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

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

Requirements

This plugin requires ovftool from VMware. Download from VMware website.

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

You MUST enable ssh access on your ESXi hypervisor.

Google 'How to enable ssh access on esxi'

The boxes must have open-vm-tools or vmware-tools installed to properly transition to the "running" state.

Why this plugin?

Not everyone has vCenter / vSphere... vCenter cost $$$. ESXi is free!

How to install

vagrant plugin install vagrant-vmware-esxi

How to configure

cd SOMEDIR
vagrant init
vi Vagrantfile # setup access your ESXi host and to set some preferences.

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  #  Box, Select any box created for VMware that is compatible with
  #    the ovftool.  To get maximum compatiblity You should download
  #    and install the latest version 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 = 'hashicorp/precise64'
  #config.vm.box = 'steveant/CentOS-7.0-1406-Minimal-x64'
  #config.vm.box = 'geerlingguy/ubuntu1604'
  #config.vm.box = 'laravel/homestead'
  #config.vm.box = 'bento/ubuntu-14.04'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/centos7'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/fedora26'
  #config.vm.box = 'generic/alpine36'


  #  Supports type rsync and NFS.
  config.vm.synced_folder('.', '/Vagrantfiles', type: 'rsync')

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

    #  REQUIRED!  ESXi hostname/IP
    #    You MUST specify a esxi_hostname or IP, uless you
    #    were lucky enough to name your esxi host "esxi".  :-)
    esxi.esxi_hostname = "esxi"

    #  ESXi username
    #    Default is "root".
    esxi.esxi_username = "root"

    #
    #  A NOTE about esxi_password / ssh keys!!
    #
    #    If you don't specify a password and do not use ssh
    #    keys, you will be entering your esxi password A LOT!
    #
    #    From your command line, you should be able to run
    #    following command without an error and be able to get to
    #    the esxi command prompt.
    #
    #      $ ssh root@ESXi_IP_ADDRESS

    #  IMPORTANT!  ESXi password.
    #    The ssh connections to esxi will try your ssh
    #    keys first.  However the ovftool does NOT!  To make
    #    vagrant up fully password-less, you will need to
    #    enter your password here....
    esxi.esxi_password = nil

    #  ESXi ssh keys
    #    The Default is to use system defaults, However
    #    you can specify an array of keys here...
    #esxi.esxi_private_keys = []

    #  SSH port.
    #    Default port 22
    #esxi.esxi_hostport = 22

    #  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  Virtual Network
    #    You should specify a Virtual Network!
    #    The default is to use the first found!
    esxi.virtual_network = "vmnet_example"

    #  OPTIONAL.  Specify a Disk Store
    #    The Default is to use the least used Disk Store.
    #esxi.vm_disk_store = "DS_001"

    #  OPTIONAL.  Guest VM name to be created/used.
    #    The Default will be automatically generated
    #    and will be based on the vmname_prefix,
    #    hostname, username, path...
    #esxi.vmname = "Custom-Guest-VM_Name"

    #  OPTIONAL.  When automatically naming VMs, use
    #    this prifix.
    #esxi.vmname_prefix = "V-"

    #  OPTIONAL.  Memory size override
    #    The default is to use the memory size specified in the
    #    vmx file, however you can specify a new value here.
    #esxi.memsize = "2048"

    #  OPTIONAL.  Virtual CPUs override
    #    The default is to use the number of virt cpus specified
    #     in the vmx file, however you can specify a new value here.
    #esxi.numvcpus = "2"

    #  OPTIONAL.  Resource Pool
    #    The default is to create VMs in the "root".  You can
    #     specify a resource pool here to partition memory and
    #     cpu usage away from other systems on your esxi host.
    #     The resource pool must already exist and be configured.
    #     Vagrant will NOT create it for you.
    #esxi.resource_pool = "/Vagrant"

    #  DANGEROUS!  Allow Overwrite
    #    Set this to 'True' will overwrite existing VMs (with the same name)
    #    when you run vagrant up.   ie,  if the vmname already exists,
    #    it will be destroyed, then over written...  This is helpful
    #    if you have a VM that became an orphan (vagrant lost association).
    #    This will also overwrite your box when using vagrant package.
    #esxi.allow_overwrite = 'True'

  end
end

Basic usage

vagrant up --provider=vmware_esxi
To access the VM, use vagrant ssh
To destroy the VM, use vagrant destroy
Some other fun stuff you can do.

vagrant status
vagrant suspend
vagrant resume
vagrant snapshot push
vagrant snapshot list
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.
Cleanup doesn't always destroy a VM that has been partially built. Use the allow_overwrite = 'True' option if you need to force a rebuild.
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.
Built-in Vagrant synced folders using NFS fails if you try to re-provision.
- In general I find NFS synced folders pretty "flakey" anyways...
Multi machines may not provision one VM if the boxes are different.
- I found this problem with libvirt also, so I'm assuming it's a vagrant problem...

pivotal-cloudplanner/vagrant-vmware-esxi