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# vmware_vm_shell – Run commands in a VMware guest operating system

- Synopsis

- Requirements

- Parameters

- Notes

- Examples

- Return Values

- Status

## Synopsis

- Module allows user to run common system administration commands in the guest operating system.

## Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

- python >= 2.6

- PyVmomi

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
cluster string |  | The cluster hosting the virtual machine. If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
datacenter string |  | The datacenter hosting the virtual machine. If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
folder string added in 2.4 |  | Destination folder, absolute or relative path to find an existing guest or create the new guest. The folder should include the datacenter. ESX's datacenter is ha-datacenter. Examples: folder: /ha-datacenter/vm folder: ha-datacenter/vm folder: /datacenter1/vm folder: datacenter1/vm folder: /datacenter1/vm/folder1 folder: datacenter1/vm/folder1 folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm folder: folder1/datacenter1/vm folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm/folder2
hostname string |  | The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_HOST` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
password string |  | The password of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PASSWORD` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. aliases: pass, pwd
port integer added in 2.5 | Default: 443 | The port number of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PORT` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
proxy_host string added in 2.9 |  | Address of a proxy that will receive all HTTPS requests and relay them. The format is a hostname or a IP. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PROXY_HOST` will be used instead. This feature depends on a version of pyvmomi greater than v6.7.1.2018.12
proxy_port integer added in 2.9 |  | Port of the HTTP proxy that will receive all HTTPS requests and relay them. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PROXY_PORT` will be used instead.
timeout integer added in 2.7 | Default: 3600 | Timeout in seconds. If set to positive integers, then `wait_for_process` will honor this parameter and will exit after this timeout.
username string |  | The username of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_USER` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. aliases: admin, user
validate_certs boolean | Choices: no yes ← | Allows connection when SSL certificates are not valid. Set to `false` when certificates are not trusted. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. If set to `yes`, please make sure Python >= 2.7.9 is installed on the given machine.
vm_id string / required |  | Name of the virtual machine to work with.
vm_id_type string | Choices: uuid instance_uuid dns_name inventory_path vm_name ← | The VMware identification method by which the virtual machine will be identified.
vm_password string / required |  | The password used to login-in to the virtual machine.
vm_shell string / required |  | The absolute path to the program to start. On Linux, shell is executed via bash.
vm_shell_args string | Default: " " | The argument to the program. The characters which must be escaped to the shell also be escaped on the command line provided.
vm_shell_cwd string |  | The current working directory of the application from which it will be run.
vm_shell_env list |  | Comma separated list of environment variable, specified in the guest OS notation.
vm_username string / required |  | The user to login-in to the virtual machine.
wait_for_process boolean added in 2.7 | Choices: no ← yes | If set to `True`, module will wait for process to complete in the given virtual machine.

## Notes

Note

- Tested on vSphere 5.5, 6.0 and 6.5.

- Only the first match against vm_id is used, even if there are multiple matches.

## Examples

    - name: Run command inside a virtual machine
      vmware_vm_shell:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
        folder: "/{{datacenter}}/vm"
        vm_id: "{{ vm_name }}"
        vm_username: root
        vm_password: superSecret
        vm_shell: /bin/echo
        vm_shell_args: " $var >> myFile "
        vm_shell_env:
          - "PATH=/bin"
          - "VAR=test"
        vm_shell_cwd: "/tmp"
      delegate_to: localhost
      register: shell_command_output

    - name: Run command inside a virtual machine with wait and timeout
      vmware_vm_shell:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
        folder: "/{{datacenter}}/vm"
        vm_id: NameOfVM
        vm_username: root
        vm_password: superSecret
        vm_shell: /bin/sleep
        vm_shell_args: 100
        wait_for_process: True
        timeout: 2000
      delegate_to: localhost
      register: shell_command_with_wait_timeout

    - name: Change user password in the guest machine
      vmware_vm_shell:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
        folder: "/{{datacenter}}/vm"
        vm_id: "{{ vm_name }}"
        vm_username: sample
        vm_password: old_password
        vm_shell: "/bin/echo"
        vm_shell_args: "-e 'old_password\nnew_password\nnew_password' | passwd sample > /tmp/$$.txt 2>&1"
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Change hostname of guest machine
      vmware_vm_shell:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        validate_certs: no
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
        folder: "/{{datacenter}}/vm"
        vm_id: "{{ vm_name }}"
        vm_username: testUser
        vm_password: SuperSecretPassword
        vm_shell: "/usr/bin/hostnamectl"
        vm_shell_args: "set-hostname new_hostname > /tmp/$$.txt 2>&1"
      delegate_to: localhost

## Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key | Returned | Description
--- | --- | ---
results dictionary | on success | metadata about the new process after completion with wait_for_process Sample: {'cmd_line': '"/bin/sleep" 1', 'end_time': '2018-04-26T05:03:21+00:00', 'exit_code': 0, 'name': 'sleep', 'owner': 'dev1', 'start_time': '2018-04-26T05:03:19+00:00', 'uuid': '564db1e2-a3ff-3b0e-8b77-49c25570bb66'}

## Status

- This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]

- This module is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

### Authors

- Ritesh Khadgaray (@ritzk)

- Abhijeet Kasurde (@Akasurde)

Hint

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