VMware Deploy OVA Role

Overview

This role lets you import an OVA/OVF template into a VMware vCenter Server or an ESXi host.

Requirements

• Python version 2.6 or higher
• PyVmomi Library

Role Variables

Default Settings (from defaults/main.yml)

• ova_source: Choose where to get the OVA file:

  • local: Use a file from your system (set by ova_path).
  • http: Download the file (set by ova_url).

  Example:

  ova_source: "local"
  

• ova_validate_certs: Enable certificate validation when importing the OVA.

  ova_validate_certs: no
  

• ova_allow_duplicates: Allow multiple OVA imports with the same name.

  ova_allow_duplicates: no
  

• ova_power_on_after_deploy: Power on the appliance after import.

  ova_power_on_after_deploy: yes
  

• ova_wait_for_ip_address: Wait for the IP address to show up in vCenter after powering on the OVA.

  ova_wait_for_ip_address: no
  

• ova_deployment_disk_type: Default disk format for the OVA.

  ova_deployment_disk_type: thin
  

• Hardware Configurations:

  ova_hardware_hotadd_cpu_enabled: true
  ova_hardware_hotadd_mem_enabled: true
  

Required Parameters (Set as extra vars, group_vars, or host_vars)

• OVA Deployment Variables:

  ova_deployment_hostname: "vcenter/esxi hostname"
  ova_deployment_username: "vcenter/esxi username"
  ova_deployment_password: "vcenter/esxi password"
  

• Target Datastore (datastore clusters are not supported):

  ova_deployment_datastore: "datastore"
  

• Additional vCenter Server Configurations (if required):

  ova_deployment_datacenter: "vcenter datacenter"
  ova_deployment_cluster: "vcenter cluster"
  ova_deployment_folder: "vcenter folder"
  

Mandatory Global Variables

• OVA Configuration: Set the name of the OVA file:

  ova_file: "ova_file.ova"
  

  Specify the local path to the OVA file (no leading /):

  ova_path: "/path/to/ova_file"
  

Optional Global Variables

• OVA Download Configuration: URL for the OVA file (if source is 'http', no leading /):

  ova_url: "http[s]://example.com/ovas"
  

Mandatory Variables for Roles Using This Role

• OVA Properties: Define network properties:

  ova_networks:
    "key": "value"
  

  Example:

  ova_networks:
    "Network 1": "label"
  

  Define additional OVA properties:

  ova_properties:
    "key": "value"
  

  Example:

  ova_properties:
    "guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.addr.family": "ipv4"
    "guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.mode": "static"
  

Optional Variables for Roles Using This Role

• Deployment Option:

  ova_deployment_option: "option"
  

• OVA vApp Properties: List of dictionaries with user-configurable properties:

  vapp_properties: 
    - id: guestinfo.cis.deployment.node.type
      type: string
      value: "embedded"
      userConfigurable: true
  

Hardware Configuration

• Number of CPU sockets:

  ova_hardware_num_cpus: 2
  

• Amount of memory (in GB):

  ova_hardware_mem_gb: 6
  

• Define disks to add:

  ova_hardware_disks:
    - size_gb: 2
      type: thin # Hard Disk 1
    - size_gb: 4
      type: thin # Hard Disk 2
  

• Define networks to add:

  ova_hardware_networks:
    - name: "network label"  # nic 1
    - name: "network label"  # nic 2
  

Example Playbook

This role is meant to be used alongside higher-level roles.