feat: add VMware vSphere VM template with networking and datastore management

Author: MAVRICK-1

registry/coder/templates/vsphere-linux/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,363 @@
+---
+display_name: VMware vSphere VM (Linux)
+description: Provision VMware vSphere VMs with networking and datastore management
+icon: ../../../../.icons/box-emoji.svg
+maintainer_github: coder
+verified: true
+tags: [vm, linux, vsphere, vmware, enterprise, on-premises, persistent-vm]
+---
+
+# Remote Development on VMware vSphere VMs (Linux)
+
+Provision VMware vSphere VMs as [Coder workspaces](https://coder.com/docs/workspaces) with this enterprise-ready template. This template provides comprehensive VM configuration, networking setup, and datastore management for on-premises deployments.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+### vSphere Environment
+
+- VMware vSphere 6.7 or later
+- vCenter Server access
+- At least one ESXi host in a cluster
+- A VM template with Linux OS (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended)
+- Network connectivity between Coder server and vSphere environment
+
+### Authentication
+
+This template authenticates to vSphere using the provider's [authentication methods](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/vsphere/latest/docs#authentication). The recommended approach is via environment variables:
+
+```bash
+export VSPHERE_USER="[email protected]"
+export VSPHERE_PASSWORD="your-password"
+export VSPHERE_SERVER="vcenter.company.com"
+export VSPHERE_ALLOW_UNVERIFIED_SSL="true"  # Only for testing
+```
+
+Alternatively, configure the provider directly in the template or use a `.terraformrc` file.
+
+### Required vSphere Permissions
+
+The user account needs the following minimum permissions on the relevant vSphere objects:
+
+#### Datacenter Level
+- **Virtual Machine > Configuration > All**
+- **Virtual Machine > Interaction > All**
+- **Virtual Machine > Inventory > All**
+- **Virtual Machine > Provisioning > All**
+
+#### Datastore Level
+- **Datastore > Allocate space**
+- **Datastore > Browse datastore**
+- **Datastore > Low level file operations**
+
+#### Network Level
+- **Network > Assign network**
+
+#### Resource Pool/Cluster Level
+- **Resource > Assign virtual machine to resource pool**
+
+## Configuration Parameters
+
+| Parameter | Description | Default | Required |
+|-----------|-------------|---------|----------|
+| `vsphere_server` | vSphere server hostname or IP | - | ✓ |
+| `datacenter` | vSphere datacenter name | `datacenter1` | ✓ |
+| `cluster` | vSphere cluster name | `cluster1` | ✓ |
+| `datastore` | Datastore for VM storage | - | ✓ |
+| `network` | Network/port group name | `VM Network` | ✓ |
+| `template_name` | VM template to clone from | - | ✓ |
+| `cpu_count` | Number of virtual CPUs | `2` | - |
+| `memory` | Memory in MB | `4096` | - |
+| `disk_size` | Primary disk size in GB | `50` | - |
+
+## Architecture
+
+This template provisions the following resources:
+
+### Infrastructure Components
+- **VMware vSphere Virtual Machine** - Primary compute resource
+- **Virtual Network Interface** - Connected to specified port group
+- **Virtual Disk** - Thin-provisioned storage on specified datastore
+- **Resource Pool Assignment** - VM assigned to cluster resource pool
+
+### Coder Integration
+- **Coder Agent** - Installed automatically via SSH provisioner
+- **Code Server** - Web-based VS Code interface
+- **JetBrains Gateway** - Support for JetBrains IDEs
+- **Workspace Metadata** - VM details displayed in Coder dashboard
+
+### Network Configuration
+
+The template supports various vSphere networking configurations:
+
+- **Standard vSwitches** - Traditional port groups
+- **Distributed vSwitches** - Enterprise networking with advanced features
+- **NSX Networks** - Software-defined networking integration
+- **DHCP or Static IP** - Configurable via guest customization
+
+### Datastore Management
+
+Supports multiple datastore types:
+- **VMFS** - Traditional vSphere datastores
+- **NFS** - Network-attached storage
+- **vSAN** - Software-defined storage
+- **Datastore Clusters** - Storage DRS for automated placement
+
+## VM Template Requirements
+
+Your vSphere VM template should meet these requirements:
+
+### Operating System
+- Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later (recommended)
+- CentOS 8+ or RHEL 8+
+- Other Linux distributions with SSH and cloud-init support
+
+### Required Software
+- **SSH server** - For Coder agent installation
+- **Cloud-init** (recommended) - For guest customization
+- **VMware Tools** - For better guest integration
+- **sudo access** - For the default user account
+
+### User Account
+Create a user account (e.g., `coder`) with:
+- sudo privileges without password prompt
+- SSH key-based authentication (optional but recommended)
+- Home directory with appropriate permissions
+
+### Example cloud-init Configuration
+```yaml
+#cloud-config
+users:
+  - name: coder
+    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
+    shell: /bin/bash
+    groups: sudo, docker
+    home: /home/coder
+    
+packages:
+  - curl
+  - wget
+  - git
+  - vim
+  - htop
+  - docker.io
+  
+runcmd:
+  - systemctl enable docker
+  - usermod -aG docker coder
+```
+
+## Security Considerations
+
+### Network Security
+- Ensure proper firewall rules between Coder server and vSphere environment
+- Use VPNs or private networks for sensitive environments
+- Configure network segmentation for workspace isolation
+
+### Access Control
+- Use dedicated service accounts with minimal required permissions
+- Implement vSphere role-based access control (RBAC)
+- Enable audit logging for vSphere operations
+
+### VM Security
+- Keep VM templates updated with latest security patches
+- Use encrypted datastores for sensitive workloads
+- Implement guest-level security controls
+
+## Customization Examples
+
+### Custom VM Specifications
+```hcl
+# Add to data "coder_parameter" blocks for custom sizing
+data "coder_parameter" "custom_cpu" {
+  name         = "cpu_count"
+  display_name = "CPU Count"
+  default      = "4"
+  option {
+    name  = "High Performance (16 vCPUs)"
+    value = "16"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Multiple Network Interfaces
+```hcl
+# Add additional network interfaces
+network_interface {
+  network_id   = data.vsphere_network.management.id
+  adapter_type = "vmxnet3"
+}
+
+network_interface {
+  network_id   = data.vsphere_network.storage.id
+  adapter_type = "vmxnet3"
+}
+```
+
+### Additional Datastores
+```hcl
+# Add data disk on different datastore
+disk {
+  label            = "data-disk"
+  size             = 500
+  thin_provisioned = true
+  unit_number      = 1
+  datastore_id     = data.vsphere_datastore.fast_storage.id
+}
+```
+
+### GPU Passthrough
+```hcl
+# Enable GPU for AI/ML workloads
+resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {
+  # ... other configuration ...
+  
+  pci_device_id = [data.vsphere_pci_device.gpu.id]
+  memory_reservation = tonumber(data.coder_parameter.memory.value)
+}
+```
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Common Issues
+
+#### 1. Template Clone Failures
+```
+Error: error cloning virtual machine: The operation is not supported on the object
+```
+**Solution**: Ensure the VM template is properly configured and not powered on.
+
+#### 2. Network Configuration Issues
+```
+Error: network interface not found
+```
+**Solution**: Verify the network/port group name exists in the specified datacenter.
+
+#### 3. Insufficient Permissions
+```
+Error: permission denied
+```
+**Solution**: Review and assign the required vSphere permissions listed above.
+
+#### 4. Agent Connection Timeouts
+```
+Error: timeout waiting for agent to connect
+```
+**Solution**: 
+- Check SSH connectivity between Coder and the VM
+- Verify firewall rules allow traffic on required ports
+- Ensure the VM template has SSH server enabled
+
+### Debugging Steps
+
+1. **Verify vSphere Connectivity**
+   ```bash
+   # Test vSphere API access
+   curl -k "https://$VSPHERE_SERVER/rest/com/vmware/cis/session" \
+     -X POST -u "$VSPHERE_USER:$VSPHERE_PASSWORD"
+   ```
+
+2. **Check VM Power State**
+   - Verify VMs power on/off correctly based on workspace state
+   - Check vSphere events for error messages
+
+3. **Network Troubleshooting**
+   - Ping test between Coder server and VM
+   - Verify DNS resolution if using hostnames
+   - Check vSphere port group configuration
+
+4. **Agent Logs**
+   ```bash
+   # On the VM, check Coder agent logs
+   journalctl -u coder-agent -f
+   ```
+
+## Performance Optimization
+
+### Resource Allocation
+- Enable CPU and memory hot-add for dynamic scaling
+- Use thin-provisioned disks to optimize storage utilization
+- Configure appropriate CPU/memory reservations for guaranteed resources
+
+### Storage Performance
+- Use SSD-backed datastores for better I/O performance
+- Enable Storage DRS for automatic load balancing
+- Consider vSAN for software-defined storage benefits
+
+### Network Performance
+- Use VMXNET3 network adapters for best performance
+- Configure distributed vSwitches for advanced networking features
+- Implement network I/O control for bandwidth management
+
+## Integration Examples
+
+### CI/CD Integration
+This template works well with CI/CD pipelines:
+
+```yaml
+# Example GitHub Actions workflow
+name: Deploy Development Environment
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [develop]
+    
+jobs:
+  deploy:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Create Coder Workspace
+        run: |
+          coder create --template=vsphere-linux \
+            --parameter datacenter=prod-dc \
+            --parameter cluster=dev-cluster \
+            --parameter datastore=dev-storage \
+            dev-${{ github.sha }}
+```
+
+### Monitoring Integration
+```hcl
+# Add monitoring agent to startup script
+resource "coder_agent" "dev" {
+  startup_script = <<-EOT
+    # Install monitoring agent
+    curl -sSL https://monitoring.company.com/install.sh | bash
+    
+    # Configure workspace-specific monitoring
+    echo "workspace.name=${data.coder_workspace.me.name}" >> /etc/monitoring/config
+  EOT
+}
+```
+
+## Best Practices
+
+1. **Template Management**
+   - Regularly update VM templates with security patches
+   - Use automation tools like Packer for template creation
+   - Maintain separate templates for different use cases
+
+2. **Resource Management**
+   - Set appropriate resource limits to prevent over-allocation
+   - Use resource pools to organize and limit workspace resources
+   - Monitor resource utilization across workspaces
+
+3. **Backup and Recovery**
+   - Implement regular VM snapshots for data protection
+   - Use vSphere backup solutions for workspace data
+   - Document recovery procedures
+
+4. **Cost Optimization**
+   - Automatically power off idle workspaces
+   - Use thin provisioning to optimize storage usage
+   - Implement resource quotas and governance policies
+
+## Support
+
+For issues specific to this template:
+- Check the [Coder documentation](https://coder.com/docs)
+- Visit [Coder Community](https://github.com/coder/coder/discussions)
+- Review [vSphere provider documentation](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/vsphere/latest/docs)
+
+For vSphere-specific issues:
+- Consult VMware documentation
+- Contact your vSphere administrator
+- Check VMware support resources