Terraform vSphere Folder reference challenged when using a Variable

apply-output-absolute-path.txt

vsphere_virtual_machine.vm: Creating...

Error: folder '/HawthorneSales/vm/HawthorneSales/vm/Users/eric.wright' not found

  on main.tf line 1, in resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm":
   1: resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {

apply-output-relative.txt

Error: cannot locate folder: folder '/Users/eric.wright' not found

  on data.tf line 30, in data "vsphere_folder" "folder":
  30: data "vsphere_folder" "folder" {

Folder structure

Datacenter = HawthorneSales
Default root folder (hidden) = HawthorneSales/vm
Folders = Users/eric.wright

Plan-results.txt

# vsphere_virtual_machine.vm will be created
  + resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {
      + boot_retry_delay                        = 10000
      + change_version                          = (known after apply)
      + cpu_limit                               = -1
      + cpu_share_count                         = (known after apply)
      + cpu_share_level                         = "normal"
      + datastore_id                            = "datastore-1217"
      + default_ip_address                      = (known after apply)
      + ept_rvi_mode                            = "automatic"
      + firmware                                = "bios"
      + folder                                  = "Users/eric.wright"
      + force_power_off                         = true
      + guest_id                                = "centos64Guest"

variable-setting.txt

# when doing relative path use this
export TF_VAR_vsphere_folder='/Users/eric.wright'

# when doing absolute path use this
export TF_VAR_vsphere_folder='/HawthorneSales/vm/Users/eric.wright'

working-main.tf

# This code works because I explicitly name the folder using a relative path

resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {
  name             = "web-dev"
  resource_pool_id = data.vsphere_resource_pool.pool.id
  datastore_id     = data.vsphere_datastore.datastore.id
  
  # Use this to enable the variable
  #folder           = "${var.vsphere_folder}"
  
  # Use this for explicit path - aka bad idea
  folder           = "/Users/eric.wright"
  num_cpus = 2
  memory   = 4096
  guest_id = "centos64Guest"

  wait_for_guest_net_timeout = 0
 
  network_interface {
    network_id = data.vsphere_network.network.id
  }
 
  disk {
    label = "disk0"
    size  = 16
    thin_provisioned = false
  }

  clone {
    template_uuid = data.vsphere_virtual_machine.template.id
  }
}