# Proxmox: Override VM name in dynamic inventory **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Tags:** proxmox\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452 "2025-05-05T16:55:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brazzledazzleday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brazzledazzleday](https://forum.ansible.com/u/brazzledazzleday)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/1 "2025-05-05T16:55:13Z")
I am using the Proxmox dynamic inventory community plugin and it **is working**. I name my Proxmox VMs like this: `hostname-os-LastTwoIpOctets`. For example, **ns1-deb-10.10**. - `ns1` is the hostname without the domain suffix — the full hostname is actually `ns1.123.org`. - `deb` = Debian - `10.10` = `10.0.10.10` — the third octet tells me the VLAN. Out of the box, Ansible uses the **VM name** to reach the remote instance. So in this case, it uses **ns1-deb-10.10**. I have authoritative DNS set up. That means all of my systems are reachable by hostname, so I’m already set up for success. I don’t need QEMU or other tools to gather host data — I simply want to connect via my actual hostname. I’m able to use `compose` and `split` on `-` to build the `hostvars` with no problem. What I need now is to **transform the host name** so that Ansible reaches the remote host using my real DNS hostname, rather than the VM name. Is this doable? Since I have DNS configured properly, being able to just tweak something in the `*.proxmox.yml` file would save a lot of time and effort — I’m essentially ready to go and don’t need to waste time standing up extra or modfying existing infrastructure. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Thulium-Drake](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/thulium-drake/32/833_2.png) [@Thulium-Drake](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Thulium-Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/2 "2025-05-05T17:15:35Z")
I don’t know of a quick way to transform hostnames, but you could set the `ansible_host` variable manually for your VMs, as that is what Ansible will use in the background when connecting to systems. I use it all the time in lab settings that don’t have (proper) DNS set up. On the other hand, I can’t resist a little ‘you seem to be doing it wrong’ 😅 , why don’t you use tags for that? They can convey more information, be browsed using the webUI and, when configured, can also be made visible in the Ansible inventory. Which would then also give you a convenient list of, in your case, OS-specific groups to use in targeting 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brazzledazzleday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brazzledazzleday](https://forum.ansible.com/u/brazzledazzleday)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/3 "2025-05-05T17:30:23Z")
I’m technically not doing anything currently and am open to / asking for any methodology, tags included. How can I use a tag as the hostname in my inventory? Or are you saying, 1. Name the vm “[ns1.123.org](http://ns1.123.org)”. 2. Use tags for the other identifying information? ---
**Author:** ![Thulium-Drake](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/thulium-drake/32/833_2.png) [@Thulium-Drake](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Thulium-Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/4 "2025-05-05T19:01:04Z")
The latter, this is a screengrab from my lab server: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/b/bc0a51f4ae243994e34f2c49f1f3f5a6fd2d8e48.png) I don’t really need the extra info from the tags in my Ansible inventory (I use `ansible_facts` for that), but I create/destroy most of these systems with OpenTofu. And as an easy means for my colleagues to identify them, I tagged them. But situations and needs can differ, so here’s mine, feel free to ask away 😊 ---
**Author:** ![binbashroot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@binbashroot](https://forum.ansible.com/u/binbashroot)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/5 "2025-05-05T21:03:41Z")
Use the compose function of the plugin. I’ve included an example of how I’m doing in my lab env. ```auto compose: ansible_host: proxmox_agent_interfaces[1].ip-addresses[0]|ansible.utils.ipaddr('address') ``` ---
**Author:** ![brazzledazzleday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brazzledazzleday](https://forum.ansible.com/u/brazzledazzleday)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/6 "2025-05-05T23:12:48Z")
@Thulium-Drake I prefer to use a consistent naming convention across everything. It gives me predictability and lets me see exactly what I care about at a glance. Regarding `ansible_facts`: that only works after Ansible connects to the target host via SSH. What I’m trying to solve happens before that / allows that to happen. I appreciate the screenshot. @bindashroot The issue isn’t with `compose:` itself — it’s that Ansible is still using the **VM name** as the `inventory_hostname`, even when I define `ansible_host`. Here’s an example: ```yaml compose: ansible_hostname: inventory_hostname.split('-')[0] ~ '.123.org' ``` This gives me: ```json "ns1-fed-10.12": { "ansible_hostname": "ns1.123.org", "proxmox_boot": { "order": "scsi0;ide2;net0" } } ``` But when I try to reach the machine via `ns1.123.org`, it doesn’t work — because Ansible is still looking for the original VM name (`inventory_hostname`: `ns1-fed-10.12`). Yes, there are workarounds — but I don’t feel like I should have to use them. I have authoritative DNS set up. Every instance is already reachable by its hostname. If Ansible and the Proxmox dynamic inventory simply used that hostname as the inventory key, everything would “just work.” That unlocks hands-off automation: I can spin up a new instance and run my Ansible setup without needing to touch or configure anything. I’m getting closer. After reading through the plugin code, it’s appears that certain values (like `name`) are not passed into the `compose` context as you might expect: [https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/blob/main/plugins/inventory/proxmox.py](https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/blob/main/plugins/inventory/proxmox.py) Taking a break for now, but I’ll follow up if I get it sorted. Thanks again to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![binbashroot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@binbashroot](https://forum.ansible.com/u/binbashroot)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 11:59pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/7 "2025-05-05T23:59:06Z")
Your example shows ansible\_hostname which is different than ansible\_host. The ansible\_host variable is a special variable which can take a dns name or an IP. ansible\_host is a connection variable. ansible\_hostname is the hostname as discovered by Ansible on the remote host. ---
**Author:** ![brazzledazzleday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brazzledazzleday](https://forum.ansible.com/u/brazzledazzleday)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/9 "2025-05-06T01:32:23Z")
`hostname` is just a type-o. I meant `host` It didn’t make a difference either way. The following doesn’t work. It still expects, `ns1-fed-10.12` which obviously a DNS entry doesn’t exist for. ```auto ansible ns1.123.org -m ping -i inventories/inventory.proxmox.yml ``` ```auto "ns1-fed-10.12": { "ansible_host": "ns1.123.org", "proxmox_boot": { "order": "scsi0;ide2;net0" } } ``` Ansible doesn’t “discover hostnames” out of the box. The default behavior is to use the name of the VM, not to be confused with the acual hostname. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![brazzledazzleday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brazzledazzleday](https://forum.ansible.com/u/brazzledazzleday)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/proxmox-override-vm-name-in-dynamic-inventory/42452/10 "2025-05-06T20:14:30Z")
Thanks, everyone. I had this solved and didn’t know it. Even if you set `ansible_host`, you sill have to refer to the target as the `inventory_hostname`. Which means, if your VM is named `ns1-fed-10.12`, and you use compose to transform that and set `ansible_host` to `ns1.123.org` - you still have to refer to the taget as `ns1-fed-10.12`. That was my biggest hurdle figuring everyhing out - Ansible sort of expects you to adapt your infra around it rather than it around your infra. ```auto ansible ns1-fed-10.12 -m ping -vvv ``` ```auto ... ESTABLISH SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: brazzle ... ``` The solution is to use compose like this: ```auto compose: ansible_host: inventory_hostname.split('-')[0] ~ '.123.org' ``` Thanks again, everyone.