diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest_find.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest_find.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1e703fafd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest_find.py
@@ -0,0 +1,281 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible. If not, see .
+
+
+ANSIBLE_METADATA = {'metadata_version': '1.0',
+ 'status': ['preview'],
+ 'supported_by': 'community'}
+
+
+DOCUMENTATION = '''
+---
+module: vmware_guest_find
+short_description: Find the folder path(s) for a VM by name or UUID
+description:
+ - Find the folder path(s) for a VM by name or UUID
+version_added: 2.4
+author:
+ - James Tanner
+notes:
+ - Tested on vSphere 6.5
+requirements:
+ - "python >= 2.6"
+ - PyVmomi
+options:
+ name:
+ description:
+ - Name of the VM to work with
+ required: True
+ uuid:
+ description:
+ - UUID of the instance to manage if known, this is VMware's uid.
+ - This is required if name is not supplied.
+ datacenter:
+ description:
+ - Destination datacenter for the deploy operation
+ required: True
+extends_documentation_fragment: vmware.documentation
+'''
+
+EXAMPLES = '''
+- name: Gather VM facts
+ vmware_guest_find:
+ hostname: 192.168.1.209
+ username: administrator@vsphere.local
+ password: vmware
+ validate_certs: no
+ name: testvm
+'''
+
+RETURN = """
+"""
+
+import os
+
+# import module snippets
+from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
+from ansible.module_utils.pycompat24 import get_exception
+from ansible.module_utils.vmware import connect_to_api, gather_vm_facts
+from ansible.module_utils.vmware import get_all_objs
+
+
+HAS_PYVMOMI = False
+try:
+ import pyVmomi
+ from pyVmomi import vim
+
+ HAS_PYVMOMI = True
+except ImportError:
+ pass
+
+
+class PyVmomiHelper(object):
+ def __init__(self, module):
+ if not HAS_PYVMOMI:
+ module.fail_json(msg='pyvmomi module required')
+
+ self.datacenter = None
+ self.folders = None
+ self.foldermap = {
+ 'fvim_by_path': {},
+ 'path_by_fvim': {},
+ 'path_by_vvim': {},
+ 'paths': {},
+ 'uuids': {}
+ }
+ self.module = module
+ self.params = module.params
+ self.content = connect_to_api(self.module)
+
+ def getvm_folder_paths(self, name=None, uuid=None, folder=None):
+
+ results = []
+
+ if not self.folders:
+ self.getfolders()
+
+ # compare the folder path of each VM against the search path
+ vmList = get_all_objs(self.content, [vim.VirtualMachine])
+ for item in vmList.items():
+ vobj = item[0]
+ if not isinstance(vobj.parent, vim.Folder):
+ continue
+ # Match by name
+ if vobj.config.name == name:
+ folderpath = self.compile_folder_path_for_object(vobj)
+ results.append(folderpath)
+
+ return results
+
+ def gather_facts(self, vm):
+ return gather_vm_facts(self.content, vm)
+
+ def _build_folder_tree(self, folder):
+
+ tree = {'virtualmachines': [],
+ 'subfolders': {},
+ 'vimobj': folder,
+ 'name': folder.name}
+
+ children = None
+ if hasattr(folder, 'childEntity'):
+ children = folder.childEntity
+
+ if children:
+ for child in children:
+ if child == folder or child in tree:
+ continue
+ if isinstance(child, vim.Folder):
+ ctree = self._build_folder_tree(child)
+ tree['subfolders'][child] = dict.copy(ctree)
+ elif isinstance(child, vim.VirtualMachine):
+ tree['virtualmachines'].append(child)
+ else:
+ if isinstance(folder, vim.VirtualMachine):
+ return folder
+ return tree
+
+ def _build_folder_map(self, folder, inpath='/'):
+
+ """ Build a searchable index for vms+uuids+folders """
+ if isinstance(folder, tuple):
+ folder = folder[1]
+
+ thispath = os.path.join(inpath, folder['name'])
+
+ if thispath not in self.foldermap['paths']:
+ self.foldermap['paths'][thispath] = []
+
+ # store object by path and store path by object
+ self.foldermap['fvim_by_path'][thispath] = folder['vimobj']
+ self.foldermap['path_by_fvim'][folder['vimobj']] = thispath
+
+ for item in folder.items():
+ k = item[0]
+ v = item[1]
+
+ if k == 'name':
+ pass
+ elif k == 'subfolders':
+ for x in v.items():
+ self._build_folder_map(x, inpath=thispath)
+ elif k == 'virtualmachines':
+ for x in v:
+ # Apparently x.config can be None on corrupted VMs
+ if x.config is None:
+ continue
+ self.foldermap['uuids'][x.config.uuid] = x.config.name
+ self.foldermap['paths'][thispath].append(x.config.uuid)
+
+ if x not in self.foldermap['path_by_vvim']:
+ self.foldermap['path_by_vvim'][x] = thispath
+
+ def getfolders(self):
+ if not self.datacenter:
+ self.get_datacenter()
+ self.folders = self._build_folder_tree(self.datacenter.vmFolder)
+ self._build_folder_map(self.folders)
+
+ @staticmethod
+ def compile_folder_path_for_object(vobj):
+ """ make a /vm/foo/bar/baz like folder path for an object """
+
+ paths = []
+ if isinstance(vobj, vim.Folder):
+ paths.append(vobj.name)
+
+ thisobj = vobj
+ while hasattr(thisobj, 'parent'):
+ thisobj = thisobj.parent
+ if isinstance(thisobj, vim.Folder):
+ paths.append(thisobj.name)
+ paths.reverse()
+ if paths[0] == 'Datacenters':
+ paths.remove('Datacenters')
+ return '/' + '/'.join(paths)
+
+ def get_datacenter(self):
+ self.datacenter = get_obj(
+ self.content,
+ [vim.Datacenter],
+ self.params['datacenter']
+ )
+
+
+def get_obj(content, vimtype, name):
+ """
+ Return an object by name, if name is None the
+ first found object is returned
+ """
+ obj = None
+ container = content.viewManager.CreateContainerView(
+ content.rootFolder, vimtype, True)
+ for c in container.view:
+ if name:
+ if c.name == name:
+ obj = c
+ break
+ else:
+ obj = c
+ break
+
+ container.Destroy()
+ return obj
+
+
+def main():
+ module = AnsibleModule(
+ argument_spec=dict(
+ hostname=dict(
+ type='str',
+ default=os.environ.get('VMWARE_HOST')
+ ),
+ username=dict(
+ type='str',
+ default=os.environ.get('VMWARE_USER')
+ ),
+ password=dict(
+ type='str', no_log=True,
+ default=os.environ.get('VMWARE_PASSWORD')
+ ),
+ validate_certs=dict(required=False, type='bool', default=True),
+ name=dict(required=True, type='str'),
+ uuid=dict(required=False, type='str'),
+ datacenter=dict(required=True, type='str'),
+ ),
+ )
+
+ pyv = PyVmomiHelper(module)
+ # Check if the VM exists before continuing
+ folders = pyv.getvm_folder_paths(
+ name=module.params['name'],
+ uuid=module.params['uuid']
+ )
+
+ # VM already exists
+ if folders:
+ try:
+ module.exit_json(folders=folders)
+ except Exception:
+ e = get_exception()
+ module.fail_json(msg="Folder enumeration failed with exception %s" % e)
+ else:
+ module.fail_json(msg="Unable to find folders for VM %(name)s" % module.params)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+ main()