Ansible troubleshooting - VMware Failed to Import PyVmomi

Let’s troubleshoot together the Ansible fatal error “Failed to import the required Python library (PyVmomi)” to find the root cause, install the required library using PIP, and successfully run our Ansible For VMware Playbook code.

May 12, 2022

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#vmware #troubleshooting #python #library #pyvmomi #playbook #pip #linux #error #fatal

Ansible troubleshooting — VMware Failed to Import PyVmomi

Today we’re going to talk about Ansible troubleshooting, specifically about the “Failed to import the required Python library (PyVmomi)” message and enable Ansible For VMware.

This fatal error message happens when we are trying to execute some code against your VMware Infrastructure without the necessary Python SDK for the VMware vSphere API.

These circumstances are usually related to the configuration of your Ansible Controller node and usually are not related to Ansible Playbook.

I’m Luca Berton and welcome to today’s episode of Ansible Pilot.

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demo

The best way of talking about Ansible troubleshooting is to jump in a live demo to show you practically the “Failed to import the required Python library (PyVmomi)” and how to solve it!

In this demo, I’m going to reproduce the error and fix using the PIP, the Python Package Manager on a demo machine.

error execution

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory vm_info.yml
PLAY [info vm demo] *******************************************************************************
TASK [include_vars] *******************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [get VM info] ********************************************************************************
An exception occurred during task execution. To see the full traceback, use -vvv. The error was: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyVim'
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"ansible_facts": {"discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"}, "changed": false, "msg": "Failed to import the required Python library (PyVmomi) on demo.example.com's Python /usr/libexec/platform-python. Please read module documentation and install in the appropriate location. If the required library is installed, but Ansible is using the wrong Python interpreter, please consult the documentation on ansible_python_interpreter"}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

fix code

[devops@demo vmware]$ sudo su
[root@demo vmware]# pip3 install PyVmomi
WARNING: Running pip install with root privileges is generally not a good idea. Try `pip3 install --user` instead.
Collecting PyVmomi
  Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/d5/d1/effec9e03f9c0a0eba9c03ba8708807bad7b335341bf755cd88d110ce29d/pyvmomi-7.0.3.tar.gz
Requirement already satisfied: requests>=2.3.0 in /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages (from PyVmomi)
Requirement already satisfied: six>=1.7.3 in /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages (from PyVmomi)
Requirement already satisfied: chardet<3.1.0,>=3.0.2 in /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages (from requests>=2.3.0->PyVmomi)
Requirement already satisfied: idna<2.8,>=2.5 in /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages (from requests>=2.3.0->PyVmomi)
Requirement already satisfied: urllib3<1.25,>=1.21.1 in /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages (from requests>=2.3.0->PyVmomi)
Installing collected packages: PyVmomi
  Running setup.py install for PyVmomi ... done
Successfully installed PyVmomi-7.0.3

fix execution

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory vm_info.yml
PLAY [info vm demo] *******************************************************************************
TASK [include_vars] *******************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [get VM info] ********************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [print VM info] ******************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "detailed_tag_info": {
        "ansible_facts": {
            "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"
        },
        "changed": false,
        "failed": false,
        "instance": {
            "annotation": "",
            "current_snapshot": null,
            "customvalues": {},
            "guest_consolidation_needed": false,
            "guest_question": null,
            "guest_tools_status": "guestToolsNotRunning",
            "guest_tools_version": "0",
            "hw_cluster": "prod-cluster",
            "hw_cores_per_socket": 1,
            "hw_datastores": [
                "Datastore-1"
            ],
            "hw_esxi_host": "vmware.example.com",
            "hw_eth0": {
                "addresstype": "assigned",
                "ipaddresses": null,
                "label": "Network adapter 1",
                "macaddress": "00:50:56:a5:fd:4a",
                "macaddress_dash": "00-50-56-a5-fd-4a",
                "portgroup_key": null,
                "portgroup_portkey": null,
                "summary": "VM Network"
            },
            "hw_files": [
                "[Datastore-1] myvm/myvm.vmx",
                "[Datastore-1] myvm/myvm.vmsd",
                "[Datastore-1] myvm/myvm.vmdk"
            ],
            "hw_folder": "/vmwaredatacenter/vm/myvm",
            "hw_guest_full_name": null,
            "hw_guest_ha_state": null,
            "hw_guest_id": null,
            "hw_interfaces": [
                "eth0"
            ],
            "hw_is_template": false,
            "hw_memtotal_mb": 1024,
            "hw_name": "myvm",
            "hw_power_status": "poweredOff",
            "hw_processor_count": 1,
            "hw_product_uuid": "422549b9-7e76-fb2b-da34-e9c6c8b071de",
            "hw_version": "vmx-11",
            "instance_uuid": "5025d22d-cea7-4d1c-41f9-5cd80b9603dc",
            "ipv4": null,
            "ipv6": null,
            "module_hw": true,
            "moid": "vm-17923",
            "snapshots": [],
            "vimref": "vim.VirtualMachine:vm-17923",
            "vnc": {}
        }
    }
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=3    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Recap

Now you know better how to troubleshoot the Ansible “Failed to import the required Python library (PyVmomi)” message and move forward with your Ansible For VMware project.

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