vmware_guest can't find the VM when the state is "poweredoff" or "poweredon"

[Diego Puertas]

When in state poweredoff or poweredon, vmware_guest can't find my vm, therefore it assumes I want to create a new VM.

When in state present, it has no problem finding it.

Consider the playbook:

- name: Modify existing VM's networking, memory and CPU
  hosts: modify
  gather_facts: False
  connection: local
  vars_files:
  - group_vars/vault/lab_credentials.yml
  tasks:
  - name: Power Off the VM
    vmware_guest:
      validate_certs: False
      datacenter: "{{ vcenter_datacenter }}"
      hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
      username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
      password: "{{ vcenter_passwd }}"
      guest_id: "{{ vmware_guest_id }}"
      name: "{{ guest_name }}"
      state: poweredoff
  - name: Modify the VM Specs
    vmware_guest:
      validate_certs: False
      datacenter: "{{ vcenter_datacenter }}"
      hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
      username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
      password: "{{ vcenter_passwd }}"
      name: "{{ guest_name }}"
      folder: "{{ guest_folder }}"
      hardware:
        memory_mb: "{{ guest_memory }}"
        num_cpus: "{{ guest_cpus }}"
      networks:
      - name: "{{ guest_network }}"
        device_type: "{{ guest_nic }}"
        ip: "{{ guest_ipaddr }}"
        netmask: "{{ guest_netmask }}"
        gateway: "{{ guest_gateway }}"
      customization:
        domain: "{{ guest_domain }}"
        dns_servers: "{{ guest_dns_servers }}"
        dns_suffix: "{{ guest_dns_suffix }}"
      state: present
  - name: Turn on the VM
    vmware_guest:
      validate_certs: False
      datacenter: "{{ vcenter_datacenter }}"
      hostname: "{{ vcenter_hostname }}"
      username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
      password: "{{ vcenter_passwd }}"
      guest_id: "{{ vmware_guest_id }}"
      name: "{{ guest_name }}"
      state: poweredon

If I power off my VM by hand, and only run the task  Modify the VM Specs, then the task runs fine, vmware_guest  has no problems finding  my VM, using the variable "{{ guest_name }}".

But if I run the tasks Power Off the VM  or  Turn on the VM, vmware_guest cannot find  the VM, thus assumes I want to create a new one.

Is this a bug, or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

[Diego Puertas]

I'm using Ansible 2.3 RC2

[Diego Puertas]

I found the problem. You have to specify the "folder" attribute, else vmware_guest won't be able to find the VM.