VMware image provisioning fails with InvalidVmConfig/InvalidArgument after upgrade to 3.18.1 (firmware not normalized for image-based clone)

orelops95 · April 13, 2026, 3:06pm

Hello all,

When provisioning a VM on VMware using image-based provisioning (clone from template) in Foreman 3.18.1, the clone operation fails with two distinct errors depending on the firmware setting selected in the UI:

UEFI or UEFI Secure Boot → InvalidVmConfig: Invalid virtual machine configuration with property=config.bootOptions.efiSecureBootEnabled and message EFI secure boot could be enabled only on EFI firmware.

Problem:
When provisioning a VM on VMware using image-based provisioning (clone from template) in Foreman 3.18.1, the clone operation fails with two distinct errors depending on the firmware setting selected in the UI:

UEFI or UEFI Secure Boot → InvalidVmConfig: Invalid virtual machine configuration with property=config.bootOptions.efiSecureBootEnabled and message EFI secure boot could be enabled only on EFI firmware.
UEFI (without Secure Boot) → InvalidArgument: A specified parameter was not correct (no property detail)

Both errors originate from fog-vsphere vm_clone.rb receiving an invalid firmware value ('uefi' or 'uefi_secure_boot' instead of the vSphere API-expected 'efi').

Root cause analysis:

Foreman 3.18.1 introduced generate_secure_boot_settings and process_firmware_attributes in compute_resource.rb. The normalize_firmware_type method correctly translates 'uefi'/'uefi_secure_boot' → 'efi', but only when firmware_type is present (i.e. when a PXE loader is set). For image-based provisioning, pxe_loader is empty, so firmware_type is blank, normalize_firmware_type is never called, and the raw UI value ('uefi') is passed directly to fog-vsphere and then to the vSphere API — which rejects it as invalid.

Additionally, Foreman 3.18.1 also introduced boot_order in the clone_vm opts (previously absent), which activates the bootOptions block in fog-vsphere vm_clone.rb. This block unconditionally sets efiSecureBootEnabled: options["secure_boot"] || false, causing vSphere to reject the spec even when Secure Boot is disabled, because rbvmomi2 3.8.0 now explicitly serializes false boolean values (previously they were omitted).

Expected outcome:
Image-based VM provisioning on VMware with UEFI, UEFI Secure Boot, or BIOS firmware should work correctly in Foreman 3.18.1 as it did in 3.17.0.

Proposed fixes:

Fix 1 — app/models/compute_resources/foreman/model/vmware.rb in clone_vm:

-        "firmware" => args[:firmware],
+        "firmware" => normalize_firmware_type(args[:firmware]),

Fix 2 — fog-vsphere lib/fog/vsphere/requests/compute/vm_clone.rb (line ~220):

-            virtual_machine_config_spec.bootOptions = { bootOrder: boot_order, efiSecureBootEnabled: options["secure_boot"] || false }
+            boot_options = { bootOrder: boot_order }
+            boot_options[:efiSecureBootEnabled] = true if options["secure_boot"] == true || options["secure_boot"] == "true"
+            virtual_machine_config_spec.bootOptions = boot_options

Foreman and Proxy versions:
Foreman 3.18.1 / Foreman Proxy 3.18.1

Foreman and Proxy plugin versions:

katello 4.20.0
foreman_remote_execution 16.5.3
foreman-tasks 11.1.1
foreman_puppet 9.1.0
rubygem-fog-vsphere 3.7.2
rubygem-rbvmomi2 3.8.0

Distribution and version:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.7 (Plow)

Other relevant data:

The issue is a regression introduced in 3.18.1. Provisioning worked correctly in 3.17.x with the same fog-vsphere (3.7.2) and rbvmomi2 (3.8.0) versions.
The bug only affects image-based provisioning (clone from template). Network-based (PXE) provisioning is not affected because firmware_type is populated via pxe_loader in that flow, which triggers normalize_firmware_type.
Deploying the same template directly from vCenter works without error.
Relevant log extract:

vSphere fault detail: InvalidVmConfig @props={:faultMessage=>[{:key=>"msg.hostd.configSpec.efi", :message=>"EFI secure boot could be enabled only on EFI firmware."}], :property=>"config.bootOptions.efiSecureBootEnabled"}

Debug logging of vm_clone opts confirmed "firmware"=>"uefi" being sent to fog-vsphere instead of "firmware"=>"efi". After applying Fix 1, opts correctly show "firmware"=>"efi" and provisioning succeeds.

Bernhard_Suttner · April 16, 2026, 6:36am

@nofaralfasi Some thoughts on this?

betonmoewe · April 30, 2026, 1:10pm

hi all,

similar problem here:
with foreman 3.18.1 I can not longer deploy VMs (…provisioning a VM on VMware using image-based provisioning (clone from template)…)
I have added the proposed fixes but nothing changed.

Here is my vpxd.log:

2026-04-30T10:49:40.367Z error vpxd\[3417177\] \[Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=14034394\] \[VpxLRO\] – ERROR task-7914930 – 52f2d835-bbec-4a87-edda-fbaa69c92b5e(5298dfb2-18b5-1594-97e4-531be045339c) – vm-2580609 – vim.VirtualMachine.clone: :vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument
 → Result:
 → (vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument) {
 →    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
 →    faultMessage = ,
 →    invalidProperty = 
 →    msg = "A specified parameter was not correct: "
 → }
 → Args:
 → 
 → Arg folder:
 → ‘vim.Folder:group-v397309’
 → Arg name:
 → “sles16test”
 → Arg spec:
 → (vim.vm.CloneSpec) {
 →    location = (vim.vm.RelocateSpec) {
 →       service = (vim.ServiceLocator) null,
 →       folder = ‘vim.Folder:group-v397309’,
 →       datastore = ‘vim.Datastore:datastore-265923’,
 →       diskMoveType = ,
 →       pool = ‘vim.ResourcePool:resgroup-183043’,
 →       host = ,
 →       disk = (vim.vm.RelocateSpec.DiskLocator) \[
 →          (vim.vm.RelocateSpec.DiskLocator) {
 →             diskId = 2000,
 →             datastore = ‘vim.Datastore:datastore-265923’,
 →             diskMoveType = ,
 →             diskBackingInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) {
 →                fileName = “”,
 →                datastore = ,
 →                backingObjectId = ,
 →                diskMode = “persistent”,
 →                split = ,
 →                writeThrough = ,
 →                thinProvisioned = true,
 →                eagerlyScrub = ,
 →                uuid = ,
 →                contentId = ,
 →                changeId = ,
 →                parent = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) null,
 →                deltaDiskFormat = ,
 →                digestEnabled = ,
 →                deltaGrainSize = ,
 →                deltaDiskFormatVariant = ,
 →                sharing = ,
 →                keyId = (vim.encryption.CryptoKeyId) null,
 →                digestFormatVersion = 
 →             },
 →             profile = ,
 →             backing = (vim.vm.RelocateSpec.DiskLocator.BackingSpec) null,
 →             filterSpec = 
 →          }
 →       \],
 →       transform = ,
 →       deviceChange = ,
 →       profile = ,
 →       cryptoSpec = (vim.encryption.CryptoSpec) null
 →    },
 →    template = false,
 →    config = (vim.vm.ConfigSpec) {
 →       changeVersion = ,
 →       name = ,
 →       version = ,
 →       createDate = ,
 →       uuid = ,
 →       instanceUuid = ,
 →       npivNodeWorldWideName = ,
 →       npivPortWorldWideName = ,
 →       npivWorldWideNameType = ,
 →       npivDesiredNodeWwns = ,
 →       npivDesiredPortWwns = ,
 →       npivTemporaryDisabled = ,
 →       npivOnNonRdmDisks = ,
 →       npivWorldWideNameOp = ,
 →       locationId = ,
 →       guestId = ,
 →       alternateGuestName = ,
 →       annotation = “Generate from Katello”,
 →       files = (vim.vm.FileInfo) null,
 →       tools = (vim.vm.ToolsConfigInfo) null,
 →       flags = (vim.vm.FlagInfo) null,
 →       consolePreferences = (vim.vm.ConsolePreferences) null,
 →       powerOpInfo = (vim.vm.DefaultPowerOpInfo) null,
 →       rebootPowerOff = ,
 →       numCPUs = 1,
 →       vcpuConfig = ,
 →       numCoresPerSocket = 1,
 →       memoryMB = 4096,
 →       memoryHotAddEnabled = ,
 →       cpuHotAddEnabled = ,
 →       cpuHotRemoveEnabled = ,
 →       virtualICH7MPresent = ,
 →       virtualSMCPresent = ,
 →       deviceChange = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec) \[
 →          (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec) {
 →             operation = “edit”,
 →             fileOperation = ,
 →             device = (vim.vm.device.VirtualVmxnet3) {
 →                dynamicProperty = ,
 →                key = 4000,
 →                deviceInfo = (vim.Description) {
 →                   label = “Network adapter 1”,
 →                   summary = “DVSwitch: 50 24 f6 92 8e 98 66 0a-a5 45 17 46 90 a9 64 0c”
 →                },
 →                backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo) {
 →                   port = (vim.dvs.PortConnection) {
 →                      switchUuid = “50 24 f6 92 8e 98 66 0a-a5 45 17 46 90 a9 64 0c”,
 →                      portgroupKey = “dvportgroup-183031”,
 →                      portKey = ,
 →                      connectionCookie = 
 →                   }
 →                },
 →                connectable = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.ConnectInfo) {
 →                   migrateConnect = ,
 →                   startConnected = true,
 →                   allowGuestControl = true,
 →                   connected = true,
 →                   status = 
 →                },
 →                slotInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.PciBusSlotInfo) {
 →                   pciSlotNumber = 33
 →                },
 →                controllerKey = 100,
 →                unitNumber = 7,
 →                numaNode = ,
 →                deviceGroupInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.DeviceGroupInfo) null,
 →                addressType = “generated”,
 →                macAddress = ,
 →                wakeOnLanEnabled = true,
 →                resourceAllocation = (vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.ResourceAllocation) {
 →                   reservation = 0,
 →                   share = (vim.SharesInfo) {
 →                      shares = 50,
 →                      level = “normal”
 →                   },
 →                   limit = -1
 →                },
 →                externalId = ,
 →                uptCompatibilityEnabled = true,
 →                uptv2Enabled = false,
 →                realTimeEnabled = 
 →             },
 →             profile = ,
 →             backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec.BackingSpec) null,
 →             filterSpec = ,
 →             changeMode = 
 →          },
 →          (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec) {
 →             operation = “edit”,
 →             fileOperation = ,
 →             device = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk) {
 →                key = 2000,
 →                deviceInfo = (vim.Description) {
 →                   label = “Hard disk 1”,
 →                   summary = “52,428,800 KB”
 →                },
 →                backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) {
 →                   fileName = “\[NFS_DANA19R1CL_Template\] SLES16.0_template_katello_test/SLES16.0_template_katello_test_4.vmdk”,
 →                   datastore = ‘vim.Datastore:datastore-1317869’,
 →                   backingObjectId = “”,
 →                   diskMode = “persistent”,
 →                   split = false,
 →                   writeThrough = false,
 →                   thinProvisioned = true,
 →                   eagerlyScrub = false,
 →                   uuid = “6000C295-3355-9c6a-bf80-39c9acab018e”,
 →                   contentId = “206e76ffef688bf23145dc3885192c4a”,
 →                   changeId = ,
 →                   parent = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) null,
 →                   deltaDiskFormat = ,
 →                   digestEnabled = false,
 →                   deltaGrainSize = ,
 →                   deltaDiskFormatVariant = ,
 →                   sharing = “sharingNone”,
 →                   keyId = (vim.encryption.CryptoKeyId) null,
 →                   digestFormatVersion = 
 →                },
 →                connectable = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.ConnectInfo) null,
 →                slotInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.BusSlotInfo) null,
 →                controllerKey = 1000,
 →                unitNumber = 0,
 →                numaNode = ,
 →                deviceGroupInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.DeviceGroupInfo) null,
 →                capacityInKB = 52428800,
 →                capacityInBytes = 53687091200,
 →                shares = (vim.SharesInfo) {
 →                   shares = 1000,
 →                   level = “normal”
 →                },
 →                storageIOAllocation = (vim.StorageResourceManager.IOAllocationInfo) {
 →                   limit = -1,
 →                   shares = (vim.SharesInfo) {
 →                      shares = 1000,
 →                      level = “normal”
 →                   },
 →                   reservation = 0
 →                },
 →                diskObjectId = “32929-2000”,
 →                vFlashCacheConfigInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.VFlashCacheConfigInfo) null,
 →                iofilter = ,
 →                vDiskId = (vim.vslm.ID) null,
 →                vDiskVersion = 1,
 →                virtualDiskFormat = ,
 →                nativeUnmanagedLinkedClone = false,
 →                independentFilters = ,
 →                guestReadOnly = false
 →             },
 →             profile = ,
 →             backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec.BackingSpec) null,
 →             filterSpec = ,
 →             changeMode = 
 →          }
 →       \],
 →       cpuAllocation = (vim.ResourceAllocationInfo) null,
 →       memoryAllocation = (vim.ResourceAllocationInfo) null,
 →       latencySensitivity = (vim.LatencySensitivity) null,
 →       cpuAffinity = (vim.vm.AffinityInfo) null,
 →       memoryAffinity = (vim.vm.AffinityInfo) null,
 →       networkShaper = (vim.vm.NetworkShaperInfo) null,
 →       cpuFeatureMask = ,
 →       extraConfig = ,
 →       swapPlacement = ,
 →       bootOptions = (vim.vm.BootOptions) {
 →          bootDelay = ,
 →          enterBIOSSetup = ,
 →          efiSecureBootEnabled = false,
 →          bootRetryEnabled = ,
 →          bootRetryDelay = ,
 →          bootOrder = (vim.vm.BootOptions.BootableDevice) \[
 →             (vim.vm.BootOptions.BootableDiskDevice) {
 →                deviceKey = 2000
 →             }
 →          \],
 →          networkBootProtocol = 
 →       },
 →       vAppConfig = (vim.vApp.VmConfigSpec) null,
 →       ftInfo = (vim.vm.FaultToleranceConfigInfo) null,
 →       repConfig = (vim.vm.ReplicationConfigSpec) null,
 →       vAppConfigRemoved = ,
 →       vAssertsEnabled = ,
 →       changeTrackingEnabled = ,
 →       firmware = “uefi”,
 →       maxMksConnections = ,
 →       guestAutoLockEnabled = ,
 →       managedBy = (vim.ext.ManagedByInfo) null,
 →       memoryReservationLockedToMax = ,
 →       nestedHVEnabled = ,
 →       vPMCEnabled = ,
 →       scheduledHardwareUpgradeInfo = (vim.vm.ScheduledHardwareUpgradeInfo) null,
 →       vmProfile = ,
 →       messageBusTunnelEnabled = ,
 →       crypto = (vim.encryption.CryptoSpec) null,
 →       migrateEncryption = ,
 →       sgxInfo = (vim.vm.SgxInfo) null,
 →       ftEncryptionMode = ,
 →       guestMonitoringModeInfo = (vim.vm.GuestMonitoringModeInfo) null,
 →       sevEnabled = ,
 →       virtualNuma = (vim.vm.VirtualNuma) null,
 →       motherboardLayout = ,
 →       pmemFailoverEnabled = ,
 →       vmxStatsCollectionEnabled = ,
 →       vmOpNotificationToAppEnabled = ,
 →       vmOpNotificationTimeout = ,
 →       deviceSwap = (vim.vm.VirtualDeviceSwap) null,
 →       simultaneousThreads = ,
 →       pmem = (vim.vm.VirtualPMem) null,
 →       deviceGroups = (vim.vm.VirtualDeviceGroups) null,
 →       fixedPassthruHotPlugEnabled = ,
 →       metroFtEnabled = ,
 →       metroFtHostGroup = ,
 →       tdxEnabled = ,
 →       sevSnpEnabled = 
 →    },
 →    customization = (vim.vm.customization.Specification) {
 →       options = (vim.vm.customization.Options) null,
 →       identity = (vim.vm.customization.LinuxPrep) {
 →          hostName = (vim.vm.customization.FixedName) {
 →             name = “sles16test”
 →          },
 →          domain = “da.doehler.com”,
 →          timeZone = “UTC”,
 →          hwClockUTC = true,
 →          scriptText = ,
 →          compatibleCustomizationMethod = 
 →       },
 →       globalIPSettings = (vim.vm.customization.GlobalIPSettings) {
 →          dnsSuffixList = (string) \[
 →             “da.doehler.com”
 →          \],
 →          dnsServerList = (string) \[
 →             “192.168.175.20”,
 →             “192.168.176.20”
 →          \]
 →       },
 →       nicSettingMap = (vim.vm.customization.AdapterMapping) \[
 →          (vim.vm.customization.AdapterMapping) {
 →             macAddress = ,
 →             adapter = (vim.vm.customization.IPSettings) {
 →                ip = (vim.vm.customization.FixedIp) {
 →                   ipAddress = “192.168.182.92”
 →                },
 →                subnetMask = “255.255.255.128”,
 →                gateway = (string) \[
 →                   “192.168.182.126”
 →                \],
 →                ipV6Spec = (vim.vm.customization.IPSettings.IpV6AddressSpec) null,
 →                dnsServerList = (string) \[
 →                   “192.168.175.20”,
 →                   “192.168.176.20”
 →                \],
 →                dnsDomain = “da.doehler.com”,
 →                primaryWINS = ,
 →                secondaryWINS = ,
 →                netBIOS = 
 →             }
 →          }
 →       \],
 →       encryptionKey = 
 →    },
 →    powerOn = false,
 →    snapshot = ,
 →    memory = ,
 →    tpmProvisionPolicy = 
 → }

betonmoewe · April 30, 2026, 1:24pm

hi all,

similar problem here:
with foreman 3.18.1 I can not longer deploy VMs (…provisioning a VM on VMware using image-based provisioning (clone from template)…)
I have added the proposed fixes but nothing changed.

Here is my vpxd.log:

2026-04-30T10:49:40.367Z error vpxd\[3417177\] \[Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=14034394\] \[VpxLRO\] – ERROR task-7914930 – 52f2d835-bbec-4a87-edda-fbaa69c92b5e(5298dfb2-18b5-1594-97e4-531be045339c) – vm-2580609 – vim.VirtualMachine.clone: :vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument
→ Result:
→ (vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument) {
→    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
→    faultMessage = ,
→    invalidProperty =
→    msg = "A specified parameter was not correct: "
→ }
→ Args:
→
→ Arg folder:
→ ‘vim.Folder:group-v397309’
→ Arg name:
→ “sles16test”
→ Arg spec:
→ (vim.vm.CloneSpec) {
→    location = (vim.vm.RelocateSpec) {
→       service = (vim.ServiceLocator) null,
→       folder = ‘vim.Folder:group-v397309’,
→       datastore = ‘vim.Datastore:datastore-265923’,
→       diskMoveType = ,
→       pool = ‘vim.ResourcePool:resgroup-183043’,
→       host = ,
→       disk = (vim.vm.RelocateSpec.DiskLocator) \[
→          (vim.vm.RelocateSpec.DiskLocator) {
→             diskId = 2000,
→             datastore = ‘vim.Datastore:datastore-265923’,
→             diskMoveType = ,
→             diskBackingInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) {
→                fileName = “”,
→                datastore = ,
→                backingObjectId = ,
→                diskMode = “persistent”,
→                split = ,
→                writeThrough = ,
→                thinProvisioned = true,
→                eagerlyScrub = ,
→                uuid = ,
→                contentId = ,
→                changeId = ,
→                parent = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) null,
→                deltaDiskFormat = ,
→                digestEnabled = ,
→                deltaGrainSize = ,
→                deltaDiskFormatVariant = ,
→                sharing = ,
→                keyId = (vim.encryption.CryptoKeyId) null,
→                digestFormatVersion =
→             },
→             profile = ,
→             backing = (vim.vm.RelocateSpec.DiskLocator.BackingSpec) null,
→             filterSpec =
→          }
→       \],
→       transform = ,
→       deviceChange = ,
→       profile = ,
→       cryptoSpec = (vim.encryption.CryptoSpec) null
→    },
→    template = false,
→    config = (vim.vm.ConfigSpec) {
→       changeVersion = ,
→       name = ,
→       version = ,
→       createDate = ,
→       uuid = ,
→       instanceUuid = ,
→       npivNodeWorldWideName = ,
→       npivPortWorldWideName = ,
→       npivWorldWideNameType = ,
→       npivDesiredNodeWwns = ,
→       npivDesiredPortWwns = ,
→       npivTemporaryDisabled = ,
→       npivOnNonRdmDisks = ,
→       npivWorldWideNameOp = ,
→       locationId = ,
→       guestId = ,
→       alternateGuestName = ,
→       annotation = “Generate from Katello”,
→       files = (vim.vm.FileInfo) null,
→       tools = (vim.vm.ToolsConfigInfo) null,
→       flags = (vim.vm.FlagInfo) null,
→       consolePreferences = (vim.vm.ConsolePreferences) null,
→       powerOpInfo = (vim.vm.DefaultPowerOpInfo) null,
→       rebootPowerOff = ,
→       numCPUs = 1,
→       vcpuConfig = ,
→       numCoresPerSocket = 1,
→       memoryMB = 4096,
→       memoryHotAddEnabled = ,
→       cpuHotAddEnabled = ,
→       cpuHotRemoveEnabled = ,
→       virtualICH7MPresent = ,
→       virtualSMCPresent = ,
→       deviceChange = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec) \[
→          (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec) {
→             operation = “edit”,
→             fileOperation = ,
→             device = (vim.vm.device.VirtualVmxnet3) {
→                dynamicProperty = ,
→                key = 4000,
→                deviceInfo = (vim.Description) {
→                   label = “Network adapter 1”,
→                   summary = “DVSwitch: 50 24 f6 92 8e 98 66 0a-a5 45 17 46 90 a9 64 0c”
→                },
→                backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo) {
→                   port = (vim.dvs.PortConnection) {
→                      switchUuid = “50 24 f6 92 8e 98 66 0a-a5 45 17 46 90 a9 64 0c”,
→                      portgroupKey = “dvportgroup-183031”,
→                      portKey = ,
→                      connectionCookie =
→                   }
→                },
→                connectable = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.ConnectInfo) {
→                   migrateConnect = ,
→                   startConnected = true,
→                   allowGuestControl = true,
→                   connected = true,
→                   status =
→                },
→                slotInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.PciBusSlotInfo) {
→                   pciSlotNumber = 33
→                },
→                controllerKey = 100,
→                unitNumber = 7,
→                numaNode = ,
→                deviceGroupInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.DeviceGroupInfo) null,
→                addressType = “generated”,
→                macAddress = ,
→                wakeOnLanEnabled = true,
→                resourceAllocation = (vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.ResourceAllocation) {
→                   reservation = 0,
→                   share = (vim.SharesInfo) {
→                      shares = 50,
→                      level = “normal”
→                   },
→                   limit = -1
→                },
→                externalId = ,
→                uptCompatibilityEnabled = true,
→                uptv2Enabled = false,
→                realTimeEnabled =
→             },
→             profile = ,
→             backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec.BackingSpec) null,
→             filterSpec = ,
→             changeMode =
→          },
→          (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec) {
→             operation = “edit”,
→             fileOperation = ,
→             device = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk) {
→                key = 2000,
→                deviceInfo = (vim.Description) {
→                   label = “Hard disk 1”,
→                   summary = “52,428,800 KB”
→                },
→                backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) {
→                   fileName = “\[NFS_DANA19R1CL_Template\] SLES16.0_template_katello_test/SLES16.0_template_katello_test_4.vmdk”,
→                   datastore = ‘vim.Datastore:datastore-1317869’,
→                   backingObjectId = “”,
→                   diskMode = “persistent”,
→                   split = false,
→                   writeThrough = false,
→                   thinProvisioned = true,
→                   eagerlyScrub = false,
→                   uuid = “6000C295-3355-9c6a-bf80-39c9acab018e”,
→                   contentId = “206e76ffef688bf23145dc3885192c4a”,
→                   changeId = ,
→                   parent = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo) null,
→                   deltaDiskFormat = ,
→                   digestEnabled = false,
→                   deltaGrainSize = ,
→                   deltaDiskFormatVariant = ,
→                   sharing = “sharingNone”,
→                   keyId = (vim.encryption.CryptoKeyId) null,
→                   digestFormatVersion =
→                },
→                connectable = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.ConnectInfo) null,
→                slotInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.BusSlotInfo) null,
→                controllerKey = 1000,
→                unitNumber = 0,
→                numaNode = ,
→                deviceGroupInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDevice.DeviceGroupInfo) null,
→                capacityInKB = 52428800,
→                capacityInBytes = 53687091200,
→                shares = (vim.SharesInfo) {
→                   shares = 1000,
→                   level = “normal”
→                },
→                storageIOAllocation = (vim.StorageResourceManager.IOAllocationInfo) {
→                   limit = -1,
→                   shares = (vim.SharesInfo) {
→                      shares = 1000,
→                      level = “normal”
→                   },
→                   reservation = 0
→                },
→                diskObjectId = “32929-2000”,
→                vFlashCacheConfigInfo = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk.VFlashCacheConfigInfo) null,
→                iofilter = ,
→                vDiskId = (vim.vslm.ID) null,
→                vDiskVersion = 1,
→                virtualDiskFormat = ,
→                nativeUnmanagedLinkedClone = false,
→                independentFilters = ,
→                guestReadOnly = false
→             },
→             profile = ,
→             backing = (vim.vm.device.VirtualDeviceSpec.BackingSpec) null,
→             filterSpec = ,
→             changeMode =
→          }
→       \],
→       cpuAllocation = (vim.ResourceAllocationInfo) null,
→       memoryAllocation = (vim.ResourceAllocationInfo) null,
→       latencySensitivity = (vim.LatencySensitivity) null,
→       cpuAffinity = (vim.vm.AffinityInfo) null,
→       memoryAffinity = (vim.vm.AffinityInfo) null,
→       networkShaper = (vim.vm.NetworkShaperInfo) null,
→       cpuFeatureMask = ,
→       extraConfig = ,
→       swapPlacement = ,
→       bootOptions = (vim.vm.BootOptions) {
→          bootDelay = ,
→          enterBIOSSetup = ,
→          efiSecureBootEnabled = false,
→          bootRetryEnabled = ,
→          bootRetryDelay = ,
→          bootOrder = (vim.vm.BootOptions.BootableDevice) \[
→             (vim.vm.BootOptions.BootableDiskDevice) {
→                deviceKey = 2000
→             }
→          \],
→          networkBootProtocol =
→       },
→       vAppConfig = (vim.vApp.VmConfigSpec) null,
→       ftInfo = (vim.vm.FaultToleranceConfigInfo) null,
→       repConfig = (vim.vm.ReplicationConfigSpec) null,
→       vAppConfigRemoved = ,
→       vAssertsEnabled = ,
→       changeTrackingEnabled = ,
→       **firmware = “uefi”,**
→       maxMksConnections = ,
→       guestAutoLockEnabled = ,
→       managedBy = (vim.ext.ManagedByInfo) null,
→       memoryReservationLockedToMax = ,
→       nestedHVEnabled = ,
→       vPMCEnabled = ,
→       scheduledHardwareUpgradeInfo = (vim.vm.ScheduledHardwareUpgradeInfo) null,
→       vmProfile = ,
→       messageBusTunnelEnabled = ,
→       crypto = (vim.encryption.CryptoSpec) null,
→       migrateEncryption = ,
→       sgxInfo = (vim.vm.SgxInfo) null,
→       ftEncryptionMode = ,
→       guestMonitoringModeInfo = (vim.vm.GuestMonitoringModeInfo) null,
→       sevEnabled = ,
→       virtualNuma = (vim.vm.VirtualNuma) null,
→       motherboardLayout = ,
→       pmemFailoverEnabled = ,
→       vmxStatsCollectionEnabled = ,
→       vmOpNotificationToAppEnabled = ,
→       vmOpNotificationTimeout = ,
→       deviceSwap = (vim.vm.VirtualDeviceSwap) null,
→       simultaneousThreads = ,
→       pmem = (vim.vm.VirtualPMem) null,
→       deviceGroups = (vim.vm.VirtualDeviceGroups) null,
→       fixedPassthruHotPlugEnabled = ,
→       metroFtEnabled = ,
→       metroFtHostGroup = ,
→       tdxEnabled = ,
→       sevSnpEnabled =
→    },
→    customization = (vim.vm.customization.Specification) {
→       options = (vim.vm.customization.Options) null,
→       identity = (vim.vm.customization.LinuxPrep) {
→          hostName = (vim.vm.customization.FixedName) {
→             name = “sles16test”
→          },
→          domain = “da.doehler.com”,
→          timeZone = “UTC”,
→          hwClockUTC = true,
→          scriptText = ,
→          compatibleCustomizationMethod =
→       },
→       globalIPSettings = (vim.vm.customization.GlobalIPSettings) {
→          dnsSuffixList = (string) \[
→             “da.doehler.com”
→          \],
→          dnsServerList = (string) \[
→             “192.168.175.20”,
→             “192.168.176.20”
→          \]
→       },
→       nicSettingMap = (vim.vm.customization.AdapterMapping) \[
→          (vim.vm.customization.AdapterMapping) {
→             macAddress = ,
→             adapter = (vim.vm.customization.IPSettings) {
→                ip = (vim.vm.customization.FixedIp) {
→                   ipAddress = “192.168.182.92”
→                },
→                subnetMask = “255.255.255.128”,
→                gateway = (string) \[
→                   “192.168.182.126”
→                \],
→                ipV6Spec = (vim.vm.customization.IPSettings.IpV6AddressSpec) null,
→                dnsServerList = (string) \[
→                   “192.168.175.20”,
→                   “192.168.176.20”
→                \],
→                dnsDomain = “da.doehler.com”,
→                primaryWINS = ,
→                secondaryWINS = ,
→                netBIOS =
→             }
→          }
→       \],
→       encryptionKey =
→    },
→    powerOn = false,
→    snapshot = ,
→    memory = ,
→    tpmProvisionPolicy =
→ }

betonmoewe · April 30, 2026, 2:30pm

ok, firmware = automatic gives the same error

and by the way … with 3.16 everything was fine

betonmoewe · May 4, 2026, 7:14pm

ok ok, the source of my problem was that I was running an outdated version of vServer (8.0.3.0400). After upgrading to 8.0.3.0900, I’ve been able to deploy my VMs without any issues (so far).

orelops95 · May 12, 2026, 7:46am

Hello,

version 8.0.3.00900 released?

lstejska · May 12, 2026, 8:08am

Hi @orelops95 ,
I was not able to replicate the issue. I’m still working on it, but in the meantime, I pushed PRs with your suggested fixes so the community can use the packit rpms for testing.

Fixes #39310 - VMware - Normalize firmware type in clone args by stejskalleos · Pull Request #10982 · theforeman/foreman · GitHub
Do not add :efiSecureBootEnabled bootOption unless it's true by stejskalleos · Pull Request #317 · fog/fog-vsphere · GitHub

Can you please share your GitHub account so I can co-author with you?
The changes look good to me, but it would be great to have some proof of work from other community members.

orelops95 · May 12, 2026, 8:29am

Hi @lstejska,

my account github: orelops95