VMWare pyvmomi 6.0.0 : Operation not supported

Question

I am using VMWare's pyvmomi to manage my ESXI's virtual machines

I'm using :

pyvmomi-6.0.0 with python 2.7.5 to clone a VM on

VMWare ESXi 6.0.0 Update 1 which is managed by

vCenter Server 6

Using pyvmomi, i can successfully retrieve vm objects, iterate through datacenters, datastores, vm etc... But i can't clone them.

I am connecting to my ESXi as root

I'm always getting the following error : (I've tried cloning vms and creating folders on ESXI)

./test.py
Source VM : TEST_A
Pool cible : Pool_2 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./vmomiTest.py", line 111, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
  File "./vmomiTest.py", line 106, in main
    tasks.wait_for_tasks(esxi, [task])
  File "/home/user/dev/tools/tasks.py", line 53, in wait_for_tasks
    raise task.info.error
pyVmomi.VmomiSupport.NotSupported: (vmodl.fault.NotSupported) {
   dynamicType = <unset>,
   dynamicProperty = (vmodl.DynamicProperty) [],
   msg = 'The operation is not supported on the object.',
   faultCause = <unset>,
   faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) []
}

When I read by /var/log/hostd.log file on esxi, i get the following :

2016-09-13T10:15:17.775Z info hostd[51F85B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.TaskManager opID=467be296 user=root] Task Created : haTask-2-vim.VirtualMachine.clone-416315

2016-09-13T10:15:17.779Z info hostd[51F03B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=467be296 user=root] AdapterServer caught exception: vmodl.fault.NotSupported

2016-09-13T10:15:17.779Z info hostd[51F03B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.TaskManager opID=467be296 user=root] Task Completed : haTask-2-vim.VirtualMachine.clone-416315 Status error

Is there any other pre-requisites that i don't match ? Has anyone any clue ?

Using the following test.py example code :

def get_obj_case_insensitive(content, vimtype, name, folder=None):
    obj = None
    if not folder:
        folder = content.rootFolder
    container = content.viewManager.CreateContainerView(folder, vimtype, True)
    for item in container.view:
        if item.name.lower() == name.lower():
            obj = item
            break
    return obj

def get_obj(content, vimtype, name, folder=None):
    obj = None
    if not folder:
        folder = content.rootFolder
    container = content.viewManager.CreateContainerView(folder, vimtype, True)
    for item in container.view:
        if item.name == name:
            obj = item
            break
    return obj

def main():
    esxi = connect.SmartConnect(user=esxi_user,
                            pwd=esxi_password,
                            host=esxi_addr,
                            port=443)
    atexit.register(connect.Disconnect, esxi)

    content = esxi.RetrieveContent()

    source_vm = get_obj(content, [vim.VirtualMachine], source_vm_name)
    if source_vm == None:
      print "Source VM %s doesn't exist, couldn't create VM" % source_vm_name
      return None

    print "Source VM Found : %s" % source_vm.config.name

    wanted_pool = get_obj_case_insensitive(content, [vim.ResourcePool], wanted_pool_name)
    if wanted_pool == None:
        print "Resource Pool couldn't be found: Pool=%s" % wanted_pool_name
        return None
    else:
        print "Pool Found : %s " % wanted_pool.name

    new_location = vim.vm.RelocateSpec()
    new_location.diskMoveType = 'createNewChildDiskBacking'
    new_location.datastore = content.rootFolder.childEntity[0].datastore[0]
    new_location.pool = wanted_pool

    ESXI.ensure_snapshot_exists(source_vm)

    clone_spec = vim.vm.CloneSpec(template=False, location=new_location, snapshot=source_vm.snapshot.rootSnapshotList[0].snapshot)
    task = source_vm.Clone(name=dest_vm_name, folder=source_vm.parent, spec=clone_spec)

    tasks.wait_for_tasks(esxi, [task])
    print "Cloning %s into %s was successfull" % (source_vm.config.name, dest_vm_name) 

if __name__ == '__main__':
    sys.exit(main())

Answer 1

It appears this is because VMWARE has disabled many operations when directly connected to the ESXi.

Apparently, i should have connected to my vCenterServer in order to properly clone my VM.