Automate virtual appliance deployment with VMware and Ansible

The following example shows how to set up a playbook and task library to deploy the OVA file for a sensor VM. The OVA file must be downloaded to the machine where Ansible is running.

1. Create entries for virtual appliances in your Ansible inventory file, similar to the following example:

   vms:
     hosts:
       exampleTestEDA:
         app_type: EDA
         datacenter: "Example Datacenter"
         folder: "VM Folder"
         esxi: esxi1.example.com
         datastore: DATA
         ova: ../firmware_images/extrahop-eda-1100v-vmware-7.9.0.2924.ova
         add_disk: 250
     vars:
       vcenter: vcenter.example.com
       user: extrahop@vsphere.local
       password: !vault |
             $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.1;AES256
             32313761623336326566303039613131373465663363326130336435326432666335333739643539
             6266386436363563653363306137653839633334666466630a643032303035376137363839656330
             63396465323039666531353437663934343735663638303166316534316134633739626231386662
             3234363063636563650a326336343334393638336433303063623636376231643934323961393338
             6133
   

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   The above inventory entries define the following configuration variables:

   exampleEDA

   The name of the VM.

   app_type

   The type of virtual appliance.

   datacenter

   The datacenter that contains the ESX/ESXi host.

   folder

   The folder of VMs on the datacenter.

   esxi

   The name of the ESX/ESXi host that the VM are deployed to.

   datastore

   The name of the datastore that will contain the VM.

   ova

   The relative path of the ExtraHop OVA file.

   vcenter

   The hostname of the vCenter server.

   user

   The name of a user account on the vCenter server.

   password

   The password of the user account.

2. Create a task entry in a .yml playbook, similar to the following example:

       - name: Deploy ExtraHop OVA to vSphere
         eh_vsphere_deploy:
           appliance: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
           app_type: "{{ app_type }}"
           datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
           folder: "{{ folder }}"
           esxi: "{{ esxi }}"
           datastore: "{{ datastore }}"
           ova: "{{ ova }}"
           vcenter: "{{ vcenter }}"
           user: "{{ user }}"
           password: "{{ password }}"

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3. Add a Python script to your library directory and open the file in a text editor.
   In this example, the script is named /library/eh_vsphere_deploy.py.
4. Import any Python modules the script requires.
   The following code imports the modules required for the rest of the procedure:

   from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
   import subprocess
   import urllib

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5. Create an AnsibleModule object and import variables from the .yml file:

   module = AnsibleModule(
       argument_spec = dict(
           appliance = dict(required=True),
           app_type = dict(required=True),
           datacenter = dict(required=True),
           folder = dict(required=True),
           esxi = dict(required=True),
           ova = dict(required=True),
           datastore = dict(required=True),
           vcenter = dict(required=True),
           user = dict(required=True),
           password = dict(required=True, no_log=True)
       ),
       supports_check_mode=False
   )
   
   appliance = module.params['appliance']
   app_type = module.params['app_type']
   datastore = module.params['datastore']
   ova = module.params['ova']
   attrs = {
       'vcenter': module.params['vcenter'],
       'user': module.params['user'],
       'password': module.params['password'],
       'datacenter': module.params['datacenter'],
       'folder': module.params['folder'],
       'esxi': module.params['esxi']
   }

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6. Create the host string that specifies the location of the ESX/ESXi host in vCenter:

               attrs = dict((k, urllib.quote(v)) for k, v in attrs.items())
   host_str = 'vi://{user}:{password}@{vcenter}/{datacenter}/host/{folder}/{esxi}'.format(**attrs)
   

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   For more information about creating a host string, see the OVF Tool documentation on the VMware site: https://vdc-download.vmware.com/vmwb-repository/dcr-public/bb505ca7-88b5-4b11-aff4-f59125ab27bc/f3d05149-23e9-4ac2-8f99-0c851a8a5231/ovftool-430-userguide.pdf

7. Create an array to define the ovtool command:

   cmd = ['ovftool',
           '--disableVerification',
           '--noSSLVerify',
           '-ds=%s' % datastore,
           '-dm=%s' % 'thick',
           '-n=%s' % eda,
           '--net:VM Network=VM Network',
           '--X:logFile=ovflogs.log',
           '--X:logLevel=verbose',
           ova,
           host_str]
   
   if app_type == 'EDA' or app_type == 'ETA':
       cmd.insert(7, '--net:Remote Port Mirror=Remote Port Mirror')

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   Note:

   This code defines two network mappings for sensors and packetstores. VM Network maps to the VM management network on the ESX/ESXi host. Remote Port Mirror maps to the network that mirrors wire data. The names of the target networks must match the networks on your ESX/ESXi host. For example, if you configured a network named Local Port Mirror to mirror intra-VM traffic, specify: --net:Remote Port Mirror=Local Port Mirror For EDA 6100v appliances, you can add additional network mappings to the above array for Remote Port Mirror 2 and Remote Port Mirror 3, for example: Copy --net:Remote Port Mirror2=Remote Port Mirror2 Copy

8. Run the ovftool command with the subprocess.Popen class:

   proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd)
   proc.communicate()
   if proc.returncode != 0:
       module.fail_json(msg='Unable to deploy OVA')
   else:
       module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Deployed OVA")

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For sensors that are licensed for packet capture and all EXAs, you must configure an additional disk for the virtual appliance.

1. Create entries for virtual appliances in your Ansible inventory file similar to the following example:

   vms:
     hosts:
      exampleEXA:
         add_disk: 150
         app_type: EXA
         datacenter: "Example Datacenter"
         folder: "VM Folder"
         esxi: esxi1.example.com
         ova: ../firmware_images/extrahop-exa-5100v-xs-vmware-7.9.0.2924.ova
     vars:
       vcenter: vcenter.example.com
       user: extrahop@vsphere.local
       password: !vault |
             $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.1;AES256
             32313761623336326566303039613131373465663363326130336435326432666335333739643539
             6266386436363563653363306137653839633334666466630a643032303035376137363839656330
             63396465323039666531353437663934343735663638303166316534316134633739626231386662
             3234363063636563650a326336343334393638336433303063623636376231643934323961393338
             6133

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   The above inventory entries define the following configuration variables:

   exampleEXA

   The name of the VM.

   add_disk

   The size in GB of the disk to add. The following size values are valid:

   Virtual appliance	Size
   EDA 1100v	250
   EDA 6100v	500
   EXA-XS	250 or less
   EXA-S	500 or less
   EXA-M	1000 or less
   EXA-L	2000 or less

   app_type

   The type of virtual appliance.

   datacenter

   The datacenter that contains the ESX/ESXi host.

   folder

   The folder of VMs on the datacenter.

   esxi

   The name of the ESX/ESXi host that the VM is deployed to.

   datastore

   The name of the datastore that will contain the VM.

   ova

   The relative path of the ExtraHop OVA file.

   vcenter

   The hostname of the vCenter server.

   user

   The name of a user account on the vCenter server.

   password

   The password of the user account.

2. Create a task entry in a .yml playbook similar to the following example:

       - name: Add a disk
         when: add_disk is defined
         eh_vsphere_add_disk:
           vm_name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
           add_disk: "{{ add_disk }}"
           vcenter: "{{ vcenter }}"
           user: "{{ user }}"
           password: "{{ password }}"

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3. Add a Python script to your library directory and open the file in a text editor.
   In this example, the script is named /library/eh_vsphere_add_disk.py.
4. Import any Python modules the script requires.
   The following code imports the modules required for the rest of the procedure:

   from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
   from pyVim import connect
   from pyVmomi import vim
   import ssl

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5. Create an AnsibleModule object and import variables from the .yml file:

   module = AnsibleModule(
       argument_spec = dict(
           vm_name = dict(required=True),
           add_disk = dict(required=True),
           vcenter = dict(required=True),
           user = dict(required=True),
           password = dict(required=True, no_log=True)
       ),
       supports_check_mode=False
   )
   
   vm_name = module.params['vm_name']
   add_disk = module.params['add_disk']
   vcenter = module.params['vcenter']
   user = module.params['user']
   password = module.params['password']

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6. Translate the size of the PCAP disk from GB into KB:

               add_disk = int(add_disk) * 1024 * 1024
             

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7. Establish a connection to the vCenter server:

   context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv23)
   try:
       si = connect.SmartConnect(host=vcenter,
                                   user=user,
                                   pwd=password,
                                   sslContext=context)
   except:
       module.fail_json(msg='Could not connect to vcenter.')

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8. Retrieve an object that represents the VM that you are adding the disk to.

   content = si.RetrieveContent()
   object_view = content.viewManager.CreateContainerView(content.rootFolder,
                                                           [], True)
   for obj in object_view.view:
       if isinstance(obj, vim.VirtualMachine):
           if obj.name.lower() == vm_name.lower():
               object_view.Destroy()
               return obj
   object_view.Destroy()

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9. Find the location to add the virtual disk by traversing all devices on the VM. The unit number of the disk should be the unit number of the last virtual disk on the device plus one. Also, retrieve the object that represents the iSCSI controller for the VM:

   for dev in vm.config.hardware.device:
       if isinstance(dev, vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk):
           unit_number = int(dev.unitNumber) + 1
           if unit_number == 7:
               unit_number += 1
           if unit_number >= 16:
               module.fail_json(msg="Number of disks not supported")
       if isinstance(dev, vim.vm.device.VirtualSCSIController):
           controller = dev

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10. Configure the disk specifications:

    dev_changes = []
    diskSpec = vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec()
    diskSpec.fileOperation = "create"
    diskSpec.operation = vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec.Operation.add
    diskSpec.device = vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk()
    diskSpec.device.backing = vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo()
    diskSpec.device.backing.thinProvisioned = False
    diskSpec.device.backing.diskMode = 'persistent'
    diskSpec.device.unitNumber = unit_number
    diskSpec.device.capacityInKB = add_disk
    diskSpec.device.controllerKey = controller.key
    dev_changes.append(diskSpec)
    vm_spec = vim.vm.ConfigSpec()
    vm_spec.deviceChange = dev_changes

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11. Add the disk:

    vm.ReconfigVM_Task(spec=vm_spec)

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The following example shows how to increase the capacity of the packetstore disk on an ETA 1150v appliance.

1. Create entries for virtual appliances in your Ansible inventory file similar to the following example:

   vms:
     hosts:
       exampleETA:
         app_type: ETA
         datacenter: "Example Datacenter"
         folder: "VM Folder"
         esxi: esxi1.example.com
         datastore: DATA
         ova: ../firmware_images/extrahop-eta-1150v-vmware-7.9.0.2924.ova
         increase_disk: 2000
     vars:
       vcenter: vcenter.example.com
       user: extrahop@vsphere.local
       password: !vault |
             $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.1;AES256
             32313761623336326566303039613131373465663363326130336435326432666335333739643539
             6266386436363563653363306137653839633334666466630a643032303035376137363839656330
             63396465323039666531353437663934343735663638303166316534316134633739626231386662
             3234363063636563650a326336343334393638336433303063623636376231643934323961393338
             6133

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2. Create a task entry in a .yml playbook file similar to the following example:

      - name: Increase an ETA packetstore
         when: increase_disk is defined
         eh_vsphere_increase_disk:
           vm_name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
           increase_disk: "{{ increase_disk }}"
           datacenter: "{{ datacenter }}"
           vcenter: "{{ vcenter }}"
           user: "{{ user }}"
           password: "{{ password }}"

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3. Add a Python script to your library directory and open the file in a text editor.
   In this example, the script is named library/eh_vsphere_increase_disk.py.
4. Import any Python modules the script requires.
   The following code imports the modules required for the rest of the procedure:

   from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
   from pyVim import connect
   from pyVmomi import vim
   import ssl

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5. Create an AnsibleModule object and import variables from the .yml file:

   module = AnsibleModule(
       argument_spec = dict(
           vm_name = dict(required=True),
           increase_disk = dict(required=True),
           datacenter = dict(required=True),
           vcenter = dict(required=True),
           user = dict(required=True),
           password = dict(required=True, no_log=True)
       ),
       supports_check_mode=False
   )
   
   vm_name = module.params['vm_name']
   increase_disk = module.params['increase_disk']
   datacenter = module.params['datacenter']
   vcenter = module.params['vcenter']
   user = module.params['user']
   password = module.params['password']

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6. Translate the size of the disk from GB into KB:

   increase_disk = int(increase_disk) * 1024 * 1024

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7. Establish a connection to the vCenter server:

   context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv23)
   try:
       si = connect.SmartConnect(host=vcenter,
                                   user=user,
                                   pwd=password,
                                   sslContext=context)
   except:
       module.fail_json(msg='Could not connect to vcenter.')

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8. Retrieve an object that represents the VM of the ETA:

   content = si.RetrieveContent()
   object_view = content.viewManager.CreateContainerView(content.rootFolder,
                                                           [], True)
   for obj in object_view.view:
       if isinstance(obj, vim.VirtualMachine):
           if obj.name.lower() == vm_name.lower():
               object_view.Destroy()
               vm = obj
   
   object_view.Destroy()

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9. Retrieve the path of file that backs the disk you want to resize:

   for dev in vm.config.hardware.device:
       if isinstance(dev, vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk) and dev.deviceInfo.label == 'Hard disk 2':
           disk = dev
   path = disk.backing.fileName

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10. Retrieve an object that represents the datacenter that the VM is on:

    datacenter_list = si.content.rootFolder.childEntity
    for d in datacenter_list:
        if d.name == dcName:
            datacenter_obj = d

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11. Increase the size of the disk:

    virtualDiskManager = si.content.virtualDiskManager
    virtualDiskManager.ExtendVirtualDisk(path, datacenter_obj, increase_disk, False)

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