VMware AIops

Disclaimer: This is a community-maintained open-source project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by VMware, Inc. or Broadcom Inc. "VMware" and "vSphere" are trademarks of Broadcom. Source code is publicly auditable at github.com/zw008/VMware-AIops under the MIT license.

VMware family entry point — AI-powered VM lifecycle, deployment, and alarm management — 34 MCP tools.

Start here: install vmware-aiops first, then add modules as needed.
Run vmware-aiops hub status to see which family members are installed.
Family: vmware-monitor (inventory/health), vmware-storage (iSCSI/vSAN), vmware-vks (Tanzu Kubernetes), vmware-nsx (NSX networking), vmware-nsx-security (DFW/firewall), vmware-aria (metrics/alerts/capacity), vmware-avi (AVI/ALB/AKO).
| vmware-pilot (workflow orchestration) | vmware-policy (audit/policy)

What This Skill Does

Category	Tools	Count
VM Lifecycle	power on/off, TTL auto-delete, clean slate	6
Deployment

OVA, template, linked clone, batch clone/deploy | 8 | | Guest Ops | exec commands, upload/download files, provision | 5 | | Plan/Apply | multi-step planning with rollback | 4 | | Cluster | create, delete, HA/DRS config, add/remove hosts | 6 | | Datastore | browse files, scan for images | 2 | | Alarm Management | list alarms, acknowledge, reset | 3 |

Quick Install

CODEBLOCK0

VMware Family — Install What You Need

vmware-aiops is the entry point. Add modules for additional capabilities:

Module	Install	Adds
vmware-monitor	INLINECODE1	Read-only inventory, alarms, events
vmware-storage

uv tool install vmware-storage | iSCSI, vSAN, datastore management |
| vmware-vks | uv tool install vmware-vks | Tanzu Kubernetes (vSphere 8.x+) |
| vmware-nsx | uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt | NSX networking: segments, gateways, NAT |
| vmware-nsx-security | uv tool install vmware-nsx-security | DFW microsegmentation, security groups |
| vmware-aria | uv tool install vmware-aria | Aria Ops metrics, alerts, capacity |
| vmware-avi | uv tool install vmware-avi | AVI load balancer, ALB, AKO, Ingress |

Each module stays independent — small tool count keeps local models (Ollama, Qwen) accurate.

When to Use This Skill

• - Power on/off, create, delete, snapshot, clone, or migrate VMs
• Deploy VMs from OVA, templates, linked clones, or batch specs
• Run commands or transfer files inside a VM (Guest Operations)
• Create/configure clusters (HA/DRS)
• Browse datastores for deployable images
• Plan and execute multi-step operations with rollback
• List, acknowledge, and reset vCenter triggered alarms

Use companion skills for:

• - Inventory, health, alarms, VM info → INLINECODE8
• iSCSI, vSAN, datastore management → INLINECODE9
• Tanzu Kubernetes (Supervisor, Namespace, TKC) → INLINECODE10
• Load balancing, AVI/ALB, AKO, Ingress → INLINECODE11

Related Skills — Skill Routing

User Intent	Recommended Skill
Read-only monitoring, zero risk	vmware-monitor (uv tool install vmware-monitor)
Storage: iSCSI, vSAN, datastores

vmware-storage (uv tool install vmware-storage) | | VM lifecycle, deployment, guest ops | vmware-aiops ← this skill | | Tanzu Kubernetes (vSphere 8.x+) | vmware-vks (uv tool install vmware-vks) | | NSX networking: segments, gateways, NAT | vmware-nsx (uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt) | | NSX security: DFW rules, security groups | vmware-nsx-security (uv tool install vmware-nsx-security) | | Aria Ops: metrics, alerts, capacity | vmware-aria (uv tool install vmware-aria) | | Multi-step workflows with approval | vmware-pilot | | Load balancer, AVI, ALB, AKO, Ingress | vmware-avi (uv tool install vmware-avi) | | Audit log query | vmware-policy (vmware-audit CLI) |

Common Workflows

Deploy a Lab Environment

1. 1. Browse datastore for OVA images → INLINECODE20
2. Deploy VM from OVA → INLINECODE21
3. Run provisioning script inside VM → INLINECODE22
4. Create baseline snapshot → INLINECODE23
5. Set TTL for auto-cleanup → INLINECODE24

Batch Clone for Testing

1. 1. Create plan: vm_create_plan with multiple clone + reconfigure steps
2. Review plan with user (shows affected VMs, irreversible warnings)
3. Apply: vm_apply_plan executes sequentially, stops on failure
4. If failed: vm_rollback_plan reverses executed steps
5. Set TTL on all clones for auto-cleanup

Migrate VM to Another Host

1. 1. Check VM info via vmware-monitor → verify power state and current host
2. Migrate: INLINECODE29
3. Verify migration completed

Usage Mode

Scenario	Recommended	Why
Local/small models (Ollama, Qwen)	CLI	~2K tokens vs ~8K for MCP
Cloud models (Claude, GPT-4o)

Either | MCP gives structured JSON I/O | | Automated pipelines | MCP | Type-safe parameters, structured output |

MCP Tools (34 — 20 read, 14 write)

Category	Tools	R/W
VM Lifecycle (6)	INLINECODE30	Read

vm_power_on, vm_power_off, vm_set_ttl, vm_cancel_ttl, vm_clean_slate | Write | | Deployment (8) | deploy_vm_from_ova, deploy_vm_from_template, deploy_linked_clone, attach_iso_to_vm, convert_vm_to_template, batch_clone_vms, batch_linked_clone_vms, batch_deploy_from_spec | Write | | Guest Ops (5) | vm_guest_exec_output, vm_guest_download | Read | | | vm_guest_exec, vm_guest_upload, vm_guest_provision | Write | | Plan/Apply (4) | vm_list_plans, vm_create_plan | Read | | | vm_apply_plan, vm_rollback_plan | Write | | Datastore (2) | browse_datastore, scan_datastore_images | Read | | Cluster (6) | cluster_info | Read | | | cluster_create, cluster_delete, cluster_add_host, cluster_remove_host, cluster_configure | Write | | Alarm Management (3) | list_vcenter_alarms | Read | | | acknowledge_vcenter_alarm, reset_vcenter_alarm | Write |

Read/write split: 20 tools are read-only, 14 modify state. All write tools require explicit parameters and are audit-logged. Destructive operations (delete, force power-off) require double confirmation.

CLI Quick Reference

CODEBLOCK1

Full CLI reference: see INLINECODE64

Troubleshooting

"VM not found" error

VM names are case-sensitive in vSphere. Use exact name from vmware-monitor inventory vms.

Guest exec returns empty output

Use vm_guest_exec_output instead of vm_guest_exec — it auto-captures stdout/stderr. Basic vm_guest_exec only returns exit code.

Deploy OVA times out

Large OVA files (>10GB) may exceed the default 120s timeout. The upload happens via HTTP NFC lease — ensure network between the machine running vmware-aiops and ESXi is stable.

Plan apply fails mid-way

Run vmware-aiops plan list to see failed plan status. Ask user if they want to rollback with vm_rollback_plan. Irreversible steps (delete_vm) are skipped during rollback.

Connection refused / SSL error

1. 1. Verify target is reachable: INLINECODE71
2. For self-signed certs: set disableSslCertValidation: true in config.yaml (lab environments only)

Setup

CODEBLOCK2

All tools are automatically audited via vmware-policy. Audit logs: INLINECODE73

Full setup guide, security details, and AI platform compatibility: see INLINECODE74

Audit & Safety

All operations are automatically audited via vmware-policy (@vmware_tool decorator):

• - Every tool call logged to ~/.vmware/audit.db (SQLite, framework-agnostic)
• Policy rules enforced via ~/.vmware/rules.yaml (deny rules, maintenance windows, risk levels)
• Risk classification: each tool tagged as low/medium/high/critical
• View recent operations: INLINECODE78
• View denied operations: INLINECODE79

vmware-policy is automatically installed as a dependency — no manual setup needed.

License

MIT — github.com/zw008/VMware-AIops