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zero_shane
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<solved> VCF Cloud Builder 4.1 deployment problem with OVFtool

<solved>

My automation framework was missing the latest patch - that injects the super secret and hidden flag argument that is not documented in the OVF tool help output.  Basically "govc spec" JSON outputs this option:

  InjectOvfEnv”: true,

While the "ovftool --schemaValidate package.ova" does not mention it at all.  Adding in the magical secret hidden bonus round option to ovftool as follows; fixes the problem:

  --X:injectOvfEnv

</solved>

Hi All,


I'm working on automating VCF Cloud Builder with ovftool.  When I run "ovftool --schemaValidate VMware-Cloud-Builder-4.1.0.0-16961769_OVF10.ova", I receive all of the OVF values/properties I can use. 

When I deploy - the OVA is successfully deployed, but the VM is unconfigured without the static IP assignments, username or passwords I specify.  It essentially looks like the OVA deploy ignores the OVF properties I pass in.

I have built up the following deployment command line, using ovftool 4.4.0 (build-15722219).  Note - passwords/ips changed, but the format of original passwords exactly matches what's shown below.

 

ovftool \
  --acceptAllEulas --allowAllExtraConfig --allowExtraConfig --X:noPrompting --X:connectionReconnectCount=5 \
  --name='builder.example.com' \
  --diskMode="flat" --ipAllocationPolicy="fixedPolicy" --ipProtocol="IPv4" --powerOn --X:waitForIp \
  --noSSLVerify \
  --prop:"guestinfo.ADMIN_USERNAME"="admin" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.ADMIN_PASSWORD"="Abcd123!Abcd123!" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.ROOT_PASSWORD"="Abcd123!Abcd123!" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.hostname"="builder.example.com" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.ip0"="10.10.10.203" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.netmask0"="255.255.255.0" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.gateway"="10.10.10.1" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.DNS"="10.10.20.10" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.domain"="example.com" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.searchpath"="example.com" \
  --prop:"guestinfo.ntp"="0.us.pool.ntp.org" \
  --net:"Network 1"="VM Network" \
  https://10.10.20.25/files/images/VMware-Cloud-Builder-4.1.0.0-16961769_OVF10.ova \
  'vi://root:[redacted]@10.10.10.20/'

Ultimately, this command completes successfully:

  The manifest validates
  The provided certificate is in valid period
  ...[snip]...
  Waiting for IP address... Received IP address: 10.10.10.213
  Completed successfully
  OVFtool command completed successfully.

The deployed VM console shows the error below.  I'm as certain as I can be that I met the password requirements.  My formatting is exactly as shown in the above command output, just characters/numbers slightly changed.  I'm also receiving a DHCP address, and the static IP addressing is not being assigned correctly to the deployed VM.

Screen Shot 2021-03-19 at 16.08.20.png

Thanks in advance for any pointers or help in resolving why VCF Cloud Builder is failing to plumb the VM up with the appropriate OVF properties.

~~shane

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