In this blog, we will implement a Virtual Machine using Terraform in a VMware environment consisting of:

ESXi01
ESXi02
vCenter01

We will also cover:

✔ Downloading Terraform EXE (Windows)
✔ Creating working directory C:\terraform-vsphere
✔ Creating main.tf file
✔ Connecting to vCenter01
✔ Deploying VM from Template

🏗️ VMware Lab Architecture

Environment Details

Component	Name
vCenter	vcenter01
ESXi Hosts	ESXi01, ESXi02
Datacenter	darole-dc
Cluster	my-cluster
Datastore	esxi02-datastore01
Network	VM Network VM Network 2
Template	ubuntu

🌍 What is Terraform?

Terraform is an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool primarily designed for Cloud Infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP).

Although it supports VMware via the vSphere provider, it is more optimized for cloud platforms.

💻 Step 1: Download Terraform (Windows)

1️⃣ Open browser
2️⃣ Go to:
👉 https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/downloads

3️⃣ Download Windows AMD64 ZIP

4️⃣ Extract terraform.exe

📁 Step 2: Create Working Directory

Open Command Prompt:


C:
mkdir terraform-vsphere
cd terraform-vsphere

Your working path should look like:


C:\terraform-vsphere>

Now copy terraform.exe into:


C:\terraform-vsphere\

Verify:


terraform version

If successful, Terraform version will display.

📄 Step 3: Create main.tf File

Inside:


C:\terraform-vsphere>

Create a file:


main.tf

You can use:


notepad main.tf

📝 Complete main.tf Configuration

Paste the below configuration:


############################################################
# TERRAFORM SETTINGS
############################################################

terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.3"

  required_providers {
    vsphere = {
      source  = "hashicorp/vsphere"
      version = "~> 2.5"
    }
  }
}

############################################################
# PROVIDER
############################################################

provider "vsphere" {
  user                 = "administrator@vsphere.local"
  password             = "Pass@1234"
  vsphere_server       = "vcenter01.darole.org"
  allow_unverified_ssl = true
}

############################################################
# DATA SOURCES
############################################################

data "vsphere_datacenter" "dc" {
  name = "darole-dc"
}

data "vsphere_compute_cluster" "cluster" {
  name          = "my-cluster"
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

data "vsphere_datastore" "datastore" {
  name          = "esxi02-datastore01"
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

data "vsphere_network" "network" {
  name          = "VM Network"   # 🔥 Change if your portgroup name is different
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

data "vsphere_network" "network2" {
  name          = "VM Network 2"   # 🔥 Change if your portgroup name is different
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

data "vsphere_virtual_machine" "template" {
  name          = "ubuntu"
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

############################################################
# FOLDER (Auto Create)
############################################################

resource "vsphere_folder" "vm_folder" {
  path          = "ans01-vm"
  type          = "vm"
  datacenter_id = data.vsphere_datacenter.dc.id
}

############################################################
# VIRTUAL MACHINE
############################################################

resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {

  name             = "ans01-vm"
  folder           = vsphere_folder.vm_folder.path
  resource_pool_id = data.vsphere_compute_cluster.cluster.resource_pool_id
  datastore_id     = data.vsphere_datastore.datastore.id

  num_cpus = 1
  memory   = 1024

  guest_id  = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.template.guest_id
  scsi_type = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.template.scsi_type

  network_interface {
    network_id   = data.vsphere_network.network.id
    adapter_type = "vmxnet3"
  }

  network_interface {
    network_id   = data.vsphere_network.network2.id
    adapter_type = "vmxnet3"
  }

  disk {
    label            = "disk0"
    size             = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.template.disks[0].size
    thin_provisioned = true
  }

  clone {
    template_uuid = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.template.id
  }
}

############################################################
# OUTPUTS
############################################################

output "vm_name" {
  value = vsphere_virtual_machine.vm.name
}

output "vm_uuid" {
  value = vsphere_virtual_machine.vm.uuid
}

output "vm_ip" {
  value = vsphere_virtual_machine.vm.default_ip_address
}

Save and close.

▶️ Step 4: Initialize and Deploy

From:


C:\terraform-vsphere>

Run:


terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

Type:

yes

Terraform will:

⚠️ Observations (Real Lab Experience)

In VMware environment, I observed:

VM shutdown did not work properly via Terraform
IP address detection sometimes delayed
Slower build time compared to Ansible

Because Terraform is more cloud-focused, VMware automation sometimes feels slower compared to:

Ansible

🔄 Terraform vs Ansible (VMware Use Case)

Feature	Terraform	Ansible
Cloud Infra	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
VMware Automation	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Speed	Slower	Faster
Power Operations	Limited	Flexible

🏁 Conclusion

We successfully:

✔ Downloaded Terraform EXE
✔ Created C:\terraform-vsphere
✔ Created main.tf
✔ Connected to vCenter01
✔ Deployed VM on ESXi cluster

Terraform works, but in pure VMware environments, Ansible may offer better flexibility and speed.

CentOS-Linux4U

Deploying a VM on VMware (ESXi01 / ESXi02 via vCenter01) Using Terraform