# Ansible-navigator to automate tests **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Tags:** ansible-navigator, community-general, awx, ee\ **Created:** [February 14, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-navigator-to-automate-tests/40274 "2025-02-14T13:20:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![falon](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/falon/32/2081_2.png) [@falon](https://forum.ansible.com/u/falon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-navigator-to-automate-tests/40274/1 "2025-02-14T13:20:38Z")
Hello, I would like to use `ansible-navigator` to run playbook in EE, in order to test playbooks and collections. I see that `ansible-navigator run` can run playbooks in EE: it starts the container, it runs the playbook, it exits the EE container, all in non interactive mode. This is good for test, I always start with the same initial conditions of a new fresh container. This is like it happens in AWX. So I would like to use `ansible-navigator run` in this way. First problem I encountered: AWX allows me to define a project _requirements.yml_. [Ansible-navigator can’t](https://github.com/ansible/ansible-navigator/issues/572). This is not a problem, I try with a playbook: ```yaml - name: Install requirements on controller node hosts: localhost gather_facts: false tasks: - name: Install collections community.general.ansible_galaxy_install: type: both requirements_file: requirements.yml - name: Other play requiring requirements hosts: myhost ... ``` Unfortunately there is not a kind of meta to refresh the collection list runtime and the following play fails (`ERROR! couldn't resolve module/action`…). I should replay the playbook, but with `ansible-navigator run` I can’t. Let suppose I can run the playbook again. Required collections has been installed at previous step and other plays can proceed. This is not true at all. If I’m testing a collection I can have a play like: ```auto - name: Role installation process hosts: linux vars: proxy_env: http_proxy: "{{ myrole_proxy }}" https_proxy: "{{ myrole_proxy }}" no_proxy: "{{ no_proxy | default(omit) }}" environment: "{{ proxy_env }}" roles: - mynamespace.mycollection.myrole ``` The result is ```bash PLAY [Role installation process] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** fatal: [linux_ubuntu24]: FAILED! => {"msg": "The field 'environment' has an invalid value, which includes an undefined variable. The error was: {'http_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'https_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'no_proxy': '{{ no_proxy | default(omit) }}'}: 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. {'http_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'https_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'no_proxy': '{{ no_proxy | default(omit) }}'}: 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. {'http_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'https_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'no_proxy': '{{ no_proxy | default(omit) }}'}: 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. {'http_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'https_proxy': '{{ myrole_proxy }}', 'no_proxy': '{{ no_proxy | default(omit) }}'}: 'myrole_proxy' is undefined. 'myrole_proxy' is undefined"} ``` The first error could depends on `community.general.ansible_galaxy_install`. The second error could depends on meta `refresh_inventory`. I install inventory with: ```auto - name: Setup inventory file ansible.builtin.copy: src: "group_vars_linux.yml" dest: "/etc/ansible/hosts/group_vars/linux.yml" owner: root group: root mode: '0644' - name: Refresh inventory ansible.builtin.meta: refresh_inventory ``` I defined `myrole_proxy` in _/etc/ansible/hosts/group\_vars/linux.yml_ and it seems that `refresh_inventory` does not take into account this var. Again, if I run the playbook again, then it works as expected. But I have to run it three times… Complete example ```auto - name: Install requirements on controller node hosts: localhost gather_facts: false tasks: - name: Install collections community.general.ansible_galaxy_install: type: both requirements_file: requirements.yml - name: Prepare inventory hosts hosts: localhost tags: setup gather_facts: false tasks: - name: Setup inventory folder ansible.builtin.file: path: /etc/ansible/hosts/group_vars state: directory mode: '0755' - name: Setup inventory file ansible.builtin.copy: src: "../group_vars_linux.yml" dest: "/etc/ansible/hosts/group_vars/linux.yml" owner: root group: root mode: '0644' - name: Refresh inventory with new containers ansible.builtin.meta: refresh_inventory - name: Role installation process hosts: linux vars: no_proxy: localhost,10.0.0.0/8 proxy_env: http_proxy: "{{ myrole_proxy }}" https_proxy: "{{ myrole_proxy }}" no_proxy: "{{ no_proxy | default(omit) }}" environment: "{{ proxy_env }}" roles: - mynamespace.mycoll.myrole ``` ```auto # cat /etc/ansible/hosts/group_vars/linux.yml --- myrole_proxy: http://10.1.2.3:3124 ``` It’s difficult to notice these issues if you don’t try to run all in row. A solution is to run `ansible-navigator exec` with a shell script with three `ansible-playbook` commands. Obviously, another solution is to provide all inventory details and collection dependencies in EE at build time. In this way I should have an EE for every project, it’s not very good for me. I wonder if there is a better solution running `ansible-navigator run`. Do you have any hints? Thank you very much Kind Regards Marco ---
**Author:** ![johan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@johan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/johan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-navigator-to-automate-tests/40274/2 "2025-02-14T16:01:35Z")
Hello, all of this is quite confusing, but maybe the following points could help : ansible-navigator is a kind of enhanced ansible-playbook command, that you use more a less like ansible-playbook, but which allows to specify an execution environment into which the playbook is executed. In light of this, you don’t need to install anything with a requirements.yml file, as the collections and other dependencies are expected to be already present in the EE. Second, I might be wrong, but my understanding is that the environment keyword is a task keyword, not a play keyword, so it’s not useful to define it at the beginning of a playbook. Then, the usal way to provide an inventory to ansible-navigator is to specify it with the -i option, as for ansible-playbook. So far you could launch a playbook like this : `ansible-navigator run my-playbook.yml --eei ghcr.io/ansible-community/community-ee-minimal:latest` And you can use : `ansible-navigator run my-playbook.yml --ee false -m stdout -i inventory` to mimic ansible-playbook command. best regards, Johan ---
**Author:** ![Andersson007](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/andersson007/32/89_2.png) [@Andersson007](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Andersson007)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 8:28am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-navigator-to-automate-tests/40274/3 "2025-02-17T08:28:58Z")
@johan well put, thanks