# Ability to dump all variables **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Developer\ **Created:** [September 18, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267 "2014-09-18T08:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/1 "2014-09-18T08:06:13Z")
Hi, I need to dump all the vars available at certain steps of playbook so I tried to follow [this tip](https://coderwall.com/p/13lh6w). At first it looks like it does what I need but then I noticed that dumping `vars` gives me variables specified only in role’s vars file and no vars inherited from `group_vars/` or set by set\_fact module. Inspecting `lib/ansible/runner/ __init__.py` I see that vars inherited from `group_vars/` are contained in `host_variables` and those set by set\_fact module are in self.vars\_cache.get(host, {}). So all variables I need are collected in inject dict in \_executor\_internal() but only some of them could be dumped because of subdict placement: ```auto inject['vars'] = self.module_vars ``` What I do now is the same idea: I put inject dict as a subdict of itself just after filling it and before putting other vars to subdicts: ```auto inject['universe'] = inject.copy() ``` which works but seems a bit ugly to me. So I ask advice on how it should be implemented better. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7c8e57/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/2 "2014-09-18T12:59:00Z")
Hi Alexander, To accomplish this, you could make modifications to the debug module. Just have it display self.runner.get\_inject\_vars(hostname), which should contain every variable (this function was just added a few days ago, so it’s in the devel branch only right now). You could make this a new parameter to the module, such as dump\_all=yes. Let us know if you have any further questions regarding this, and if you get this working feel free to send us a PR for it as others may be interested in it. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/3 "2014-09-18T13:11:05Z")
Hi James, Thanks for your reply. Basically I need not to debug my playbook but to make all the variables available to another piece of code so I have to dump them to a JSON file on a remote machine. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7c8e57/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/4 "2014-09-18T13:16:43Z")
Ahh, in that case I would write a new module/action\_plugin to do that (essentially a clone of debug), so that you can access the internal variable structures. Just remember that this is generally a not-safe thing to do, since those variables may contain sensitive data like passwords or keys that your plays are using, so be careful with that. ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/5 "2014-09-18T13:26:02Z")
​O, in that case, this tool does exactly that: [https://github.com/ginsys/ansible-plugins/blob/devel/bin/ansible-inventory](https://github.com/ginsys/ansible-plugins/blob/devel/bin/ansible-inventory) The dump happens in the json format accepted by ansible from dynamic inventory scripts, but you can tweak it to the format you need.​ ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/6 "2014-09-18T13:46:38Z")
Thanks Serge! I will try it. ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/7 "2014-09-18T13:50:36Z")
That's a good idea but at first I'd like to understand what logic is hidden behind all these inject['hostvars'] inject['group\_names'] inject['groups'] inject['vars'] inject['defaults'] inject['environment'] inject['playbook\_dir'] inject['omit'] and why they contain only a part of all data. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7c8e57/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/8 "2014-09-18T13:55:53Z")
Those are essentially “magic” variables that we have added, so that they are available to tasks for use directly. ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/9 "2014-09-18T14:04:18Z")
And why some of them are in a root of 'inject' dict and some in inject['vars'] for instance? Those in inject['vars'] are accessible in tasks directly as well. Why can't we add variables from 'group\_vars/' and 'set\_fact' module to some other places like inject['group\_vars'] and inject['set\_fact\_vars'] ? ---
**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7c8e57/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/10 "2014-09-18T14:16:02Z")
Things added via set\_fact are available in the hostvars variable (ie. hostvars[‘hostname’].variable\_name). The hostvars contains all host\_vars and group\_vars variables too. ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/11 "2014-09-18T14:38:18Z")
Yes, set\_fact variables are available in hostvars but variables which are defined in group\_vars/all.yml are not. ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/12 "2014-09-18T14:42:05Z")
​That is correct, but what is available in hostvars are the calculated variables per host.​ ---
**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7c8e57/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/13 "2014-09-18T14:47:32Z")
I don’t think that’s correct: $ cat group\_vars/all ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/14 "2014-09-18T15:14:08Z")
Aha, I found the problem. Try this: $ cat play.yml - hosts: localhost gather\_facts: no tasks: - debug: var=hostvars $ ansible-playbook -vv play.yml | grep testing It gives nothing. Andible do not resolve all dict correctly. Seems like templating limitation. ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/15 "2014-09-18T17:05:17Z")
​hostvars is not a normal dict, but uses caching that is only filled in when explictly getting a particular key, hence hostvars[inventory\_hostname] works ---
**Author:** ![Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Alexander\_Uvizhev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alexander_Uvizhev)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/16 "2014-09-19T07:29:54Z")
Thanks gentlemen, I see the way now. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan1)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ability-to-dump-all-variables/16267/17 "2014-09-24T02:28:57Z")
I’d be somewhat curious of teaching the debug module a new trick… - debug: var=all Or something like that. Rather than it being a new module. The coderwall tip is obsolete and because it’s hard to moderate coderwall, we’ve mostly stopped pointing to it I think - if you can still see a link to that in the docs, let me know.