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vagrant-vmware-esxi plugin

This is a Vagrant plugin that adds a VMware ESXi provider support. This allows Vagrant to control and provision VMs directly on an ESXi hypervisor without a need for vCenter or VShpere. ESXi hypervisor is a free download from VMware!

https://www.vmware.com/go/get-free-esxi

Documentation:

Refer to the WIKI for documentation, examples and other information...

https://github.com/josenk/vagrant-vmware-esxi/wiki

Features and Compatibility

  • Any of the vmware Box formats should be compatible.
    • vmware_desktop, vmware_fusion, vmware_workstation...
    • To be fully functional, you must have open-vm-tools or vmware tools installed.
  • Will automatically download boxes from the web.
  • Will automatically upload the box to your ESXi host.
  • Automatic or manual VM names.
    • Automatic VM names are 'PREFIX-HOSTNAME-USERNAME-DIR'.
  • Multi machine capable.
  • Supports adding your VM to Resource Pools to partition CPU and memory usage from other VMs on your ESXi host.
  • suspend / resume.
  • snapshots.
  • rsync & NFS using built-in Vagrant synced folders.
  • Provision using built-in Vagrant provisioner.
  • package your vm's into boxes.
  • Create additional network interfaces, set nic type, MAC addresses, static IPs.
  • Use Vagrants private_network, public_network options to set a static IP addresses on additional network interfaces. (not the primary interface)
  • Disks provisioned using thin, thick or eagerzeroedthick.
  • Specify GuestOS types, virtual HW version, or any custom vmx settings.

Requirements

  1. This is a vagrant plugin, so you need vagrant installed... :-)
  2. This plugin requires ovftool from VMware. Download from VMware website.

https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ovf/

  1. You MUST enable ssh access on your ESXi hypervisor.
  • Google 'How to enable ssh access on esxi'
  1. The boxes must have open-vm-tools or vmware-tools installed to properly transition to the 'running' state.
  2. In general, you should know how to use vagrant and esxi...

Why this plugin?

Not everyone has vCenter / vSphere... vCenter cost $$$. ESXi is free! Using this plugin will allow you to use a central VMware ESXi host for your development needs. Using a centralized host will release the extra load on your local system (vs using KVM or Virtual Box).

How to install

Download and install Vagrant on your local system using instructions from https://vagrantup.com/downloads.html.

vagrant plugin install vagrant-vmware-esxi
vagrant version

How to use and configure a Vagrantfile

  1. cd SOMEDIR
  2. vagrant init
  3. vi Vagrantfile # See below to setup access your ESXi host and to set some preferences.
#
#  Fully documented Vagrantfile available
#  in the wiki:  https://github.com/josenk/vagrant-vmware-esxi/wiki
Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|

  #  Box, Select any box created for VMware that is compatible with
  #    the ovftool.  To get maximum compatibility You should download
  #    and install the latest version of ovftool for your OS.
  #    https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ovf/
  #
  #    If your box is stuck at 'Powered On', then most likely
  #    the system doesn't have the vmware tools installed.
  #
  # Here are some of the MANY examples....
  config.vm.box = 'generic/centos7'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/centos6'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/fedora26'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/freebsd11'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/ubuntu1710'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/debian9'
  #config.vm.box = 'hashicorp/precise64'
  #config.vm.box = 'steveant/CentOS-7.0-1406-Minimal-x64'
  #config.vm.box = 'geerlingguy/centos7'
  #config.vm.box = 'geerlingguy/ubuntu1604'
  #config.vm.box = 'laravel/homestead'
  #config.vm.box = 'puphpet/debian75-x64'


  #  Use rsync and NFS synced folders. (or disable them)
  config.vm.synced_folder('.', '/vagrant', type: 'rsync')
  config.vm.synced_folder('.', '/vagrant', type: 'nfs', disabled: true)

  #  Vagrant can set a static IP for the additional network interfaces.  Use
  #  public_network or private_network to manually set a static IP and
  #  netmask.  ESXi doesn't use the concept of public or private networks so
  #  both are valid here.  The primary network interface is considered the
  #  "vagrant management" interface and cannot be changed,
  #  so you can specify 3 entries here!
  #    *** Invalid settings could cause 'vagrant up' to fail ***
  #config.vm.network 'private_network', ip: '192.168.10.170', netmask: '255.255.255.0'
  #config.vm.network 'private_network', ip: '192.168.11.170'
  #config.vm.network 'public_network', ip: '192.168.12.170'

  #
  #  Provider (esxi) settings
  #
  config.vm.provider :vmware_esxi do |esxi|

    #  REQUIRED!  ESXi hostname/IP
    esxi.esxi_hostname = 'esxi'

    #  ESXi username
    esxi.esxi_username = 'root'

    #  IMPORTANT!  Set ESXi password.
    #    1) 'prompt:'
    #    2) 'file:'  or  'file:my_secret_file'
    #    3) 'env:'  or 'env:my_secret_env_var'
    #    4) 'key:'  or  key:~/.ssh/some_ssh_private_key'
    #    5) or esxi.esxi_password = 'my_esxi_password'
    #
    esxi.esxi_password = 'prompt:'

    #  SSH port.
    #esxi.esxi_hostport = 22

    #  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  Virtual Network
    #    You should specify a Virtual Network!  If it's not specified, the
    #    default is to use the first found.  You can specify up to 4 virtual
    #    networks using an array format.
    #esxi.esxi_virtual_network = ['vmnet1','vmnet2','vmnet3','vmnet4']

    #  OPTIONAL.  Specify a Disk Store
    #esxi.esxi_disk_store = 'DS_001'

    #  OPTIONAL.  Resource Pool
    #     Vagrant will NOT create a Resource pool it for you.
    #esxi.esxi_resource_pool = '/Vagrant'

    #  OPTIONAL.  Guest VM name to use.
    #    The Default will be automatically generated.
    #esxi.guest_name = 'Custom-Guest-VM_Name'

    #  OPTIONAL.  When automatically naming VMs, use this prifix.
    #esxi.guest_name_prefix = 'V-'


    #  OPTIONAL.  Set the guest username login.  The default is 'vagrant'.
    #esxi.guest_username = 'vagrant'

    #  OPTIONAL.  Memory size override
    #esxi.guest_memsize = '2048'

    #  OPTIONAL.  Virtual CPUs override
    #esxi.guest_numvcpus = '2'

    #  OPTIONAL & RISKY.  Specify up to 4 MAC addresses
    #    The default is ovftool to automatically generate a MAC address.
    #    You can specify an array of MAC addresses using upper or lower case,
    #    separated by colons ':'.
    #esxi.guest_mac_address = ['00:50:56:aa:bb:cc', '00:50:56:01:01:01','00:50:56:02:02:02','00:50:56:BE:AF:01' ]

    #   OPTIONAL & RISKY.  Specify a guest_nic_type
    #     The validated list of guest_nic_types are 'e1000', 'e1000e', 'vmxnet',
    #     'vmxnet2', 'vmxnet3', 'Vlance', and 'Flexible'.
    #esxi.guest_nic_type = 'e1000'

    #  OPTIONAL. Specify a disk type.
    #    If unspecified, it will be set to 'thin'.  Otherwise, you can set to
    #    'thin', 'thick', or 'eagerzeroedthick'
    #esxi.guest_disk_type = 'thick'

    #  OPTIONAL. specify snapshot options.
    #esxi.guest_snapshot_includememory = 'true'
    #esxi.guest_snapshot_quiesced = 'true'

    #  RISKY. guest_guestos
    #    https://github.com/josenk/vagrant-vmware-esxi/ESXi_guest_guestos_types.md
    #esxi.guest_guestos = 'centos-64'

    #  OPTIONAL. guest_virtualhw_version
    #    ESXi 6.5 supports these versions. 4,7,8,9,10,11,12 & 13.
    #esxi.guest_virtualhw_version = '9'

    #  RISKY. guest_custom_vmx_settings
    #esxi.guest_custom_vmx_settings = [['vhv.enable','TRUE'], ['floppy0.present','TRUE']]

    #  OPTIONAL. local_lax
    #esxi.local_lax = 'true'

    #  DANGEROUS!  Allow Overwrite
    #    If unspecified, the default is to produce an error if overwriting
    #    vm's and packages.
    #esxi.local_allow_overwrite = 'True'

    #  Plugin debug output.
    #    Send bug reports with debug output...
    #esxi.debug = 'true'

  end
end

Upgrading from vagrant-vmware-esxi 1.x.x

The following Vagrantfile parameters have been renamed for clarity. The plugin still recognizes these legacy parameters, however it's recommended to migrate to the 2.x parameters.

  • esxi_private_keys --> esxi_password = "key:"
  • vm_disk_store --> esxi_disk_store
  • virtual_network --> esxi_virtual_network
  • resource_pool --> esxi_resource_pool
  • vmname --> guest_name
  • vmname_prefix --> guest_name_prefix
  • ssh_username --> guest_username
  • memsize --> guest_memsize
  • numvcpus --> guest_numvcpus
  • vm_disk_type --> guest_disk_type
  • nic_type --> guest_nic_type
  • mac_address --> guest_mac_address
  • guestos --> guest_guestos
  • virtualhw_version --> guest_virtualhw_version
  • custom_vmx_settings --> guest_custom_vmx_settings
  • lax --> local_lax
  • allow_overwrite --> local_allow_overwrite

Basic usage

  1. vagrant up --provider=vmware_esxi
  2. To access the VM, use vagrant ssh
  3. To destroy the VM, use vagrant destroy
  4. Some other fun stuff you can do.
  • vagrant status
  • vagrant suspend
  • vagrant resume
  • vagrant snapshot push
  • vagrant snapshot list
  • vagrant snapshot-info
  • vagrant snapshot pop
  • vagrant halt
  • vagrant provision

Known issues with vmware_esxi

  • The boxes must have open-vm-tools or vmware-tools installed to properly transition to the 'running' state.
  • Invalid settings (bad IP address, netmask, MAC address, guest_custom_vmx_settings) could cause 'vagrant up' to fail. Review your ESXi logs to help debug why it failed.
  • Cleanup doesn't always destroy a VM that has been partially built. Use the local_allow_overwrite = 'True' option if you need to force a rebuild, or delete the vm using the VSphere client.
  • ovftool installer for windows doesn't put ovftool.exe in your path. You can manually set your path, or install ovftool in the \HashiCorp\Vagrant\bin directory.
  • In general I find NFS synced folders a little 'flaky'...

Version History

  • 2.0.1 Updated version: Most Vagrantfile options have been renamed to be consistent and for clarity. vagrant up, more organized summary by esxi/guest options. Lots of Code cleanup. Add support for snapshot options (includeMemory & quiesced) Snapshot save/push adds a description.

  • 1.5.1 Fix: Improve debug output. Fix password encoding for @ character. Automatically add a virtual network when configuring a public_network or private_network.

  • 1.5.0 Add support for: Specify guest_custom_vmx_settings (to add or modify vmx settings). Specify Virtual HW version. Allow $ in Password. Disk types (thick, thin, eagerzeroedthick). Specify a guestOS type (see list above). Relocal_laxed ovftool setting (--local_lax), to allow importing strange ovf boxes.

  • 1.4.0 Add support to set MAC and IP addresses for network interfaces.

  • 1.3.2 Fix, Don't timeout ssh connection when ovftool takes a long time to upload image.

  • 1.3.0 Add support to get esxi password from env, from a file or prompt.

  • 1.2.1 Encode special characters in password.

  • 1.2.0 Add support for up to 4 virtual networks.

  • 1.7.1 Show all port groups for each virtual switch instead of just the first.

  • 1.1.6 Update documenation.

  • 1.1.5 Add more detailed information when waiting for state (running).

  • 1.1.4 Update documentation.

  • 1.1.3 Add support to create package.

  • 1.1.2 Fix, reload.

  • 1.1.1 Add support for NFS.

  • 1.1.0 Add support for snapshots.

  • 1.0.1 Init commit.

Feedback please!

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A Vagrant plugin that adds a vmware ESXi provider support.

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