Is vmware vCenter server necessary for esxi + terraform

Question

I am currently investigating terraform, is it possible to create VM with Terraform on Esxi 6 without vCenter Server? Since I only have free version of Esxi 6 installed. Thank you in advance.

Cestus

Pretty sure that free ESXI comes with vSphere nowadays and that's what you need to be able to manage virtual hosts via the API (and so use things like Terraform or Vagrant with it). – Americanize

@Americanize What do you mean by "comes with vSphere nowadays"? The free ESXi, is just the hypervisor. No vCenter, no vSphere Web Client, no Update Manager, no nothing... – Hag

Answer 1

I have a provider available that can talk directly to esxi without vcenter.

https://github.com/josenk/terraform-provider-esxi

Underbrush

Answer 2

I figure, that using Terraform, specifically the official vSphere provider without vCenter might be possible, but because Terraform internally uses the govmomi library that in turn uses the vSphere API it is not possible on the free Hypervisor, because it only allows read-only access to the vSphere API.

Hence, you need at least the Essential License and with it comes vCenter.

Hag

Answer 3

You can import an image without the APIs.

You can't clone images. Attempting to do so would give you errors such as https://communities.vmware.com/thread/310721?db=5 Can't clone a VM (The operation is not supported on the object").

The next question is if importing is enough. I don't know.

Idolize

i think the import is enough for my current user case. Will test it today. Thx a lot @martin – Cestus

Answer 4

It does require vcenter. Vsphere essentials kit is an inexpensive option for a lab / dev environment setup.

Tricorn