Use VMware tools to change guest ip

[bdamian]

Is there any way to invoke VMware Tools of a VM to change ip settings in the guest OS from an orchestrator workflow?

Thanks a lot.

[mcfadyenj]

there are lots of ways to achieve this but I prefer native options where possible.

so take a look under the following categories.

vCenter\Virtual Machine Management\Clone\tools

have a look at the "Get NIC Setting map" workflow which shows a similar example. which might lead you in the right direction.

[julienvarela]

Hi,

For me i copy a custom script inside the VM, and then i use the run script worklow with the defined parameters.

Regards,

Julien

[cdecanini_]

There is a workflow to change windows IP in the document tab

Le 16 janv. 2014 à 11:57, "julienvarela" <communities-emailer@vmware.com<mailto:communities-emailer@vmware.com>> a écrit :

VMware Communities<https://communities.vmware.com/index.jspa>

Use VMware tools to change guest ip

created by julienvarela<https://communities.vmware.com/people/julienvarela> in Orchestrator - View the full discussion<https://communities.vmware.com/message/2335042#2335042>

[julienvarela]

Hi,

you have right, but i forgot to say , that i am using it for a linux guest os .

Regards,

julien.

[bdamian]

I cannot find the workflow to change windows ip in Document Tab. Could you please paste the URL?

Thanks

[Burke- · Accepted solution]

Guest script manager package

Script manager powerShell script samples (Change guest IP and DNS servers addresses)

Script manager batch script samples (Local administrator and managing DNS records)

[cdecanini_]

Thanks Burke, I was doing the same post.

BTW if on Linux you can use the linked  guest script manager to run any bash command including one to change your IP.

[bdamian]

Is there any other way to invoke the vmware tools from a workflow?

I assume that vmware tools are different for every SO but using the same interface. So, no matter the guest OS, I can manage them using the same "calls".

vCloud Director can change the network settings in the guest no matter the OS. If the guest doesn't have the vmware tools, it cannot do it. So, vCloud Director uses the vmware tools. How, vCD call the vmware tools, running scripts on linux guests and using powershel for windows guests?

By the way, the workflow "Run program in guest" require user and password so, vCD cannot be using something like this because it doesn't know the administrator or root passwords of all VMs.

Thanks a lot.

[rszymczak]

@bdamian

sure you can invoke the VMware tools from vRO. BUT while they provide functions to execute OS commands they do not, atleast as far a I know, provide OS specific build-in commands e.g. to change the IP adress. For example, if you use the GuestCustomizationSpec to do that it will invoke OS specific scripts using the VMtools. That's why for Linux VMs you still need Perl to be present, because on Linux the scripts used by the GuestCustomizationSpec are written in Perl.

So: long story short - the VMtools do not provide a generic interface to change the IP of a guest. So while you can use them to execute your scripts you still will have to write those scripts for every OS you want to support.