vmware_guest_sendkey, it doesnt work when run from semaphore ci cd

[sairamobili]

SUMMARY

vmware_guest_sendkey works correctly when executed from the CLI , but fails silently when executed via CI/CD pipeline (Semaphore). The task reports success and returns returned_keys_send_number = 1, but the VM does not receive the keystroke (e.g., ENTER) and remains stuck at the boot screen.

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

community.vmware.vmware_guest_sendkey

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible [core 2.18.1]
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/semaphore/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /opt/semaphore/apps/ansible/11.1.0/venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/semaphore/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /opt/semaphore/apps/ansible/11.1.0/venv/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.11.11 (main, Dec  6 2024, 11:15:21) [GCC 13.2.1 20231014]
  jinja version = 3.1.5
  libyaml = True

COLLECTION VERSION

community.vmware        5.5.0

CONFIGURATION

DEFAULT_HOST_LIST(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/etc/ansible/hosts']
DEFAULT_CALLBACK_WHITELIST(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['timer', 'yaml']
DEFAULT_FORKS(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = 10

OS / ENVIRONMENT

CI/CD runner (Semaphore) running on Ubuntu container
vCenter 7.0.3
Target VM: Windows Server 2022 template
No VMRC or Web Console session active during run

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

- name: Send list of keys to virtual machine
  community.vmware.vmware_guest_sendkey:
    hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
    username: "{{ vcenter_username }}"
    password: "{{ vcenter_password }}"
    cluster: "{{ cluster }}"
    validate_certs: false
    name: "{{ name }}"
    keys_send:
      - ENTER
  delegate_to: localhost

1. Run task via CLI – works.
2. Run same task in CI pipeline – keys are reported as sent, but have no effect.

EXPECTED RESULTS

Keystrokes should be received by the VM and the boot process should continue.

ACTUAL RESULTS

Task returns success:

"sendkey_info": {
  "keys_send": ["ENTER"],
  "keys_send_number": 1,
  "returned_keys_send_number": 1,
  "virtual_machine": "W2K22-STD-Template"
}

However, VM does not register the keystroke and remains at the boot screen. There is no indication of failure in the Ansible task output.

[mariolenz]

I'm sorry, but my priority ATM is to make the collection work with the upcoming ansible-core 2.19 release (#2388 and #2391).

It turns out that this is harder than I originally expected. Please bear wit me 🙏