Automating VMware Snapshot Management with Ansible Playbook

In a VMware environment, managing virtual machine snapshots can become complex as the infrastructure grows. Snapshots are essential for capturing the state of a VM at a specific point in time. With the help of Ansible, you can automate the process of gathering information about VMware snapshots, making it easier to manage and maintain your VMware infrastructure.

In this article, we’ll demonstrate how to use Ansible’s vmware_snapshot_info_all module to automate the process of collecting detailed information about all snapshots, filtering snapshots based on specific criteria, and applying advanced filters like name matching and state filtering.

1. Gather Information About All Snapshots in VMware vCenter

The first task in our Ansible playbook is to gather information about all snapshots within a specified datacenter in VMware vCenter. This will return details about every snapshot, allowing administrators to review and manage snapshots easily.

- name: Gather information about all snapshots in VMware vCenter
  vmware_snapshot_info_all:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    validate_certs: no
    datacenter: '{{ datacenter_name }}'
  delegate_to: localhost

Breakdown of the Task:

hostname: Specifies the vCenter server’s hostname or IP address where the VMware environment is managed.
username and password: Authentication credentials for accessing vCenter.
validate_certs: If set to no, this will bypass SSL certificate validation. It’s useful for environments where SSL certificates are self-signed or not trusted.
datacenter: Defines the specific datacenter in vCenter where the snapshots will be queried.
delegate_to: localhost: This ensures the task runs locally on the Ansible control machine rather than on the target vCenter machine.

This task retrieves a complete list of all snapshots in the specified VMware vCenter datacenter, which can then be further processed or filtered.

2. Gather Snapshot Information with Filters Applied (Exact Matches)

Next, we will gather information on snapshots, but this time we will apply filters to narrow down the results. This example demonstrates how to filter snapshots based on their state and the name of the virtual machine (VM).

- name: Gather information of a snapshot with filters applied and match_type in exacts.
  vmware_snapshot_info_all:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    validate_certs: yes
    datacenter: '{{ datacenter_name }}'
    filters:
      state: "poweredOn"
      vm_name: "you_machine_name"
  delegate_to: localhost

Breakdown of the Task:

filters: A dictionary that allows you to filter snapshots based on specific parameters. In this case:
- state: "poweredOn": Filters snapshots that belong to powered-on virtual machines.
- vm_name: "you_machine_name": Filters snapshots that belong to a specific VM by name.
validate_certs: yes: Ensures SSL certificate validation, which is more secure for production environments where certificates are trusted.

This task allows you to refine your snapshot search by state and VM name, helping you find exactly the snapshots you need.

3. Gather Snapshot Information Based on Name Pattern (Partial Matches)

The next example demonstrates how to filter snapshots by name, specifically looking for snapshots that contain a certain string in their name. This task will gather all snapshots whose names include the word “test.”

- name: Gather information of snapshots that in their name contain the "test" in their name.
  vmware_snapshot_info_all:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    validate_certs: yes
    datacenter: '{{ datacenter_name }}'
    match_type: "includes"
    filters:
      name: "test"
  delegate_to: localhost

Breakdown of the Task:

match_type: "includes": This tells Ansible to perform a partial match (instead of an exact match) when filtering by snapshot name. If the snapshot name contains the specified string (in this case, “test”), it will be included in the results.
filters:
- name: "test": Filters snapshots whose name contains the string “test.”

This allows you to dynamically search for snapshots based on a partial name match, which is especially useful when you’re managing many snapshots across different VMs.

Why Use Ansible for VMware Snapshot Management?

Automating snapshot management using Ansible offers several advantages:

Efficiency: Automating snapshot queries saves time, especially when managing a large number of snapshots across multiple VMs.
Consistency: Ansible ensures that the same filtering and snapshot gathering process is executed every time, reducing human error and inconsistencies.
Scalability: As your VMware environment grows, Ansible playbooks can scale to manage snapshots across more datacenters, clusters, and VMs.
Integration: Ansible integrates seamlessly with other automation tools, allowing you to combine snapshot management with other automation workflows, like VM provisioning or backups.
Flexibility: With the ability to filter by VM state, name, and other attributes, you can tailor the snapshot gathering process to fit your unique requirements.

Full Example of Ansible Playbook for VMware Snapshot Management

Below is a complete Ansible playbook that gathers information about all snapshots, applies filters, and handles name matching for VMware snapshots.

---
- name: Gather and filter VMware snapshots
  hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - name: Gather information about all snapshots in VMware vCenter
      vmware_snapshot_info_all:
        hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
        username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
        password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
        validate_certs: no
        datacenter: '{{ datacenter_name }}'
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Gather information of a snapshot with filters applied and match_type in exacts.
      vmware_snapshot_info_all:
        hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
        username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
        password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
        validate_certs: yes
        datacenter: '{{ datacenter_name }}'
        filters:
          state: "poweredOn"
          vm_name: "you_machine_name"
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Gather information of snapshots that in their name contain the "test" in their name.
      vmware_snapshot_info_all:
        hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
        username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
        password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
        validate_certs: yes
        datacenter: '{{ datacenter_name }}'
        match_type: "includes"
        filters:
          name: "test"
      delegate_to: localhost

Conclusion

Using Ansible to automate VMware snapshot management simplifies the process of querying and filtering snapshots based on specific attributes. Whether you need to gather information about all snapshots, apply filters for specific VM names or states, or search for snapshots by name pattern, Ansible’s vmware_snapshot_info_all module provides the flexibility and power to meet your needs.

By integrating this automation into your workflows, you can enhance the efficiency and scalability of managing snapshots in VMware environments.