<![CDATA[Deploy VMs using Ansible]]>Hi guys,

Sorry if this looks like shameless self promotion but for a few weeks now I've been working on Ansible module for managing XenServer/XCP-ng VMs - first of it's kind if I'm not mistaken. The module is in line with what Ansible offers for VMWare and there is a pull request to mainline it. What I would love is for anyone willing to help, and already familiar with Ansible, is to spare some time to test the module since the only way to test it is against real hardware. Of course, the module should not be tested in production environments.

UPDATE: 2019-03-01

Some of my Ansible modules have been merged upstream and are currently available in development version of Ansible. Ansible 2.8 will be the first official release to include these modules.

My work is currently centered around these three modules:

  • xenserver_guest - upstreamed - used for deployment of new VMs from templates and reconfiguration of existing VMs.
  • xenserver_guest_facts - upstreamed - used for getting VM facts (useful XenServer/XCP-ng VM params).
  • xenserver_guest_powerstate - upstreamed - used for controlling VM power state (running/halted/suspended), graceful shutdown and reboot etc.

For anyone interested in using/testing these modules, upstreamed modules can be acquired by cloning Ansible repo from GitHub (or downloading the ZIP archive) and running Ansible from source. Instructions can be found here:

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/installation_guide/intro_installation.html#running-from-source

To use the modules, you will also need XenAPI.py from here:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xapi-project/xen-api/master/scripts/examples/python/XenAPI.py

Copy the file to your Python site-packages (e.g. /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/ on CentOS 7).

You can get module documentation by running this command:

$ ansible-doc <module_name>

or from official Ansible docs (upstreamed modules only):

CHANGELOG:

  • Fixed a bug on XenServer 7.1 with Cumulative Update where a version could not be properly detected, causing an exception.

Thanks.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/159/deploy-vms-using-ansibleRSS for NodeMon, 07 Sep 2026 21:53:33 GMTFri, 22 Jun 2018 17:47:56 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 16 Apr 2019 17:16:59 GMT]]>@Ced76

Ced thanks for the script.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10821https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10821Tue, 16 Apr 2019 17:16:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:07:47 GMT]]>Thanks for sharing!

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10818https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10818Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:07:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 16 Apr 2019 07:36:14 GMT]]>Hi all,

Working perfect ! I've deployed 4 VMs from a custom WS2016 template under XCP-NG (version 7.5) 🙂
Nothing to do : just press <Enter> to execute the script.

Here is my first version if people want to try 😉

---
- name: Deploy Windows Server 2016
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  vars_prompt:
    - name: "XenServer_IP_var"
      prompt: "Enter XenServer IP Address"
      private: no
      default: "***.***.***.***"
    - name: "XenServer_user_var"
      prompt: "Enter XenServer username"
      private: no
      default: "root"
    - name: "XenServer_pass_var"
      prompt: "Enter XenServer password"
      private: yes
  vars:
    template_var: "Windows Server 2016 Template (64-bit)"
    folder_var: "Ansible Build Lab"
    validate_certs_var : no
    state_var: poweredon
    linked_clone_var: yes
    VMs_var:
      - guest_var: "Lab-AD1"
        hardware_var:
          num_CPU_var: 1
          num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var: 1
          memory_MB_var: 4096
        disk_var:
          disk1_var:
            size_var: 50
            name_var: "Lab-AD1 : SYSTEM"
          disk2_var:
            size_var: 4
            name_var: "Lab-AD1 : PAGEFILE"
        network_var:
          name_var: "VLAN 801"
          type_var: "static"
          ip_var: "***.***.***.***"
          netmask_var: "***.***.***.***"
          gateway_var: "***.***.***.***"
      - guest_var: "Lab-BTS1"
        hardware_var:
          num_CPU_var: 2
          num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var: 1
          memory_MB_var: 8192
        disk_var:
          disk1_var:
            size_var: 50
            name_var: "Lab-BTS1 : SYSTEM"
          disk2_var:
            size_var: 4
            name_var: "Lab-BTS1 : PAGEFILE"
        network_var:
          name_var: "VLAN 801"
          type_var: "static"
          ip_var: "***.***.***.***"
          netmask_var: "***.***.***.***"
          gateway_var: "***.***.***.***"
      - guest_var: "Lab-IIS1"
        hardware_var:
          num_CPU_var: 1
          num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var: 1
          memory_MB_var: 4096
        disk_var:
          disk1_var:
            size_var: 50
            name_var: "Lab-IIS1 : SYSTEM"
          disk2_var:
            size_var: 4
            name_var: "Lab-IIS1 : PAGEFILE"
        network_var:
          name_var: "VLAN 801"
          type_var: "static"
          ip_var: "***.***.***.***"
          netmask_var: "***.***.***.***"
          gateway_var: "***.***.***.***"
      - guest_var: "Lab-SQL1"
        hardware_var:
          num_CPU_var: 2
          num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var: 1
          memory_MB_var: 8192
        disk_var:
          disk1_var:
            size_var: 50
            name_var: "Lab-SQL1 : SYSTEM"
          disk2_var:
            size_var: 4
            name_var: "Lab-SQL1 : PAGEFILE"
        network_var:
          name_var: "VLAN 801"
          type_var: "static"
          ip_var: "***.***.***.***"
          netmask_var: "***.***.***.***"
          gateway_var: "***.***.***.***"
    note_var: "Provisioned by Ansible"
    SR_var: "Hardware HBA virtual disk storage"
  tasks:
    - name: Create VM Lab-AD1
      xenserver_guest:
        hostname: "{{ XenServer_IP_var }}"
        username: "{{ XenServer_user_var }}"
        password: "{{ XenServer_pass_var }}"
        validate_certs: "{{ validate_certs_var }}"
        folder: "{{ folder_var }}"
        state: "{{ state_var }}"
        template: "{{ template_var }}"
        linked_clone: "{{ linked_clone_var }}"
        name_desc: "{{ note_var }}"
        name: "{{ item['guest_var'] }}"
        disks:
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        hardware:
          num_cpus: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_var'] }}"
          num_cpu_cores_per_socket: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var'] }}"
          memory_mb: "{{ item['hardware_var']['memory_MB_var'] }}"
        networks:
        - name: "{{ item['network_var']['name_var'] }}"
          type: "{{ item['network_var']['type_var'] }}"
          ip: "{{ item['network_var']['ip_var'] }}"
          netmask: "{{ item['network_var']['netmask_var'] }}"
          gateway: "{{ item['network_var']['gateway_var'] }}"
      with_items: "{{ VMs_var }}"
      when: item['guest_var'] == "Lab-AD1"
    - name: Create VM Lab-BTS1
      xenserver_guest:
        hostname: "{{ XenServer_IP_var }}"
        username: "{{ XenServer_user_var }}"
        password: "{{ XenServer_pass_var }}"
        validate_certs: "{{ validate_certs_var }}"
        folder: "{{ folder_var }}"
        state: "{{ state_var }}"
        template: "{{ template_var }}"
        linked_clone: "{{ linked_clone_var }}"
        name_desc: "{{ note_var }}"
        name: "{{ item['guest_var'] }}"
        disks:
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        hardware:
          num_cpus: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_var'] }}"
          num_cpu_cores_per_socket: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var'] }}"
          memory_mb: "{{ item['hardware_var']['memory_MB_var'] }}"
        networks:
        - name: "{{ item['network_var']['name_var'] }}"
          type: "{{ item['network_var']['type_var'] }}"
          ip: "{{ item['network_var']['ip_var'] }}"
          netmask: "{{ item['network_var']['netmask_var'] }}"
          gateway: "{{ item['network_var']['gateway_var'] }}"
      with_items: "{{ VMs_var }}"
      when: item['guest_var'] == "Lab-BTS1"
    - name: Create VM Lab-IIS1
      xenserver_guest:
        hostname: "{{ XenServer_IP_var }}"
        username: "{{ XenServer_user_var }}"
        password: "{{ XenServer_pass_var }}"
        validate_certs: "{{ validate_certs_var }}"
        folder: "{{ folder_var }}"
        state: "{{ state_var }}"
        template: "{{ template_var }}"
        linked_clone: "{{ linked_clone_var }}"
        name_desc: "{{ note_var }}"
        name: "{{ item['guest_var'] }}"
        disks:
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        hardware:
          num_cpus: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_var'] }}"
          num_cpu_cores_per_socket: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var'] }}"
          memory_mb: "{{ item['hardware_var']['memory_MB_var'] }}"
        networks:
        - name: "{{ item['network_var']['name_var'] }}"
          type: "{{ item['network_var']['type_var'] }}"
          ip: "{{ item['network_var']['ip_var'] }}"
          netmask: "{{ item['network_var']['netmask_var'] }}"
          gateway: "{{ item['network_var']['gateway_var'] }}"
      with_items: "{{ VMs_var }}"
      when: item['guest_var'] == "Lab-IIS1"
    - name: Create VM Lab-SQL1
      xenserver_guest:
        hostname: "{{ XenServer_IP_var }}"
        username: "{{ XenServer_user_var }}"
        password: "{{ XenServer_pass_var }}"
        validate_certs: "{{ validate_certs_var }}"
        folder: "{{ folder_var }}"
        state: "{{ state_var }}"
        template: "{{ template_var }}"
        linked_clone: "{{ linked_clone_var }}"
        name_desc: "{{ note_var }}"
        name: "{{ item['guest_var'] }}"
        disks:
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk1_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        - size_gb: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['size_var'] }}"
          name: "{{ item['disk_var']['disk2_var']['name_var'] }}"
          sr: "{{ SR_var }}"
        hardware:
          num_cpus: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_var'] }}"
          num_cpu_cores_per_socket: "{{ item['hardware_var']['num_CPU_cores_per_socket_var'] }}"
          memory_mb: "{{ item['hardware_var']['memory_MB_var'] }}"
        networks:
        - name: "{{ item['network_var']['name_var'] }}"
          type: "{{ item['network_var']['type_var'] }}"
          ip: "{{ item['network_var']['ip_var'] }}"
          netmask: "{{ item['network_var']['netmask_var'] }}"
          gateway: "{{ item['network_var']['gateway_var'] }}"
      with_items: "{{ VMs_var }}"
      when: item['guest_var'] == "Lab-SQL1"
]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10811https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10811Tue, 16 Apr 2019 07:36:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Wed, 03 Apr 2019 06:52:49 GMT]]>@bvitnik Understood. Sorry but i'm newbie on Ansible 🙂 Doesn't see that this variable was not in the xenxerver_guest module part.
I try to create a lab with these objectives :
1- Provision Windows Server 2016 VMs on XCP-NG (or XenServer) after building my own Windows Server 2016 template (using best practices)
2- Define some roles on these VMs (Active Directory, IIS, SQL Server etc.)

Hope it'll be possible ...

Thanks.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10392https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10392Wed, 03 Apr 2019 06:52:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 02 Apr 2019 23:27:34 GMT]]>@Ced76 "register" is not a module parameter. It's Ansible task parameter. Take a look at Ansible documentation for registered variables:

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks_variables.html#registering-variables

Basically what "register: deploy" does is that is says "define a variable called deploy and put a return value of the module in it". A return value of the module in this case are numerous VM facts you can find in "deploy.instance" (sub)variable. Registered variable is accessible in any subsequent task of the same play. Also "deploy" here is just a random name chosen. You can name your registered variables however you like.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10384https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10384Tue, 02 Apr 2019 23:27:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 02 Apr 2019 06:59:06 GMT]]>Hello all,

I try to create a playbook to deploy a Windows Server 2016 VM.
I see a lot of examples with this parameter : register: deploy.
But there is no reference in the parameters guide. Maybe a mistake ?

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10354https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/10354Tue, 02 Apr 2019 06:59:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Sun, 10 Mar 2019 18:01:53 GMT]]>@jedimarcus Network configuration (IP, subnet, gateway) only works for Windows guests because there is proper support for it in XenServer Guest Tools for Windows. There is no such support (as far as I know) in XenServer Guest Tools for *nix based systems. Unlike tools for Windows, tools for *nix based systems only contain a few xenstore tools and a daemon (xe-daemon) that collects OS metrics. There is no management agent.

My idea is to write a proper agent for *nix based systems at some point but it won't be any time soon. Maybe Citrix (or Vates 😉 ?) will implement one before I do.

For now, you can use custom based network configuration trough xenstore and custom scripts. It's described in Notes section of the module documentation.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9699https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9699Sun, 10 Mar 2019 18:01:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Sun, 10 Mar 2019 17:24:51 GMT]]>@bvitnik I can confirm the most simple of tasks where I used your module to create a new VM based on an existing template.

I'm still figuring out how to use this best.

Does setting an IP work on any template (e.g. Linux Ubuntu) with XenTools installed?

MM

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9698https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9698Sun, 10 Mar 2019 17:24:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Fri, 01 Mar 2019 17:19:17 GMT]]>Great news , i will test your module in our DR environment and will provide any feedbacks (good or bad ) , please bear with me .....

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9396https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9396Fri, 01 Mar 2019 17:19:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Thu, 28 Feb 2019 23:27:01 GMT]]>A milestone has been achieved 😱 . All of my modules have been merged upstream. I've updated the first post with new info.

That will most probably be all for Ansible 2.8. I'm keeping some improvements and possibly more modules for Ansible 2.9. Currently, I'm thinking about what other modules could be useful so I could implement them. Any suggestion or wish would be much appreciated.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9373https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/9373Thu, 28 Feb 2019 23:27:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 19 Feb 2019 23:26:34 GMT]]>First post has been updated with new info. Another module has been merged upstream. Also some bugs were fixed.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8889https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8889Tue, 19 Feb 2019 23:26:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Thu, 07 Feb 2019 22:30:44 GMT]]>@jthompson333 No problem. I'm following both forums so I'll try to respond same day.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8364https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8364Thu, 07 Feb 2019 22:30:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Thu, 07 Feb 2019 21:53:57 GMT]]>I hate to be one of those double posters... Forgive me, as I have not been following the whole split of xenserver opensource vs. closed source. Just not sure which forum gets checked more often these days.

I was testing out this ansible module with XenServer 7.1 CU2 and running into some errors.
Posted about it here:

https://discussions.citrix.com/topic/396848-deploy-vms-using-ansible/?csrfKey=b09a1d8e79f3ea686583c72352cef53d

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8363https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8363Thu, 07 Feb 2019 21:53:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:48:15 GMT]]>@desnudopenguino Thanks 👍 .

I've updated the first post with some more info and clarified some confusing stuff.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8099https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8099Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:48:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:14:14 GMT]]>I just set up xcp-ng on a host, in the next week or so, i might give this a try! thank you for putting together this module!

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8097https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8097Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:14:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Wed, 30 Jan 2019 22:44:54 GMT]]>@BitSprocket Hi. Thanks for stopping by. Info in the first post is a little outdated. I'll update it soon. The main thing is that my Ansible module for deployment of VMs is now merged in upstream Ansible so you should just get development version of Ansible to get access to my module. Feel free to ask me anything here. I'll be glad to help you get it up and running.

UPDATE: I've updated the first post with fresh info.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8060https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8060Wed, 30 Jan 2019 22:44:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Wed, 30 Jan 2019 18:07:06 GMT]]>I am running XCP-NG vn 7.6 on two HP Proliant 380G5s and would love to help develop. I'll get it going and let you know how it goes. My machines don't run anything that is mission critical so if something breaks - it's all good. I don't check forums very often so if you want to communicate directly I can be reached at bitsprocket at g mail dot com

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8059https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/8059Wed, 30 Jan 2019 18:07:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Tue, 23 Oct 2018 07:21:41 GMT]]>@borzel Shhhh....Not so loud,,, my boss can hear u 🙂

Kidding....lol sitting at work, there I have internet 🙂

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4749https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4749Tue, 23 Oct 2018 07:21:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Mon, 22 Oct 2018 19:35:04 GMT]]>@Adde just wondered how you sent these letters to the forum 🤔 ... magic ... without the internetzzz...

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4733https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4733Mon, 22 Oct 2018 19:35:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Mon, 22 Oct 2018 07:25:13 GMT]]>@bvitnik
I cant do any testing yet tho my internet is not connected until oct 31.. 😞
But I will see what I can help with later on 🙂

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4705https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4705Mon, 22 Oct 2018 07:25:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Sun, 21 Oct 2018 20:10:39 GMT]]>Hi everyone. For anyone interested in testing, GitHub repo is now updated with latest commit that includes fixes for a number of bugs including a bug that effectively prevented deployment of new VMs. Also, the module is now based on the latest Ansible 2.8 devel code base.

As always, any testing feedback would be very much appreciated, good or bad.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4697https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/4697Sun, 21 Oct 2018 20:10:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:08:06 GMT]]>Thanks stormi. Still no testers thou. I found one critical bug that effectively prevents deployment 🤦. Reconfiguration of existing VMs works as expected 🙂 . I have prepared a commit to fix a bunch of bugs I found in the mean time but I haven't pushed it to GitHub repo yet. To lazy I guess 🤷. If someone is eager to test, I'll push it right away.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/3478https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/3478Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:08:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Deploy VMs using Ansible on Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:36:53 GMT]]>Up-ing this topic in case it helps finding testers.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/3432https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/3432Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:36:53 GMT