vmware_vm_inventory filters

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1

Hi

Needs any suggestion in my case as below

We have vCenter where many linux bases vm which are use by other lob, there is no proper naming standard , no ip based filter possible , no folders arranged properly

With all this, one thing which is in my control is add “custom attributes”

Is there any way we can filter using "custom attributes’

Thanks

2

@abijit reported community.vmware.vmware_vm_inventory but i did not find doc about it ie what all capabilities its filter has

3

tried but no luck

plugin: community.vmware.vmware_vm_inventory
strict: False
hostname: xxx
username: administrator@vsphere.local
password: xxx
validate_certs: False
#properties:
#- runtime.powerState
#- config.name
properties:

  • ‘name’
  • ‘config.uuid’
  • ‘config.name’
  • ‘guest.toolsStatus’
  • ‘guest.toolsRunningStatus’
  • ‘guest.ipAddress’
  • ‘configIssue’
  • ‘config.bootOptions’
  • ‘config.annotation’
  • ‘config.alternateGuestName’
    compose:
    ansible_host: ‘guest.ipAddress’
    keyed_groups:
  • key: ‘tags’
    separator: ‘’
    filters:
  • guest.GuestFullName == “CentOS 7 (64-bit)”
4

i tested & found below works though

filters: - runtime.powerState == “poweredOff”

i am using
ansible 2.9.10

5

The page

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/scenario_guides/vmware_scenarios/vmware_inventory_hostnames.html

Does not talk or give examples of filter …

6

Hi,
I raised a PR to address - how to use filters in vmware_vm_inventory - https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/71670

Please provide the feedback.

7

Thanks a lot Abhijit

I did look at https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/71670 , but not sure where i can give feedback.

I am sure you got it & see a value & hence raise PR … so for records Again i can give below feedback :-

If user get filter based on "custom attributes " will provide a lot of flexibility to users & with their own queries …

eg my org has 1 vcenter & has many lobs using it, a linux vm can be of of engg, infra, infosec & so on … so i have a custom tag called “lob”…

Thanks

8

I checked that one, seems close, does that mean this feature is now in ? the docs does not talk about that - https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/scenario_guides/vmware_scenarios/vmware_inventory_filters.html

Thanks

9

Hi,

You can use custom attributes assigned to vms using inventory. Let us assume that a VM has attributes as “OS” = “Linux” and “Backup” = “Monday” then
your inventory configuration looks like -

plugin: community.vmware.vmware_vm_inventory
strict: False
hostname: 10.8.36.25
username: administrator@vsphere.local
password: 2gJ.aGq8AU*tPAaii_
validate_certs: False
hostnames:

  • ‘config.name’
    properties:
  • ‘config.name’
  • ‘config.guestId’
  • ‘guest.ipAddress’
  • ‘summary.runtime.powerState’
  • ‘customValue’ # <---------------------------------- This way you can specify the customValues
    filters:
  • OS is defined and OS == ‘Linux’ # <---------------------------------- This way you can filter customValue

You will get results like

ansible-inventory -i filters_custom_attributes_vmware.yml --list

{
“_meta”: {
“hostvars”: {
“centos_7”: {
“Backup”: “Monday”,
“OS”: “Linux”,
“config.guestId”: “centos7_64Guest”,
“config.name”: “centos_7”,
“runtime.connectionState”: “connected”,
“summary.runtime.powerState”: “poweredOff”
}
}
},
“all”: {
“children”: [
“centos7_64Guest”,
“poweredOff”,
“ungrouped”
]
},
“centos7_64Guest”: {
“hosts”: [
“centos_7”
]
},
“poweredOff”: {
“hosts”: [
“centos_7”
]
}
}

Let me know if you need any additional information.

10

Abhijit actually i came across that one & tried below … “per the documents” … which were confusing BTW … soon i will give link

filters:

  • “tag_category.OS is defined and ‘Ubuntu16.04’ in tag_category.OS”

I had difficult time to get this tested … as for “tags” you see some extra stuff install & that install though looks straighforward but took me for spin … so i am more into fixing the python issues … May be you can help… soon i will give all i tried & error i got …

11

Link :

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/community/vmware/vmware_vm_inventory_inventory.html

last 2 lines

filters: - “tag_category.OS is defined and ‘Linux’ in tag_category.OS”

How to i add “AND” or “OR” here ?

OS = CentOS7

And

LOB = Infra

12

Now the error :

ansible-inventory --list -i vmware.yml
[WARNING]: * Failed to parse /etc/ansible/playbooks/vmware.yml with ansible_collections.community.vmware.plugins.inventory.vmware_vm_inventory plugin: Unable to find ‘vSphere
Automation SDK’ Python library which is required. Please refer this URL for installation steps - https://code.vmware.com/web/sdk/7.0/vsphere-automation-python
[WARNING]: Unable to parse /etc/ansible/playbooks/vmware.yml as an inventory source
[WARNING]: No inventory was parsed, only implicit localhost is available
{
“_meta”: {
“hostvars”: {}
},
“all”: {
“children”: [
“ungrouped”
]
}
}

13

tested on Ubuntu 20.04 …

I am able to see all vms

eg

“xx”: {
“Application”: “xx”,
“Environment”: “xx”,
“LOB”: “xx”,
“Location”: “xx”,
“NB_LAST_BACKUP”: “xx”,
“OS”: “Ubuntu18.04”,
“ansible_host”: “xx”,
“categories”: [
“Backup Retention Policy”,
“OS”
],
“config.guestId”: “ubuntu64Guest”,
“config.name”: “xx”,
“guest.ipAddress”: “xx”,
“runtime.connectionState”: “connected”,
“summary.runtime.powerState”: “poweredOn”,
“tag_category.Backup Retention Policy”: [
“Backup-Bronze”
],
“tag_category.OS”: [
“Ubuntu18.04”
],
“tags”: [
“Backup-Bronze”,
“Ubuntu18.04”
]
}
}
},

As soon as i added

filters:

  • OS is defined and OS == ‘Ubuntu18.04’

I get below

{
“_meta”: {
“hostvars”: {}
},
“all”: {
“children”: [
“ungrouped”
]
}
}

Any suggestions Please ?

14

Please ignore…i removed & re-added the tag & its working … Thanks @ Abhijeet Kasurde

15

Great …it filter not only based on Tags but custom attributes as well… !!!

16

BTW how to use this as dynamic inv ?

Tried below
ansible-playbook uptime-inv-based.yml -i vmware.yml

17

fixed

i changed

hosts: localhost

to

hosts: all

18

Is it possible to connect multiple vCenters at same time ?

19

No, for different vCenter you need to have multiple configuration files.

20

That will be a good & handy feature request… as you can imagin for so many use cases & for ease … BTW with powercli it is possible to do this… so is technically possible as well

Please suggest what you think Abhijeet