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# vmware_guest_file_operation – Files operation in a VMware guest operating system without network

New in version 2.5.

- Synopsis

- Requirements

- Parameters

- Notes

- Examples

- Status

## Synopsis

- Module to copy a file to a VM, fetch a file from a VM and create or delete a directory in the guest OS.

## Requirements

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

- python >= 2.6

- PyVmomi

- requests

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
cluster string |  | The cluster hosting the virtual machine. If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
copy dictionary |  | Copy file to vm without requiring network. Valid attributes are: src: file source absolute or relative dest: file destination, path must be exist overwrite: False or True (not required, default False)
datacenter string |  | The datacenter hosting the virtual machine. If set, it will help to speed up virtual machine search.
directory dictionary |  | Create or delete a directory. Can be used to create temp directory inside guest using mktemp operation. mktemp sets variable `dir` in the result with the name of the new directory. mktemp operation option is added in version 2.8 Valid attributes are: operation (str): Valid values are: create, delete, mktemp path (str): directory path (required for create or remove) prefix (str): temporary directory prefix (required for mktemp) suffix (str): temporary directory suffix (required for mktemp) recurse (boolean): Not required, default (false)
fetch dictionary added in 2.5 |  | Get file from virtual machine without requiring network. Valid attributes are: src: The file on the remote system to fetch. This must be a file, not a directory dest: file destination on localhost, path must be exist
folder string |  | Destination folder, absolute path to find an existing guest or create the new guest. The folder should include the datacenter. ESX's datacenter is ha-datacenter Used only if `vm_id_type` is `inventory_path`. 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 folder: vm/folder2 folder: 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.
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_username string / required |  | The user to login in to the virtual machine.

## Notes

Note

- Tested on vSphere 6

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

## Examples

    - name: Create directory inside a vm
      vmware_guest_file_operation:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
        validate_certs: no
        vm_id: "{{ guest_name }}"
        vm_username: "{{ guest_username }}"
        vm_password: "{{ guest_userpassword }}"
        directory:
          path: "/test"
          operation: create
          recurse: no
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: copy file to vm
      vmware_guest_file_operation:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
        vm_id: "{{ guest_name }}"
        vm_username: "{{ guest_username }}"
        vm_password: "{{ guest_userpassword }}"
        copy:
            src: "files/test.zip"
            dest: "/root/test.zip"
            overwrite: False
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: fetch file from vm
      vmware_guest_file_operation:
        hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
        username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
        password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
        datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
        vm_id: "{{ guest_name }}"
        vm_username: "{{ guest_username }}"
        vm_password: "{{ guest_userpassword }}"
        fetch:
            src: "/root/test.zip"
            dest: "files/test.zip"
      delegate_to: localhost

## Status

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

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

### Authors

- Stéphane Travassac (@stravassac)

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