Multi-Machine Vagrant Environments with JSON

In this post I’d like to show you how to use a JSON-formatted data file to create and configure multi-machine Vagrant environments. This isn’t a new idea, and certainly not anything that I came up with or created. I’m simply presenting it here as an alternative option to the approach of using YAML with Vagrant for multi-machine environments (some people may prefer JSON over YAML).

If you’re unfamiliar with Vagrant, I’d start with my introduction to Vagrant. Then I’d recommend reviewing my original article on using YAML with Vagrant, followed by the updated/improved method that addresses a shortcoming with the original approach. These earlier posts will provide some basics that I’ll build on in this post.

To use a JSON-formatted data file as an external data source for Vagrant, the code in the Vagrantfile looks really similar to the code you’d use for YAML:

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# # vi: set ft=ruby :
 
# Specify minimum Vagrant version and Vagrant API version
Vagrant.require_version '>= 1.6.0'
VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION = '2'
 
# Require JSON module
require 'json'
 
# Read YAML file with box details
servers = JSON.parse(File.read(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'servers.json')))
 
# Create boxes
Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
 
  # Iterate through entries in JSON file
  servers.each do |server|
    config.vm.define server['name'] do |srv|
      srv.vm.box = server['box']
      srv.vm.network 'private_network', ip: server['ip_addr']
      srv.vm.provider :vmware_fusion do |vmw|
        vmw.vmx['memsize'] = server['ram']
        vmw.vmx['numvcpus'] = server['vcpu']
      end # srv.vm.provider
    end # config.vm.define
  end # servers.each
end # Vagrant.configure

For the most part, this Vagrantfile is very similar to what I’ve already shown you when using an external YAML data file. The line starting with servers = ... is what pulls in the data from the external JSON file; the JSON.parse command (method? function?) is required to parse the JSON-formatted data into a hash that we reference later in the servers.each loop. The loop itself is otherwise exactly what I’ve already used in other examples of using an external data file.

And what does the external data file look like? Here’s a JSON-formatted data file that would work with this Vagrantfile:

[
    {
        "name": "jessie",
        "box": "slowe/debian-81-x64",
        "ram": 512,
        "vcpu": 1,
        "ip_addr": "192.168.100.101"
    },

    {
        "name": "trusty",
        "box": "slowe/ubuntu-trusty-x64",
        "ram": 512,
        "vcpu": 1,
        "ip_addr": "192.168.100.102"
    }
]

Naturally, you could extend this external JSON-formatted data file to do other things. Here’s a few examples:

• You could optionally enable (or disable) shared folders based on a value in the external data file.
• You could insert additional values, like enabled nested virtualization support (if using a VMware desktop hypervisor that supports such functionality) if a certain value is included in the external data file.

I’ve used both these approaches in many of my own personal Vagrant environments without any major issues (using a YAML file, but the concept applies equally here).

Inspiration/Other Resources

This post was inspired primarily by James Thorne’s post on using JSON and loops to create multi-machine Vagrant environments. The idea of using JSON instead of YAML is not mine, but his; I just wanted to present similar information (but with the JSON separated into a different file instead of embedded into the Vagrantfile).

If you’re interested in experimenting with JSON and Vagrant yourself, have a look at the vagrant-json directory in my GitHub “learning-tools” repository. It has a Vagrantfile and an associated JSON data file.

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