from a template to a virtual machine, specifying either this or cluster is required. If both are specified, the resourcepool value will be used.
For a clone operation to a template, this argument is ignored.

cluster

Enter the name of the cluster whose resource pool the new virtual machine should be attached to.

Note

For a clone operation from a virtual machine, it will use the same cluster's resourcepool as the original virtual machine unless specified.
For a clone operation from a template to a virtual machine, specifying either this or resourcepool is required. If both are specified, the resourcepool value will be used.
For a clone operation to a template, this argument is ignored.

datastore

Enter the name of the datastore or the datastore cluster where the virtual machine should be located on physical storage. If not specified, the current datastore is used.

Note

If you specify a datastore cluster name, DRS Storage recommendation is automatically applied.
If you specify a datastore name, DRS Storage recommendation is disabled.

folder

Enter the name of the folder that will contain the new virtual machine.

Note

For a clone operation from a VM/template, the new VM/template will be added to the same folder that the original VM/template belongs to unless specified.
If both folder and datacenter are specified, the folder value will be used.

datacenter

Enter the name of the datacenter that will contain the new virtual machine.

Note

For a clone operation from a VM/template, the new VM/template will be added to the same folder that the original VM/template belongs to unless specified.
If both folder and datacenter are specified, the folder value will be used.

host

Enter the name of the target host where the virtual machine should be registered.

If not specified:

Note

If resource pool is not specified, current host is used.
If resource pool is specified, and the target pool represents a stand-alone host, the host is used.
If resource pool is specified, and the target pool represents a DRS-enabled cluster, a host selected by DRS is used.
If resource pool is specified and the target pool represents a cluster without DRS enabled, an InvalidArgument exception be thrown.

template

Specifies whether the new virtual machine should be marked as a template or not. Default is template: False.

power_on

Specifies whether the new virtual machine should be powered on or not. If template: True is set, this field is ignored. Default is power_on: True.

extra_config

Specifies the additional configuration information for the virtual machine. This describes a set of modifications to the additional options. If the key is already present, it will be reset with the new value provided. Otherwise, a new option is added. Keys with empty values will be removed.

deploy

Specifies if salt should be installed on the newly created VM. Default is True so salt will be installed using the bootstrap script. If template: True or power_on: False is set, this field is ignored and salt will not be installed.

private_key

Specify the path to the private key to use to be able to ssh to the VM.

ssh_username

Specify the username to use in order to ssh to the VM. Default is root

password

Specify a password to use in order to ssh to the VM. If private_key is specified, you do not need to specify this.

minion

Specify custom minion configuration you want the salt minion to have. A good example would be to specify the master as the IP/DNS name of the master.

file_map

Specify file/files you want to copy to the VM before the bootstrap script is run and salt is installed. A good example of using this would be if you need to put custom repo files on the server in case your server will be in a private network and cannot reach external networks.