vmware_vm_info module throws AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'datastoreUrl'

[homandr]

SUMMARY

Module vmware_vm_info chokes on objects without datastoreUrl attribute. Most likely this is not an issue under normal circumstances, and the playbook worked for me in the past. It took some time to figure out our vCenter had a couple of inaccessible VMs, which obviously don't have a lot of attributes.

I barely know anything about Python but was able to fix the issue based on examples of similar past issues.

diff -u vmware_vm_info.py.bak vmware_vm_info.py
--- vmware_vm_info.py.bak       2022-07-21 09:09:41.482721250 -0500
+++ vmware_vm_info.py   2022-07-21 10:12:08.529573282 -0500
@@ -350,7 +350,8 @@
             datacenter = get_parent_datacenter(vm)
             datastore_url = list()
             datastore_attributes = ('name', 'url')
-            if vm.config.datastoreUrl:
+            has_datastoreurl = _get_vm_prop(vm, ('config', 'datastoreUrl'))
+            if has_datastoreurl:
                 for entry in vm.config.datastoreUrl:
                     datastore_url.append({key: getattr(entry, key) for key in dir(entry) if key in datastore_attributes})
             virtual_machine = {

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

vmware_vm_info

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible --version
ansible [core 2.12.4]
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  ansible python module location = /usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/ansible
  executable location = /usr/local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.9.7 (default, Sep 13 2021, 08:18:39) [GCC 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-3)]
  jinja version = 3.1.1
  libyaml = True

COLLECTION VERSION

Collection       Version
---------------- -------
community.vmware 2.7.0

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

  - name: Get all VMs
    community.vmware.vmware_vm_info:
      hostname: "{{ vcc_hostname }}"
      username: "{{ vcc_user }}"
      password: "{{ vcc_pass }}"
      validate_certs: false
      vm_type: vm
    register: all_vms

EXPECTED RESULTS

Get a list of all VMs.

ACTUAL RESULTS

MODULE_STDERR:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/user/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1658346852.8637314-2616787-129994423621433/AnsiballZ_vmware_vm_info.py", line 107, in <module>
    _ansiballz_main()
  File "/home/user/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1658346852.8637314-2616787-129994423621433/AnsiballZ_vmware_vm_info.py", line 99, in _ansiballz_main
    invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)
  File "/home/user/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1658346852.8637314-2616787-129994423621433/AnsiballZ_vmware_vm_info.py", line 47, in invoke_module
    runpy.run_module(mod_name='ansible_collections.community.vmware.plugins.modules.vmware_vm_info', init_globals=dict(_module_fqn='ansible_collections.community.vmware.plugins.modules.vmware_vm_info', _modlib_path=modlib_path),
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.9/runpy.py", line 210, in run_module
    return _run_module_code(code, init_globals, run_name, mod_spec)
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.9/runpy.py", line 97, in _run_module_code
    _run_code(code, mod_globals, init_globals,
  File "/usr/lib64/python3.9/runpy.py", line 87, in _run_code
    exec(code, run_globals)
  File "/tmp/ansible_community.vmware.vmware_vm_info_payload_dk_rqyae/ansible_community.vmware.vmware_vm_info_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/vmware/plugins/modules/vmware_vm_info.py", line 409, in <module>
  File "/tmp/ansible_community.vmware.vmware_vm_info_payload_dk_rqyae/ansible_community.vmware.vmware_vm_info_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/vmware/plugins/modules/vmware_vm_info.py", line 403, in main
  File "/tmp/ansible_community.vmware.vmware_vm_info_payload_dk_rqyae/ansible_community.vmware.vmware_vm_info_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/vmware/plugins/modules/vmware_vm_info.py", line 353, in get_virtual_machines
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'datastoreUrl'

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[mariolenz]

Thanks for reporting this @homandr! I've opened a PR to fix it, just didn't find the time to test it yet.

One minor point, though. has_datastoreurl sounds like a Boolean. However, I think _get_vm_prop returns vm.config.datastoreUrl if it exists and None otherwise, not True / False:

community.vmware/plugins/module_utils/vmware.py

Lines 400 to 408 in 19b8ffe

	def _get_vm_prop(vm, attributes):
	"""Safely get a property or return None"""
	result = vm
	for attribute in attributes:
	try:
	result = getattr(result, attribute)
	except (AttributeError, IndexError):
	return None
	return result

This might be a bit misleading for someone reading and trying to understand the code. Therefor, I'm using vm_datastore_urls in my fix similar to the way network stuff is handled:

community.vmware/plugins/modules/vmware_vm_info.py

Lines 309 to 311 in 19b8ffe

	vmnet = _get_vm_prop(vm, ('guest', 'net'))
	if vmnet:
	for device in vmnet:

[homandr]

Thanks for fixing it and educating me in the process :)