r/virtual_machine: Explicitly block cloning on standalone ESXi

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine.go

@@ -627,6 +627,10 @@ func resourceVSphereVirtualMachineCustomizeDiff(d *schema.ResourceDiff, meta int
 	// If this is a new resource and we are cloning, perform all clone validation
 	// operations.
 	if len(d.Get("clone").([]interface{})) > 0 {
+		if err := viapi.ValidateVirtualCenter(client); err != nil {
+			return errors.New("use of the clone sub-resource block requires vCenter")
+		}
+
 		switch {
 		case d.Get("imported").(bool):
 			// Imported workflows need to have the configuration of the clone

vsphere/resource_vsphere_virtual_machine_test.go

@@ -1404,6 +1404,28 @@ func TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_cloneWithDifferentTimezone(t *testing.
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_cloneBlockESXi(t *testing.T) {
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck: func() {
+			testAccPreCheck(t)
+			testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachinePreCheck(t)
+			testAccSkipIfNotEsxi(t)
+		},
+		Providers: testAccProviders,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config:      testAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachineConfigClone(),
+				ExpectError: regexp.MustCompile("use of the clone sub-resource block requires vCenter"),
+				PlanOnly:    true,
+			},
+			{
+				Config: testAccResourceVSphereEmpty,
+				Check:  resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccResourceVSphereVirtualMachine_cloneWithBadTimezone(t *testing.T) {
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck: func() {

website/docs/r/virtual_machine.html.markdown

@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ Windows machines), and disk attributes.
 
 [tf-vsphere-virtual-machine-ds]: /docs/providers/vsphere/d/virtual_machine.html
 
+~> **NOTE:** Cloning requires vCenter and is not supported on direct ESXi
+connections.
+
 ```hcl
 data "vsphere_datacenter" "dc" {
   name = "dc1"
@@ -460,6 +463,10 @@ external disks on virtual machines that are assigned to datastore clusters.
   specified template. Optional customization options can be submitted as well.
   See [creating a virtual machine from a
   template](#creating-a-virtual-machine-from-a-template) for more details.
+
+~> **NOTE:** Cloning requires vCenter and is not supported on direct ESXi
+connections.
+
 * `vapp` - (Optional) Optional vApp configuration. The only sub-key available
   is `properties`, which is a key/value map of properties for virtual machines
   imported from OVF or OVA files. See [Using vApp properties to supply OVF/OVA
@@ -908,6 +915,9 @@ example](#cloning-and-customization-example) for a usage synopsis.
 ~> **NOTE:** Changing any option in `clone` after creation forces a new
 resource.
 
+~> **NOTE:** Cloning requires vCenter and is not supported on direct ESXi
+connections.
+
 The options available in the `clone` sub-resource are:
 
 * `template_uuid` - (Required) The UUID of the source virtual machine or