Ansible YAML output: community.general.yaml has been deprecated

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1

With a ansible.cfg containing:

stdout_callback = community.general.yaml
result_format = yaml

YAML output is generated, for example:

ansible-playbook update.yml -t update -l host.example.com -C --diff -v
Using ansible.cfg as config file
[DEPRECATION WARNING]: community.general.yaml has been deprecated. The plugin has been superseded by the the option 
`result_format=yaml` in callback plugin ansible.builtin.default from ansible-core 2.13 onwards. This feature will be removed from 
community.general in version 13.0.0. Deprecation warnings can be disabled by setting deprecation_warnings=False in ansible.cfg.

PLAY [Update and reboot servers] *****************************************************************************************************

TASK [update_reboot : Gather facts if using tags] ************************************************************************************
ok: [host.example.com]

TASK [update_reboot : Update apt cache] **********************************************************************************************
ok: [host.example.com] => changed=false
  cache_update_time: 1736186964
  cache_updated: true

TASK [update_reboot : Check for available updates] ***********************************************************************************
ok: [host.example.com] => changed=false
  msg: |-
    Reading package lists...
    Building dependency tree...
    Reading state information...
    Calculating upgrade...
    0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  stderr: ''
  stderr_lines: <omitted>
  stdout: |-
    Reading package lists...
    Building dependency tree...
    Reading state information...
    Calculating upgrade...
    0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  stdout_lines: <omitted>

When stdout_callback = community.general.yaml is commented out JSON format is generated:

ansible-playbook update.yml -t update -l host.example.com -C --diff -v
Using ansible.cfg as config file

PLAY [Update and reboot servers] *****************************************************************************************************

TASK [update_reboot : Gather facts if using tags] ************************************************************************************
ok: [host.example.com]

TASK [update_reboot : Update apt cache] **********************************************************************************************
ok: [host.example.com] => {cache_update_time: 1736186997, cache_updated: true, changed: false}

TASK [update_reboot : Check for available updates] ***********************************************************************************
ok: [host.example.com] => {changed: false, msg: Reading package lists...\nBuilding dependency tree...\nReading state information...\nCalculating upgrade.
..\n0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.\n, stderr: "", stderr_lines: [], stdout: Reading package lists...\nBuilding depende
ncy tree...\nReading state information...\nCalculating upgrade...\n0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.\n, stdout_lines: [Readin
g package lists..., Building dependency tree..., Reading state information..., Calculating upgrade..., 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 
0 not upgraded.]}

This is with Ansible core 2.17.7:

ansible --version
ansible [core 2.17.7]
  config file = /home/chris/.ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/chris/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /home/chris/.local/pipx/venvs/ansible/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/chris/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /home/chris/.local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.11.2 (main, Sep 14 2024, 03:00:30) [GCC 12.2.0] (/home/chris/.local/pipx/venvs/ansible/bin/python)
  jinja version = 3.1.5
  libyaml = True

And the following collections:

ansible-galaxy collection list

# /home/chris/.ansible/collections/ansible_collections
Collection                               Version
---------------------------------------- -------
ansible.posix                            2.0.0  
community.crypto                         2.23.0 
community.docker                         4.3.0  
community.general                        10.2.0 
community.library_inventory_filtering_v1 1.0.0  
community.mysql                          3.11.0 
community.postgresql                     3.9.1  
community.rabbitmq                       1.4.0  

# /home/chris/.local/pipx/venvs/ansible/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ansible_collections
Collection                               Version
---------------------------------------- -------
amazon.aws                               8.2.1  
ansible.netcommon                        6.1.3  
ansible.posix                            1.6.2  
ansible.utils                            4.1.0  
ansible.windows                          2.5.0  
arista.eos                               9.0.0  
awx.awx                                  24.6.1 
azure.azcollection                       2.7.0  
check_point.mgmt                         5.2.3  
chocolatey.chocolatey                    1.5.3  
cisco.aci                                2.10.1 
cisco.asa                                5.0.1  
cisco.dnac                               6.25.0 
cisco.intersight                         2.0.20 
cisco.ios                                8.0.0  
cisco.iosxr                              9.0.0  
cisco.ise                                2.9.6  
cisco.meraki                             2.18.3 
cisco.mso                                2.9.0  
cisco.nxos                               8.1.0  
cisco.ucs                                1.14.0 
cloud.common                             3.0.0  
cloudscale_ch.cloud                      2.4.0  
community.aws                            8.0.0  
community.ciscosmb                       1.0.9  
community.crypto                         2.22.3 
community.digitalocean                   1.27.0 
community.dns                            3.1.0  
community.docker                         3.13.3 
community.general                        9.5.2  
community.grafana                        1.9.1  
community.hashi_vault                    6.2.0  
community.hrobot                         2.0.2  
community.library_inventory_filtering_v1 1.0.2  
community.libvirt                        1.3.0  
community.mongodb                        1.7.8  
community.mysql                          3.11.0 
community.network                        5.1.0  
community.okd                            3.0.1  
community.postgresql                     3.9.0  
community.proxysql                       1.6.0  
community.rabbitmq                       1.3.0  
community.routeros                       2.20.0 
community.sap_libs                       1.4.2  
community.sops                           1.9.1  
community.vmware                         4.8.1  
community.windows                        2.3.0  
community.zabbix                         2.5.1  
containers.podman                        1.16.2 
cyberark.conjur                          1.3.1  
cyberark.pas                             1.0.30 
dellemc.enterprise_sonic                 2.5.1  
dellemc.openmanage                       9.9.0  
dellemc.powerflex                        2.5.0  
dellemc.unity                            2.0.0  
f5networks.f5_modules                    1.32.1 
fortinet.fortimanager                    2.8.2  
fortinet.fortios                         2.3.8  
frr.frr                                  2.0.2  
google.cloud                             1.4.1  
grafana.grafana                          5.6.0  
hetzner.hcloud                           3.1.1  
ibm.qradar                               3.0.0  
ibm.spectrum_virtualize                  2.0.0  
ibm.storage_virtualize                   2.5.0  
ieisystem.inmanage                       2.0.0  
infinidat.infinibox                      1.4.5  
infoblox.nios_modules                    1.7.1  
inspur.ispim                             2.2.3  
inspur.sm                                2.3.0  
junipernetworks.junos                    8.0.0  
kaytus.ksmanage                          1.2.2  
kubernetes.core                          3.2.0  
kubevirt.core                            1.5.0  
lowlydba.sqlserver                       2.3.4  
microsoft.ad                             1.7.1  
netapp.cloudmanager                      21.24.0
netapp.ontap                             22.13.0
netapp.storagegrid                       21.13.0
netapp_eseries.santricity                1.4.1  
netbox.netbox                            3.20.0 
ngine_io.cloudstack                      2.5.0  
ngine_io.exoscale                        1.1.0  
openstack.cloud                          2.3.0  
openvswitch.openvswitch                  2.1.1  
ovirt.ovirt                              3.2.0  
purestorage.flasharray                   1.32.0 
purestorage.flashblade                   1.19.1 
sensu.sensu_go                           1.14.0 
splunk.es                                3.0.0  
t_systems_mms.icinga_director            2.0.1  
telekom_mms.icinga_director              2.2.1  
theforeman.foreman                       4.2.0  
vmware.vmware                            1.7.1  
vmware.vmware_rest                       3.2.0  
vultr.cloud                              1.13.0 
vyos.vyos                                4.1.0  
wti.remote                               1.0.10

What I’m wondering is, what do I need to change in ansible.cfg in order to generate YAML output and not get a deprecation warning?

2 
[defaults]
result_format=yaml

or in your shell
export ANSIBLE_CALLBACK_RESULT_FORMAT=yaml

See ansible-doc -t callback ansible.builtin.default for more, like pretty_results/ANSIBLE_CALLBACK_FORMAT_PRETTY.

3

I have that already, but I get JSON output.

4

Perhaps you have ANSIBLE_STDOUT_CALLBACK=yaml in your environment?
That would override settings from and ansible.cfg.

5

That variable is not set:

echo $ANSIBLE_STDOUT_CALLBACK

However this works:

What I don’t get is why having this in ansible.cfg doesn’t work? I get JSON output with this:

[defaults]

# Use YAML rather than JSON for stdout
# stdout_callback = community.general.yaml
result_format = yaml

And a “community.general.yaml has been deprecated” warning when it is uncommented – so the file is being parsed:

[DEPRECATION WARNING]: community.general.yaml has been deprecated. The plugin has been superseded by the the option
result_format=yaml in callback plugin ansible.builtin.default from ansible-core 2.13 onwards. This feature will be removed from
community.general in version 13.0.0. Deprecation warnings can be disabled by setting deprecation_warnings=False in ansible.cfg.

6

What do you get from ansible-config dump --only-changed?

I suspect your community.general.yaml knows it’s being deprecated, but your slightly older ansible install doesn’t know to use the newer settings? (Now I’m just guessing.)

7

The INI setting is named callback_result_format, not just result_format. ansible.builtin.default callback – default Ansible screen output — Ansible Community Documentation

3 Likes
8

Interesting. I would have thought that changing callback_result_format from yaml to json — which does cause the expected output changes — would also be reflected in the output from ansible-config dump --only-changed. But it isn’t. The config dumps are identical.

$ ansible-config --version
ansible-config [core 2.16.12]
  config file = /home/utoddl/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/utoddl/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/utoddl/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible-config
  python version = 3.13.1 (main, Dec  9 2024, 00:00:00) [GCC 14.2.1 20240912 (Red Hat 14.2.1-3)] (/usr/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.4
  libyaml = True
9

Since it’s part of a plugin config you need -t all (this isn’t the default for backwards compatibility reasons) or -t callback:

$ ansible-config dump --only-changed -t callback

ara_default:
___________
api_client(env: ARA_API_CLIENT) = http
api_server(env: ARA_API_SERVER) = http://127.0.0.1:8082
localhost_as_hostname_format(/home/ec2-user/ansible-aws/ansible/ansible.cfg) = hostname

default:
_______
result_format(/home/ec2-user/ansible-aws/ansible/ansible.cfg) = yaml

minimal:
_______
result_format(/home/ec2-user/ansible-aws/ansible/ansible.cfg) = yaml
1 Like
10

Ah, thanks!

Should this warning be updated to match to save people like me following it?

The plugin has been superseded by the the option result_format=yaml in callback plugin ansible.builtin.default from ansible-core 2.13 onwards. This feature will be removed from community.general in version 13.0.0.

1 Like
11

Extending the deprecation message to include callback_result_format and ANSIBLE_CALLBACK_RESULT_FORMAT is definitely a good idea.

1 Like