Add support for returning `tags` and `custom_attributes` in the `d/vsphere_virtual_machine` data source

[akli-ime]

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Description

Currently, the vsphere_virtual_machine data source does not expose vSphere tags or custom attributes assigned to a VM.
This information is available through the vSphere REST and SOAP APIs, but it is not accessible from the Terraform provider, which limits automation and compliance use cases.

When using the API directly (via /rest/com/vmware/cis/tagging/tag-association or /rest/vcenter/vm), tags and custom attributes can be retrieved — however, the vsphere_virtual_machine data source only provides core VM properties (CPU, memory, disks, network, etc.) and omits metadata like tags and .

Adding these fields would make it easier to:

• Dynamically manage resources by tag (e.g., environments, cost centers)
• Integrate Terraform with CMDB or governance tools
• Perform drift detection and validation based on custom attributes

Use Case(s)

• Reading an existing VM and using its tags to drive conditional logic or dynamic configuration in Terraform (e.g., assigning network profiles or backup policies).
• Propagating vSphere custom attributes to other systems such as CMDBs or cost-management tools.
• Validating that existing VMs are correctly tagged as part of compliance or governance pipelines.
• Simplifying reporting and resource classification workflows that depend on metadata.

Potential Configuration

data "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {
  name          = "app-prod-01"
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

output "vm_tags" {
  value = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.vm.tags
}

output "vm_custom_attributes" {
  value = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.vm.custom_attributes
}

Expected Terraform output:

vm_tags = [
  {
    category = "Environment"
    name     = "Production"
  },
  {
    category = "Owner"
    name     = "TeamA"
  }
]

vm_custom_attributes = {
  "Application" = "APP"
  "CostCenter"  = "001"
}

References

vSphere REST API documentation:
https://developer.broadcom.com/xapis/vsphere-automation-api/v7.0u3/cis/api/cis/tagging/tag-association__action=list-attached-tags/post/

[akli-ime]

I’ve opened a pull request to add support for returning tags and custom_attributes in the vsphere_virtual_machine data source.

PR: #2652
#2652