Can't modify CPU or Memory after a VM is created.

[Rylon]

SUMMARY

Can't modify CPU or Memory after a VM is created.

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

vmware_guest

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible --version
ansible [core 2.15.3]
  config file = /de-ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/de-ansible/library', '/de-ansible/roles/*/library', '/de-ansible/roles-vendored/*/library']
  ansible python module location = /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /de-ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /usr/local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.10.6 (main, Mar 10 2023, 10:55:28) [GCC 11.3.0] (/usr/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.2
  libyaml = True

COLLECTION VERSION

# /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/ansible_collections
Collection       Version
---------------- -------
community.vmware 3.9.0

CONFIGURATION

ansible-config dump --only-changed
ANY_ERRORS_FATAL(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = True
CALLBACKS_ENABLED(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['timing_and_inventory_details']
COLLECTIONS_ON_ANSIBLE_VERSION_MISMATCH(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = error
COLLECTIONS_PATHS(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/de-ansible/collections', '/usr/share/ansible/collections']
CONFIG_FILE() = /de-ansible/ansible.cfg
DEFAULT_CALLBACK_PLUGIN_PATH(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/de-ansible/callback_plugins']
DEFAULT_FILTER_PLUGIN_PATH(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/de-ansible/filter_plugins']
DEFAULT_FORCE_HANDLERS(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = True
DEFAULT_INVENTORY_PLUGIN_PATH(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/de-ansible/inventory_plugins']
DEFAULT_JINJA2_NATIVE(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = True
DEFAULT_LOOKUP_PLUGIN_PATH(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/de-ansible/lookup_plugins']
DEFAULT_ROLES_PATH(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/de-ansible/roles-vendored', '/de-ansible/roles', '/usr/share/ansible/collections']
DEFAULT_STDOUT_CALLBACK(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = yaml
DEFAULT_TIMEOUT(/de-ansible/ansible.cfg) = 10

OS / ENVIRONMENT

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Create a VM using community.vmware.vmware_guest, with the following hardware config:

hardware:
      hotadd_cpu:              true
      hotremove_cpu:           true
      hotadd_memory:           true
      memory_reservation_lock: true
      memory_mb:               1024
      num_cpus:                1

Next, re-run the playbook but change the hardware config to this:

hardware:
      hotadd_cpu:              true
      hotremove_cpu:           true
      hotadd_memory:           true
      memory_reservation_lock: true
      memory_mb:               2048
      num_cpus:                2

EXPECTED RESULTS

The CPU and RAM should be modified.

ACTUAL RESULTS

There are no changes made, nor any errors output to explain why. VMware Vcenter logs do not even show an attempt to change the config, which suggests Ansible is not even issuing the request?

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[Rylon]

!component vmware_guest

[ihumster]

I try to reproduce in my lab and get expected result. VM created, and on next run was changed. Need more info about your case.

[Rylon]

How strange, it's nothing "special" really, just launching a VM from a template. The values all work when creating the VM, so CPU/RAM is set correctly, but it doesn't change when we re-run it. I checked Vcenter shows hot-add CPU is enabled. Anything else I can check to compare my setup with yours? What version of all the pieces of software are you running in your lab? Thanks.

[ihumster]

I try check it out over the weekend.

[mariolenz]

What state do you use in your playbook? vmware_guest is a (far too) complex beast and hard to debug, but it might have something to do with it.

I remember we've had an issue there in the past, something like if you specify present it worked but not if you specified powered-on (or maybe the other way round). Maybe this is similar. Although I don't find the original issue at the moment :-/

[Rylon]

Yeah state is present in this case. I'll double check with powered-on to see if it has any impact though.

[Rylon]

Ok so I did some testing, and indeed that is the issue - we were using poweredon, which won't change the configuration. If we change it to present then it does update the configuration, but it reports changed: true every time you run the playbook which means it's not properly idempotent.

Similarly, if the VM is powered off, and you run the playbook with state: present then the VM is not powered on, and Ansible just waits until it times out.

I would expect present implies powered on as well? I'd also expect that if the VM was being powered on, but didn't match the desired state, Ansible should modify it.

We would some logic in the tasks file for our role so that it does the right thing and handles this, but I think it should be all handled by the module itself so it handles idempotency for us?

What do you think?