Posted by And now something completely different. Recently, while working on a project, I had to come up with a way to automate Ubuntu Server 20.04 VM installations on vSphere. Utilizing Ubuntu’s new autoinstall method together with some Ansible code I managed to get something up and running. Decent enough to share it with you.
Overview
The Playbook I’m showcasing in this article will carry out the following operations:
- Download the Ubuntu Server 20.04 ISO
- Modify ISO contents to enable unattended installation
- Upload the modified ISO to a vSphere datastore
- Create a VM and install Ubuntu Server 20.04 using the modified ISO
- Configure static IP on the Ubuntu Server
Step 5 is required because for some reason Ubuntu’s autoinstall reverts the network configuration to DHCP after rebooting the server. I hope this will be fixed in a future release.
Requirements
To run this Playbook you will need the following:
- An Ubuntu 20.04 machine with the following:
- sudo apt install python3 python3-pip git xorriso
- pip3 install ansible pyvim pyvmomi
- ansible-galaxy collection install community.general community.vmware ansible.posix
- An Internet connection
- Access to your vSphere environment
- vSphere 6.7 or higher
Playbook
Below the contents of the Ansible Playbook for reference. This together with the supporting files is actually better viewed and cloned on Github.
---
- hosts: localhost
name: DeployUbuntu.yml
gather_facts: false
vars:
TempDir: /tmp # Temp directory on the Ansible Controller
WorkingDir: /tmp/ubuntu20 # Working directory on the Ansible Controller
UbuntuISO: ubuntu-20.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso # Ubuntu ISO filename
UbuntuISO_URL: https://releases.ubuntu.com/20.04/ # Ubuntu ISO URL
UbuntuNewISO: ubuntu2004.iso # Ubuntu custom ISO name
vCenterServer: vcenter.demo.local # vCenter FQDN
vCenterUser: administrator@vsphere.local # vCenter username
vCenterPassword: VMware1! # vCenter password
DataCenter: SDDC # vCenter datacenter
vSphereCluster: Lab-Cluster # vCenter cluster
VMFolder: Management # vCenter VM folder
Datastore: Shared_VMs # vSphere datastore
DatastoreDir: /SDDCLab-ISO-Folder # vSphere datastore ISO directory
UbuntuVMName: demo-server # Ubuntu VM name of the virtual machine
UbuntuVMDiskSize: 50 # Ubuntu VM disksize in gigabytes
UbuntuVMMemorySize: 2048 # Ubuntu VM memory size in megabytes
UbuntuVMCPUs: 1 # Ubuntu VM number of CPUs
UbuntuVMCPUCores: 1 # Ubuntu VM number of cores
UbuntuVMPortGroup: VLAN-301 # Ubuntu VM vSphere portgroup
UbuntuOSLocale: en_US # Ubuntu OS locale
UbuntuOSKeyboardLayout: en # Ubuntu OS keyboard layout
UbuntuOSKeyboardVariant: us # Ubuntu OS keyboard variant
UbuntuOSIPv4Address: 10.203.0.50/24 # Ubuntu OS IPv4 address
UbuntuOSIPv4Gateway: 10.203.0.1 # Ubuntu OS IPv4 gateway
UbuntuOSIPv4DNS: 10.203.0.5 # Ubuntu OS DNS server
UbuntuOSSearchDomain: sddc.lab # Ubuntu OS DNS search domain
UbuntuOSHostname: demo-server # Ubuntu OS hostname
UbuntuOSUser: ubuntu # Ubuntu OS username
UbuntuOSPassword: VMware1! # Ubuntu OS password
tasks:
- name: Create working directory on Ansible Controller
ansible.builtin.file:
path: "{{ WorkingDir }}"
state: directory
- name: Check if Ubuntu ISO exists locally on Ansible Controller
ansible.builtin.stat:
path: "{{ TempDir }}/{{ UbuntuISO }}"
register: InstallerFileCheck
- name: Download Ubuntu ISO (if ISO file doesn't exist locally)
ansible.builtin.get_url:
url: "{{ UbuntuISO_URL }}{{ UbuntuISO }}"
dest: "{{ TempDir }}/{{ UbuntuISO }}"
when:
- InstallerFileCheck.stat.exists != true
- name: Mount Ubuntu ISO
ansible.posix.mount:
path: "{{ WorkingDir }}/iso"
src: "{{ TempDir }}/{{ UbuntuISO }}"
fstype: iso9660
opts: ro,noauto
state: mounted
- name: Copy txt.cfg from Ubuntu ISO
ansible.builtin.copy:
src: "{{ WorkingDir }}/iso/isolinux/txt.cfg"
dest: "{{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/isolinux/"
mode: "666"
- name: Edit txt.cfg to modify append line
ansible.builtin.replace:
dest: "{{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/isolinux/txt.cfg"
regexp: 'append initrd=/casper/initrd quiet ---'
replace: 'append initrd=/casper/initrd quiet --- autoinstall ds=nocloud;s=/cdrom/autoinstall/'
- name: Create directory to store user-data and meta-data
ansible.builtin.file:
path: "{{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/autoinstall"
state: directory
- name: Copy user-data file to directory
ansible.builtin.template:
src: ./Ubuntu_user-data.j2
dest: "{{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/autoinstall/user-data"
mode: "666"
- name: Create empty meta-data file in directory
ansible.builtin.file:
path: "{{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/autoinstall/meta-data"
state: touch
mode: "666"
- name: Create custom Ubuntu ISO
ansible.builtin.command: "xorrisofs -relaxed-filenames -J -R -o {{ TempDir }}/{{ UbuntuNewISO }} -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table {{ WorkingDir }}/iso/ {{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/"
args:
chdir: "{{ WorkingDir }}/isocopy/"
- name: Unmount Ubuntu ISO
ansible.posix.mount:
path: "{{ WorkingDir }}/iso"
src: "{{ TempDir }}/{{ UbuntuISO }}"
fstype: iso9660
opts: ro,noauto
state: absent
- name: Upload the custom Ubuntu ISO to the vSphere datastore
community.vmware.vsphere_copy:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
validate_certs: no
datacenter: "{{ DataCenter }}"
src: "{{ TempDir }}/{{ UbuntuNewISO }}"
datastore: "{{ Datastore }}"
path: "{{ DatastoreDir }}/{{ UbuntuNewISO }}"
- name: Deploy Ubuntu VM
community.vmware.vmware_guest:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
validate_certs: no
name: "{{ UbuntuVMName }}"
state: poweredon
guest_id: ubuntu64Guest
cluster: "{{ vSphereCluster }}"
datacenter: "{{ DataCenter }}"
folder: "{{ VMFolder }}"
disk:
- size_gb: "{{ UbuntuVMDiskSize }}"
type: thin
datastore: "{{ Datastore }}"
hardware:
memory_mb: "{{ UbuntuVMMemorySize }}"
num_cpus: "{{ UbuntuVMCPUs }}"
num_cpu_cores_per_socket: "{{ UbuntuVMCPUCores }}"
scsi: paravirtual
networks:
- name: "{{ UbuntuVMPortGroup }}"
device_type: vmxnet3
cdrom:
- controller_number: 0
unit_number: 0
type: iso
iso_path: "[{{ Datastore }}] {{ DatastoreDir }}/{{ UbuntuNewISO }}"
state: present
annotation: |
*** Auto-Deployed by Ansible ***
Username: {{ UbuntuOSUser }}
Password: {{ UbuntuOSPassword }}
- name: Start checking if the Ubuntu VM is ready
community.vmware.vmware_guest_info:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
datacenter: "{{ DataCenter }}"
validate_certs: no
name: "{{ UbuntuVMName }}"
schema: vsphere
register: vm_facts
until: vm_facts.instance.guest.hostName is search(UbuntuOSHostname)
retries: 30
delay: 60
- name: Set password for the Ubuntu user
community.vmware.vmware_vm_shell:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
validate_certs: no
vm_id: "{{ UbuntuVMName }}"
vm_username: "{{ UbuntuOSUser }}"
vm_password: VMware1!
vm_shell: /usr/bin/echo
vm_shell_args: "'{{ UbuntuOSUser }}:{{ UbuntuOSPassword }}' | sudo chpasswd"
- name: Copy network configuration file to working directory
ansible.builtin.template:
src: ./Ubuntu_Netplan.j2
dest: "{{ WorkingDir }}/00-installer-config.yaml"
mode: "666"
- name: Copy network configuration file to Ubuntu VM
community.vmware.vmware_guest_file_operation:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
validate_certs: no
vm_id: "{{ UbuntuVMName }}"
vm_username: "{{ UbuntuOSUser }}"
vm_password: VMware1!
copy:
src: "{{ WorkingDir }}/00-installer-config.yaml"
dest: "/home/{{ UbuntuOSUser }}/00-installer-config.yaml"
- name: Move network configuration file to right location on Ubuntu VM
community.vmware.vmware_vm_shell:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
validate_certs: no
vm_id: "{{ UbuntuVMName }}"
vm_username: "{{ UbuntuOSUser }}"
vm_password: VMware1!
vm_shell: /usr/bin/sudo
vm_shell_args: "mv /home/{{ UbuntuOSUser }}/00-installer-config.yaml /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml"
- name: Appply the network configuration on Ubuntu VM
community.vmware.vmware_vm_shell:
hostname: "{{ vCenterServer }}"
username: "{{ vCenterUser }}"
password: "{{ vCenterPassword }}"
validate_certs: no
vm_id: "{{ UbuntuVMName }}"
vm_username: "{{ UbuntuOSUser }}"
vm_password: VMware1!
vm_shell: /usr/bin/sudo
vm_shell_args: netplan apply
- name: Delete working directory on Ansible Controller
ansible.builtin.file:
path: "{{ WorkingDir }}"
state: absent
Most of the tasks here are pretty self-explanatory. I’ve also tried to use descriptive names for each task to help you understand what is happening.
You will change some of the values of the variables defined under vars: so that they match your environment. Besides that it’s pretty much good to go.
Usage
So, to deploy an Ubuntu Server 20.04 VM using this Playbook you’ll first clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/rutgerblom/ubuntu-autoinstall.git
Then modify DeployUbuntu.yml so that the values of the variables match your environment and requirements:
Now run the Playbook with:
sudo ansible-playbook DeployUbuntu.yml
The deployment kicks off and will take about 15 minutes depending on your environment:
And the result is a shiny new Ubuntu Server 20.04 VM:
Not too hard. If Ubuntu’s autoinstall would leave the networking configuration in place after reboot, I would be able to shave off 5 tasks and more than 10 minutes from this deployment. Perhaps somebody out there already knows of a way to handle this? Let me know in the comments.
Summary
In this article I showcased a very basic single-purpose Ansible Playbook for unattended deployment of an Ubuntu Server 20.04 VM on VMware vSphere. This can of course be expanded upon and become part of a larger (automation) process. Hopefully you’ll find this useful and can serve as some inspiration for your projects.
Thanks for reading.
References and resources:
thanks for the post i tried the same it was work fine i tried the same with the desktop version but it was not working as expected even i tried with pressed files but it was also not working if you can help me on the same it will be great i tried on Ubuntu forums but i’m not able to find any solution for the same
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Hi,
a noob question: how are the LOCAL_UbuntuOS* variables passed inside the VM with LOCA_ stripped away, since they are used within the .j2 files for netplan and user data? BTW, nice guide!
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Hi Gianni,
The script was updated after this article was published. The variables are not prefixed with “LOCAL_” anymore. Will update the post.
Thanks for the heads up.
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