vmware_deploy_vcsa

=========

This role helps you deploy the VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) using an OVA file.

Configuration options include:

• Set or change the root account's expiry date (or set it to never expire).
• Configure Syslog (for logging).
• Connect the appliance to an Active Directory (AD) domain and set up identity sources.
• Import CA Signed Certificates for secure connections.
• Adjust general settings and statistics for vCenter.
• Start and stop services as needed.
• Manage global permissions and user roles.
• Assign a vCenter License.
• Create Datacenters and Clusters, and configure high availability (HA), Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), and vSAN features.
• Add ESXi hosts and assign licenses.

Supported Versions

• VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.5
• VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.7

Requirements

• Python version should be 2.6 or higher.
• PyVmomi library is required.

Role Variables

Mandatory Parameters (in host_vars):

Network Configuration

Define the network settings for the appliance:

network_ip_address: "x.x.x.x"
network_label: "VM Network"
network_prefix: "xx"
network_gateway: "x.x.x.x"

Credentials

Set the SSH admin username and password:

vcsa_admin_username: "root"
vcsa_admin_password: "VMwar3!!"

Set the SSO Administrator username and password:

vcsa_sso_username: "[email protected]"
vcsa_sso_password: "VMwar3!!"

Define Ansible connection variables:

ansible_user: "{{ vcsa_admin_username }}"
ansible_password: "{{ vcsa_admin_password }}"
ansible_host: "{{ network_ip_address }}"

Additional Mandatory Parameters (as extra vars or in group_vars):

OVA Deployment Variables

Define variables for deployment:

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

Specify the target datastore (note: datastore clusters aren't supported):

ova_deployment_datastore: "datastore"

For vCenter Server deployment, specify:

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

OVA Configuration

Set the OVA file name and local path:

ova_file: "ova_file.ova"
ova_path: "/path/to/ova_file"

DNS Configuration

Define the DNS domain and servers:

dns_domain: "example.com"
dns_servers:
  - "x.x.x.x"
  - "x.x.x.x"

Optional Parameters (as extra vars or in group_vars):

OVA Download URL

Specify the OVA file URL if using HTTP:

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

Root Account Settings

Set root account expiration policies:

vcsa_root_expiration_disable: no
vcsa_root_expiration_days: 90

Import CA Certificates

To use CA signed certificates:

vcsa_use_signed_certificate: no

Ensure corresponding certificates are placed in files/certs folder.

Active Directory Membership

Join the appliance to an AD domain:

vcsa_join_to_domain: no

When set to yes, configure:

vcsa_ad_dom_join_domain: "ad.domain.local"
vcsa_ad_dom_join_username: "[email protected]"
vcsa_ad_dom_join_password: "VMwar3!!"
vcsa_ad_dom_join_ou: "CN=Computers,DC=AD,DC=DOMAIN,DC=LOCAL"  # Optional

Apply vCenter License

Set vCenter License key:

vcsa_license_key: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Manage vCenter Services

Specify services to start and stop:

vcsa_services_to_start:
  - updatemgr
  - vsphere-ui

vcsa_services_to_stop:
  - rbd
  - imagebuilder

vCenter Permissions

Define global roles and groups:

vcsa_global_admin_groups:
  - "vSphere-Gloabl-Admins"
vcsa_vcenter_admin_groups:
  - "vSphere-Admins"
vcsa_vcenter_readonly_groups:
  - "vSphere-ReadOnly"

vCenter Settings

Configure settings for database, runtime, user directories, mail servers, and logging:

vcsa_database_max_connections: 50
vcsa_normal_operations_timeout: 30
vcsa_logging_level: "info"

Inventory Configuration

Define datacenters, clusters, and ESXi hosts to be created:

vcsa_datacenters:
  - DC1
  - DC2

vcsa_clusters:
  - name: "Cluster-01"
    datacenter: "DC1"
    enable_ha: yes

Additional Default Variables

Common variables include NTP servers and HTTP API settings:

ntp_servers:
  - "0.pool.ntp.org"
  - "1.pool.ntp.org"

Dependencies

- { role: simplygeekuk.vmware_deploy_ova, tags: [ 'deploy' ] }

Example Playbook

- hosts: vcsa_appliances
  become: no
  gather_facts: False
  roles:
    - simplygeekuk.vmware_deploy_vcsa

License

MIT

Author Information

Gavin Stephens (https://www.simplygeek.co.uk)