# Ansible.windows.win\_template stops working after upgrade **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Tags:** windows\ **Created:** [October 21, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717 "2025-10-21T00:49:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bpendell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/bpendell/32/8087_2.png) [@bpendell](https://forum.ansible.com/u/bpendell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717/1 "2025-10-21T00:49:15Z")
So here’s the issue: I recently installed ansible on redhat linux . This came with ansible.windows 1.8.0. I used an ansible.windows.template to create a simple j2 like this inputs.j2: hello = {{ hello\_variable }} This is an ascii text file, which I have confirmed. This is called from a role, and in the roles’ defaults/main.yml file I set this main.yml (variables) hello\_variable: “hello world” When running on 1.8 (ansible 2.11.\*, python 3.6) this had no problems. The file was copied to a target host, and the variable was correctly substituted. However, I updated to match the other system, updating ansible to ansible [core 2.19.3], ansible.windows 1.14, and python 3.11. When I did this, the file is still being copied. However, the variable is no longer being substituted. After a day of looking around and getting little help, I actually dove down into the source of the action plugin ``` with self._templar.set_temporary_context(searchpath=searchpath, newline_sequence=newline_sequence, block_start_string=block_start_string, block_end_string=block_end_string, variable_start_string=variable_start_string, variable_end_string=variable_end_string, trim_blocks=trim_blocks, lstrip_blocks=lstrip_blocks, available_variables=temp_vars): resultant = self._templar.do_template(template_data, preserve_trailing_newlines=True, escape_backslashes=False) display.vvv(f"BDP Value of tempvars: {temp_vars}") display.vvv(f"BDP Value of template data: {template_data}") display.vvv(f"BDP Value of resultant: {resultant}") ``` I can see the hello\_variable in the temp\_vars, I can see the template data going in as written, but it comes out into resultant unchanged. What else is interesting is that the other system , which I am matching (same version of ansible.windows, I have a slightly later version of ansible ) , it still runs as it should – it substitutes correctly with this code. But on my current system, it will not substitute the variable despite obviously being able to find it in temp\_vars. So I’m at a loss. Any ideas? Most likely, I’ve done something crazy in my environment and there’s nothing wrong with the template or variable declarations themselves (they do, after all , work on the other machine). I’m trying to figure out how to get it working on my system again; I’ve already tried re-installing ansible and rolling back to the earlier collections but this did not help. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![bpendell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/bpendell/32/8087_2.png) [@bpendell](https://forum.ansible.com/u/bpendell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717/2 "2025-10-21T01:22:57Z")
Um… I answered my own question. After 12 hours of plugging away I stepped way, doodled on my tablet, then rolled forward to ansible.windows.3.2.0 And it works again. So for my next trick, I suppose I’ll have to convince the other team to upgrade to 3.2.0 as well. Sorry for the trouble! I suppose there’s no point in deleting this, though. … Be that as it may, if anyone has some insight as to EXACTLY what went wrong, what the mismatch might be, that could still be useful. Respectfully, Brian P. ---
**Author:** ![jborean](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jborean/32/1525_2.png) [@jborean](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jborean)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717/3 "2025-10-21T02:35:15Z")
2.19 introduced a big change in templating which required some fixes to the `ansible.windows` collection to support. While normally Ansible versions won’t affect too much about the remote execution of PowerShell modules contained in the collection some of the action plugins, like `win_template`, might have some incompatibilities. The collection does has a minimum version requirement [ansible.windows/meta/runtime.yml at 5d33ef1521b4eec1015c3b9ee55698565cae0577 · ansible-collections/ansible.windows · GitHub](https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.windows/blob/5d33ef1521b4eec1015c3b9ee55698565cae0577/meta/runtime.yml#L1) which does get updated over time. Also official support for newer Ansible releases aren’t guaranteed until the release of that Ansible version. ---
**Author:** ![bpendell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/bpendell/32/8087_2.png) [@bpendell](https://forum.ansible.com/u/bpendell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717/4 "2025-10-21T13:07:04Z")
Thank you. In this case, though, it’s not the _minimum_ version thats’ the issue. I was attempting to use an older version of ansible.windows (1.14.0) against latest ansible (2.19). The versioning is: ansible [core 2.19.3] config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg configured module search path = [‘/home/bpendell/.ansible/plugins/modules’, ‘/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules’] ansible python module location = /home/bpendell/.local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ansible ansible collection location = /home/bpendell/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections executable location = /home/bpendell/.local/bin/ansible python version = 3.11.13 (main, Aug 28 2025, 03:09:36) [GCC 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-28.0.1)] (/usr/bin/python3.11) jinja version = 3.1.6 pyyaml version = 6.0.3 (with libyaml v0.2.5) So the 2.19 you’re speaking of is ansible itself? Is this NOT the released version? When I go to > **[Installation Guide — Ansible Community Documentation](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/installation_guide/index.html)** I see notes on 2.19/ansible 12 but I see no indication this is not the latest released version. That is what “latest” means, does it not? ---
**Author:** ![jborean](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jborean/32/1525_2.png) [@jborean](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jborean)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717/5 "2025-10-21T18:30:21Z")
> So the 2.19 you’re speaking of is ansible itself? Yep, see your `ansible [core 2.19.3]` in the `ansible --version` output. That means you are running with Ansible 2.19.3. It is slightly confusing as PyPI has 2 packages, one being `ansible` and the other `ansible-core`. For historical reasons `ansible` is a bundle of Ansible (core) and a bunch of collections and has a different versioning scheme whereas `ansible-core` is just Ansible itself. You can find the release versions at [Releases and maintenance — Ansible Community Documentation](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/release_and_maintenance.html) and also how each `ansible` PyPI version relates to the `ansible-core` version. Right now 2.19 is the latest and 2.20 is coming soon. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-windows-win-template-stops-working-after-upgrade/44717/6 "2025-11-20T18:30:32Z")
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