# Does current Ansible support templates macro? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [January 14, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972 "2020-01-14T21:27:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/1 "2020-01-14T21:27:45Z")
Hello, I’m working on a role for system SSSD daemon. I found this piece of code online: [https://github.com/picotrading/ansible-sssd/blob/master/templates/sssd.conf.j2](https://github.com/picotrading/ansible-sssd/blob/master/templates/sssd.conf.j2) I have defined my own sssd\_config variable in my role’s defaults directory, so I’d like to use that piece of code. That code is neat. However, I don’t understand what it is doing in line: {% from “templates/encoder/macros/ini\_encode\_macro.j2” import ini\_encode with context -%} Also does current Ansible support templates macro like above? If it doesn’t, then sssd\_config variable is a large dictionary map, with INI-style different sections. What really needs to happen is based on that variable, change it to use = symbol as delimiter for each INI section. For example: sssd\_config: sssd: debug\_level: 1 config\_file\_version: 2 … Then the produced sssd.conf file would look like below: [sssd] debug\_level=1 config\_file\_version=2 Thank you, Xinhuan Zheng ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/2 "2020-01-14T22:42:10Z")
This link to the Jinja doc will help you [https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/2.10.x/templates/#import](https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/2.10.x/templates/#import)   -vlado ---
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/3 "2020-01-15T17:45:41Z")
**I still cannot figure out how to loop through my variable:** **sssd\_config:** **sssd:** **debug\_level: 1** **nss:** **`reconnection_retries: 3`** **`pam:`** ` **debug_level: 5** ` `Here is my template code:` `{% for item in sssd_config %}` `[{{ item }}]` `{% set list = sssd_config[item] %}` `{% for i in list %}` `{{ i }} =` `{% endfor %}` `{% endfor %}` `I cannot figure out what to put after {{ i }}. Please HELP!` `Thank you,` `- Xinhuan Zheng` ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/4 "2020-01-15T18:35:44Z")
Variable 'sssd\_config' is dictionary. It's not possible to iterate dictionary. Try for example   {% for item in sssd\_config.items() %}   {{ item }}   {% endfor %} see the 'items' in the created file and fit the template to your needs. HTH,   -vlado ---
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/5 "2020-01-15T18:40:53Z")
Tried what you said. Here is what {{ item }} look like: [(u’sssd’, {u’debug\_level’: 5, u’reconnection\_retries’: 3, u’config\_file\_version’: 2, u’sbus\_timeout’: 30})] [(u’services’, [u’nss’, u’pam’, u’ssh’])] … What should I do next? Thanks again, - Xinhuan ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/6 "2020-01-15T18:47:23Z")
Fit the template to your needs. For example the template     {% for item in sssd\_config.items() %}     [{{ item.0 }}]     {{ item.1.keys().0 }}={{ item.1.values().0 }}     {% endfor %} gives     [nss]     reconnection\_retries=3     [pam]     debug\_level=5     [sssd]     debug\_level=1 HTH,   -vlado ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/7 "2020-01-15T18:56:42Z")
There might be more items in the configuration sections. The template below gives the same result and would include other parameters if present     {% for item in sssd\_config.items() %}     [{{ item.0 }}]     {% for iitem in item.1.items() %}     {{ iitem.0 }}={{ iitem.1 }}     {% endfor %}     {% endfor %} ---
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/8 "2020-01-15T19:57:49Z")
I tested the solution, it doesn’t work. item.1 becomes: {u’id\_provider’: u’local’, u’auth\_provider’: u’local’, u’enumerate’: True} So I get error there is no keys on {{ item.1.keys().0 }} - Xinhuan ---
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/9 "2020-01-15T20:00:41Z")
Got this error: "AnsibleUndefinedVariable: ‘list object’ has no attribute ‘items’ for item.1.items() - Xinhuan ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/10 "2020-01-15T20:45:30Z")
Both versions works for me. Double-check the code. The playbook - hosts: localhost   vars:     sssd\_config:       sssd:         debug\_level: 1       nss:         reconnection\_retries: 3       pam:         debug\_level: 5   tasks:     - template:         src: template.j2         dest: config.ini with the template % for item in sssd\_config.items() %} [{{ item.0 }}] {{ item.1.keys().0 }}={{ item.1.values().0 }} {% endfor %} # ------------------------------------------ {% for item in sssd\_config.items() %} [{{ item.0 }}] {% for iitem in item.1.items() %} {{ iitem.0 }}={{ iitem.1 }} {% endfor %} {% endfor %} gives [nss] reconnection\_retries=3 [pam] debug\_level=5 [sssd] debug\_level=1 # ------------------------------------------ [nss] reconnection\_retries=3 [pam] debug\_level=5 [sssd] debug\_level=1 ---
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/11 "2020-01-16T13:49:07Z")
Hello, Your testing looks fine in the test data model. However, the sssd\_config real data model is like below: sssd\_config: sssd: debug\_level: 1 additional\_key: additional\_value another\_addtional\_key: another\_additional\_value nss: reconnection\_retries: 3 additional\_key: additional\_value another\_addtional\_key: another\_additional\_value pam: debug\_level: 5 additional\_key: additional\_value another\_addtional\_key: another\_additional\_value The addtional\_key and another\_additional\_key isn’t same per section (pam,nss,sssd), and number of additional\_key per section isn’t identical either. So nss section may have 5 key/value pairs, pam may have 6 key/value pairs, and sssd may have only 3 key/value pairs. Each additional\_key is pretty much unique to that section. Because this is so difficult to manipulate in template (I spend most yesterday to figure it out), I think it is probably better just put INI-style content into template file, then fill in the values from variables that varies for that key/value pair. It makes the work more simpler. Thank you for providing the test case. I’ll remember this lesson. - Xinhuan ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/12 "2020-01-16T15:49:20Z")
It also possible to use module 'ini\_file' [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/ini\_file\_module.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/ini_file_module.html) With the configuration data transformed to this list       sssd\_config:         - params:             - additional\_key: additional\_value             - reconnection\_retries: 3             - another\_addtional\_key: another\_additional\_value           section: nss         - params:             - debug\_level: 5             - another\_addtional\_key: another\_additional\_value             - additional\_key: additional\_value           section: pam         - params:             - debug\_level: 1             - another\_addtional\_key: another\_additional\_value             - additional\_key: additional\_value           section: sssd the task below     - ini\_file:         path: /scratch/tmp/config.ini         section: "{{ item.0.section }}"         option: "{{ item.1.keys()|list|first }}"         value: "{{ item.1.values()|list|first }}"       with\_subelements:         - "{{ sssd\_config }}"         - params gives $ cat /scratch/tmp/config.ini [nss] additional\_key = additional\_value reconnection\_retries = 3 another\_addtional\_key = another\_additional\_value [pam] debug\_level = 5 another\_addtional\_key = another\_additional\_value additional\_key = additional\_value [sssd] debug\_level = 1 another\_addtional\_key = another\_additional\_value additional\_key = additional\_value ---
**Author:** ![Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@Xinhuan\_Zheng](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Xinhuan_Zheng)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/does-current-ansible-support-templates-macro/31972/13 "2020-01-16T17:08:28Z")
Hello Mr. Botka, This is exactly what I am looking for. It looks so neat with ini\_file module instead of template. I’ll play with it in my tasks. Thank you very much! 🙂 - Xinhuan