feat: add instant clone #1516

Anant99-sys · 2021-11-15T20:17:04Z

Description

Implementation for instant clone functionality

The Instant Clone technology is used to create powered-on virtual machines from the running state of another powered-on virtual machine.
The result of an Instant Clone operation is a new virtual machine that is identical to the source virtual machine.
With Instant Clone you can create new virtual machines from a controlled point in time.
Instant cloning is very convenient for large-scale application deployments because it ensures memory efficiency and allows for creating numerous virtual machines on a single host.
This functionality can be used for Creating a powered-on Instant Clone of a virtual machine.

Acceptance tests

Have you added an acceptance test for the functionality being added?
Have you run the acceptance tests on this branch?

Output from acceptance testing:

$ make testacc TESTARGS="-run=TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_Instantclone"

==> Checking that code complies with gofmt requirements...
TF_ACC=1 go test $(go list ./... |grep -v 'vendor') -v -run=TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_Instantclone -timeout 240m
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere	[no test files]
=== RUN   TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_Instantclone
--- PASS: TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_Instantclone (188.07s)
PASS
ok  	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere	191.274s
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/administrationroles	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/clustercomputeresource	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/computeresource	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/contentlibrary	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/customattribute	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/datacenter	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/datastore	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/dvportgroup	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/envbrowse	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/folder	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/hostsystem	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/network	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/nsx	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/ovfdeploy	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/provider	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/resourcepool	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/spbm	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/storagepod	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/structure	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/testhelper	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/utils	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/vappcontainer	[no test files]
testing: warning: no tests to run
PASS
ok  	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/viapi	(cached) [no tests to run]
testing: warning: no tests to run
PASS
ok  	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/virtualdisk	(cached) [no tests to run]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/virtualmachine	[no test files]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/helper/vsansystem	[no test files]
testing: warning: no tests to run
PASS
ok  	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/virtualdevice	(cached) [no tests to run]
?   	github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-vsphere/vsphere/internal/vmworkflow	[no test files]

...

Release Note

Release note for CHANGELOG:

Capability to Add Instant Clone for a Parent VM.

References

Old PR: #1371

Anant99-sys · 2021-11-16T06:11:51Z

@redeux @markpeek @aareet @mfilipiak-ccg The Old PR CLA is resolved. Please take a look

tenthirtyam · 2022-02-03T22:07:25Z

@Anant99-sys, taking a moment to quickly scan the pull request and noticed that the vsphere_virtual_machine resource documentation will also need to be updated with context for this option for completeness.

Ryan Johnson
Staff II Solutions Architect, VMware, Inc.

Anant99-sys · 2022-02-06T20:44:53Z

eature: instant_clone

@tenthirtyam Can you please guide me as to what to do for updating the documentation for vsphere_virtual_machine?

tenthirtyam · 2022-02-25T22:31:19Z

@Anant99-sys, I'll follow up over Slack next week to discuss this feature with you along with the documentation and tests.

hashicorp-cla · 2022-03-12T16:59:52Z

All committers have signed the CLA.

vsphere/internal/helper/storagepod/storage_pod_helper.go

vsphere/internal/helper/virtualmachine/virtual_machine_helper.go

vsphere/internal/vmworkflow/virtual_machine_clone_subresource.go

tenthirtyam · 2022-03-16T20:05:11Z

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine_test.go

+		CheckDestroy: testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachineCheckExists(false),
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachineConfigInstant(),


UndeclaredName

So what change should I do regarding this?

tenthirtyam

Hi @Anant99-sys,

For the updates to the documentation, update the website/docs/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown file with the information for the instant_clone argument.

terraform-provider-vsphere/website/docs/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown

Lines 1022 to 1031 in 3bc2ce9

    
           The options available in the `clone` block are: 
        
           * `template_uuid` - (Required) The UUID of the source virtual machine or template. 
        
           * `linked_clone` - (Optional) Clone the virtual machine from a snapshot or a template. Default: `false`. 
        
           * `timeout` - (Optional) The timeout, in minutes, to wait for the cloning process to complete. Default: 30 minutes. 
        
           * `customize` - (Optional) The customization spec for this clone. This allows the user to configure the virtual machine post-clone. For more details, see [virtual machine customizations](#virtual-machine-customizations).

Ryan Johnson
Staff II Solutions Architect | VMware, Inc.

tenthirtyam

Not critical, but we may need to limit to 6.7 and higher, akin to the following for instant_clone:

version := viapi.ParseVersionFromClient(client)
  if version.Newer(viapi.VSphereVersion{Product: version.Product, Major: 6, Minor: 7}) {
  ....
  }
  return obj

But something easy to remove after the end of 6.x support.

tenthirtyam · 2022-08-16T20:38:22Z

Resolved conflicts and errors; all checks have now passed.

Ready for testing once again.

Ryan Johnson
Senior Staff Solutions Architect | Product Engineering @ VMware, Inc.

FrancescoCrecchi · 2023-01-26T17:22:44Z

Hi, any updates on this?

tenthirtyam · 2023-01-26T18:38:34Z

Hi, any updates on this?

Please refer to the tentative milestone assignment.

vasilsatanasov

In general it looks working, except the comments which need to be addressed.

_about/tf-vsphere-devrc.mk.example

vasilsatanasov · 2023-10-23T09:02:32Z

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine_test.go

@@ -2563,6 +2581,39 @@ func testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachinePreCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

+func testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachinePreInstantCloneCheck(t *testing.T) {


It was not necessary the entire testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachinePreCheck function to be copied, a single function containing just the check
if os.Getenv("TF_VAR_VSPHERE_USE_INSTANT_CLONE") == "" { t.Skip("set TF_VAR_VSPHERE_USE_INSTANT_CLONE to run vsphere_virtual_machine acceptance tests") } could be implemeted and added in the preCheck property like for example it is done in TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_basic

vasilsatanasov · 2023-10-23T09:06:04Z

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine_test.go

+
+  clone {
+    template_uuid = "${data.vsphere_virtual_machine.template.id}"
+    instant_clone  = "${var.instant_clone != "" ? "true" : "false" }"


instant_clone should be explicitly set to true since the test will be skipped in every case if the TF_VAR_VSPHERE_USE_INSTANT_CLONE is set to something falsy

vasilsatanasov · 2023-10-23T09:10:27Z

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine_test.go

@@ -3418,6 +3469,16 @@ func testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachineConfigBase() string {
 		testhelper.ConfigDataRootPortGroup1())
 }

+func testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachineInstantCloneConfigBase() string {
+	return testhelper.CombineConfigs(


A minimal set of required resources should be specified here

vasilsatanasov · 2023-10-23T10:35:37Z

vsphere/internal/helper/virtualmachine/virtual_machine_helper.go

+// InstantClone wraps the creation of a virtual machine instantly and the subsequent waiting of
+// the task. A higher-level virtual machine object is returned.
+func InstantClone(c *govmomi.Client, src *object.VirtualMachine, f *object.Folder, name string, spec types.VirtualMachineInstantCloneSpec, timeout int) (*object.VirtualMachine, error) {
+	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Instant Cloning virtual machine %q", fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", f.InventoryPath, name))


Since the Folder pointer and the source VM name are used only for logging and not for the logic inside the function the logging should be done outside the function call / the logging should be changed not to use these variables

vasilsatanasov · 2023-10-23T10:40:52Z

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine_test.go

+}
+
+resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {
+  name             = "testacc-test"


Use minumum required set of properties for the test, for example the hardware like CPU, Memory, Disk are not necessary since a vm is just being copied and those cant be changed + what will happen if the values in the HCL are different then the values from the template VM ?

tenthirtyam · 2024-03-06T17:16:37Z

@Anant99-sys - could you review the current comments? Perhaps we can put this one forward now...

Adds support for instant clones.

spacegospod · 2024-05-29T07:43:52Z

vsphere/internal/helper/storagepod/storage_pod_helper.go

+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no storage DRS recommendations were found for the requested action (type: %q)", sps.Type)
+	}
+	// result to pin disks to recommended datastores
+	ds := recs[0].Action[0].(*types.StoragePlacementAction).Destination


I would suggest checking len(recs[0].Action) before accessing.
If it is always populated by design you can add a comment, otherwise it looks like a panic-prone line

spacegospod · 2024-05-29T07:46:19Z

vsphere/internal/vmworkflow/virtual_machine_clone_subresource.go

+		"instant_clone": {
+			Type:        schema.TypeBool,
+			Optional:    true,
+			Description: "Whether or not to create a instant clone when cloning. When this option is used, the source VM must be in a running state.",


nit: "..an instant.."

spacegospod · 2024-05-29T07:58:53Z

website/docs/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown

-* `linked_clone` - (Optional) Clone the virtual machine from a snapshot or a template. Default: `false`.
+* `instant_clone` - (Optional) Clone the virtual machine from a running powered on virtual machine. Supported on vSphere 6.7 and later. Default: `false`. Only one of `instant_clone` or `linked_clone` can be set to `true`.
+
+* `linked_clone` - (Optional) Clone the virtual machine from a snapshot or a template. Default: `false`. Only one of `linked_clone` or `instant_clone` can be set to `true`.


The fact that the two clone modes are mutually exclusive is not actually enforced.
By the looks of it if both are set to true the provider will attempt to do an instant clone.

Just a suggestion - it would be great if you can figure out a neat way to validate that the user is not trying to apply an invalid configuration

github-actions bot added the size/l Relative Sizing: Large label Nov 15, 2021

Anant99-sys mentioned this pull request Nov 15, 2021

feature: instant_clone #1371

Closed

2 tasks

appilon self-assigned this Dec 17, 2021

tenthirtyam added the enhancement Type: Enhancement label Feb 3, 2022

tenthirtyam changed the title ~~feature: instant_clone~~ Add support for instant clone Feb 3, 2022

tenthirtyam added the documentation Type: Documentation label Feb 3, 2022

tenthirtyam added the needs-review Status: Pull Request Needs Review label Feb 8, 2022

tenthirtyam self-assigned this Feb 10, 2022

tenthirtyam self-requested a review February 10, 2022 22:15

tenthirtyam added this to the Research milestone Feb 14, 2022

tenthirtyam added area/storage Area: Storage area/vm Area: Virtual Machines labels Feb 22, 2022

tenthirtyam modified the milestones: Research, v2.2.0 Feb 24, 2022

tenthirtyam changed the title ~~Add support for instant clone~~ feat: Add support for instant clone Mar 11, 2022