Build 'vsphere-iso' errored: error creating vm: host '' not found

[ghost]

This issue was originally opened by @mashiutz as hashicorp/packer#9623. It was migrated here as a result of the Packer plugin split. The original body of the issue is below.

---

Hello there.
With continuance to the previous issue that was automatically closed ( hashicorp/packer#8817 )
It is Imposible for me to provisin a template using Packer 1.6 on vSphere 6.7.
im getting the following error:
Build 'vsphere-iso' errored: error creating vm: host '' not found

This is the template im using:
`

{
"builders": [
{
"type": "vsphere-iso",

    "vcenter_server":       "vsphere.domain.net",
    "insecure_connection":  "true",
    "username":             "admin@vsphere.local",
    "password":             "adminpass",
    "datacenter":           "Datacenter-IT",
    "Cluster":              "IT-256GB",
    "resource_pool":        "IT-256GB-DS",
   
    "communicator":         "winrm",
    "winrm_username":       "Superman",
    "winrm_password":       "A123456a",
    "vm_name":              "TEMPLATE-TERM",
    "folder":               "WinTemplate-IT",
    "convert_to_template":  "true",
    "cpus":                 "2",
    "ram":                  "4096",
    "disk_controller_type": "lsilogic-sas",
      "guest_os_type":        "windows9Server64Guest",
      "iso_paths": [
      "[VMFS_ISO_G400PTK] Windows-ISO/SW_DVD9_Win_Server_STD_CORE_2019_1809.1_64Bit_English_DC_STD_MLF_X22-02970.ISO",
      "[VMFS_ISO_G400PTK] VM Tools 10.1.0/VMWare-Tools-10.1.0-core-4449150/vmtools/VMTools 10.1.0-windows.iso"
    ],

    "floppy_files": [
      "floppy/autounattend.xml",
      "floppy/setup.ps1",
      "floppy/vmtools.cmd"
    ],
    
    "network_adapters" : [
      {
      "network_card": "vmxnet3"
      }
    ],

    "storage": [
      {
        "disk_size": "71680",
        "disk_thin_provisioned": false
      }
    ]
  }
]

}

`
accorid to @sylviamoss who helped me with this issue, the problem has to do with the missing network config - if it is missing, Packer will look for the Host config, and if both are missing, Packer will throw that error.
He has compiled some binaries with an error handling mechanism that should throw more details when this error occurs - but those details never come up (maybe the error in my case is not the network config thing, and i "fall down" on some other problem)

this is the log output for those binaries (the same output comes up for the main release as well):

2020/06/25 00:33:34 [WARN] Config file doesn't exist: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\packer.config
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Setting cache directory: packer_cache
cannot determine if process is in background: Process background check error: not implemented yet
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Creating plugin client for path: packer.exe
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Starting plugin: packer.exe []string{"packer.exe", "plugin", "packer-builder-vsphere-iso"}
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Waiting for RPC address for: packer.exe
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: [INFO] Packer version: 1.6.0-dev (caf0d09) [go1.13.12 windows amd64]
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Checking 'PACKER_CONFIG' for a config file path
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: 'PACKER_CONFIG' not set; checking the default config file path
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Attempting to open config file: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\packer.config
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: [WARN] Config file doesn't exist: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\packer.config
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Setting cache directory: packer_cache
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: args: []string{"packer-builder-vsphere-iso"}
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Plugin port range: [10000,25000]
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Plugin address: tcp 127.0.0.1:10000
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Waiting for connection...
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Received tcp RPC address for packer.exe: addr is 127.0.0.1:10000
2020/06/25 00:33:34 packer.exe plugin: Serving a plugin connection...
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Preparing build: vsphere-iso
2020/06/25 00:33:34 ui: vsphere-iso: output will be in this color.
2020/06/25 00:33:34 ui:
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Build debug mode: false
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Force build: false
2020/06/25 00:33:34 On error:
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Waiting on builds to complete...
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Starting build run: vsphere-iso
2020/06/25 00:33:34 Running builder: vsphere-iso
2020/06/25 00:33:34 [INFO] (telemetry) Starting builder vsphere-iso
2020/06/25 00:33:35 ui: ==> vsphere-iso: Creating VM...
2020/06/25 00:33:35 [INFO] (telemetry) ending vsphere-iso
2020/06/25 00:33:35 ui error: Build 'vsphere-iso' errored: error creating vm: host '' not found
2020/06/25 00:33:35 machine readable: error-count []string{"1"}
2020/06/25 00:33:35 ui error:
==> Some builds didn't complete successfully and had errors:
2020/06/25 00:33:35 machine readable: vsphere-iso,error []string{"error creating vm: host '' not found"}
2020/06/25 00:33:35 ui error: --> vsphere-iso: error creating vm: host '' not found
2020/06/25 00:33:35 ui:
==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created.
2020/06/25 00:33:35 [INFO] (telemetry) Finalizing.
2020/06/25 00:33:36 waiting for all plugin processes to complete...
2020/06/25 00:33:36 packer.exe: plugin process exited

I realy want to start using packer and automatically build templates for our environemt, i hope someone can help me with this.
Thank ahead :)

[tenthirtyam]

Based on the configuration provided, it appears to be due to the missing datastore.

datastore (string) - Required if host is a cluster, or if host has multiple datastores.

[tenthirtyam]

Hi @mashiutz - have you had success by adding the datastore argument which appears to be missing in the configuration provided?

Ryan

[tenthirtyam]

Hi @nywilken - based on the configuration provided above, it appears that this issue is due to the missing datastore.

datastore (string) - Required if host is a cluster, or if host has multiple datastores.

Based on the time since last response, I recommend closing.

Recommend: close/not-a-bug

Ryan Johnson
Staff II Solutions Architect | VMware, Inc.

[nywilken]

@tenthirtyam thanks for tracking this issue. I'll remove the bug label, as it is a user configuration issue and not a bug.