Getting "mapping values are not allowed here" error in Ansible dictionary task

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1

Hey everyone,

I’ve been going through the docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/YAMLSyntax.html and hit a strange issue that I can’t seem to sort out.

I’m trying to pass a dictionary of config options inside a task, and I keep getting a mapping values are not allowed here error. Here’s a trimmed-down version of what I’m working with:

vars:
  config_data: "{{ lookup('file', 'settings.json') }}"

tasks:
  - name: Apply configuration
    ansible.builtin.template:
      src: config.j2
      dest: "/etc/myapp/config.yaml"
      variables:
        settings: {
          mode: "advanced",
          enabled: true,
          threshold: 2.0
        }

I’ve double-checked the syntax, tried reformatting the dictionary, and even tested it with a YAML linter — everything seems fine. But Ansible still complains. I’m wondering if this could be a conflict between how Jinja expressions are evaluated inside YAML or something subtle I’m overlooking.

Has anyone else run into this? Any tips or direction would be appreciated!

2

Change variables to vars?

  - name: Apply configuration
    ansible.builtin.template:
      src: config.j2
      dest: "/etc/myapp/config.yaml"
      vars:
        settings:
          mode: advanced
          enabled: true
          threshold: 2.0
3

variables is not a valid template option, neither is vars, but you can add vars to the task level, just need tt outdent from @chris’ example

In any case you are getting a YAML error as you cannot mix ‘shorthand’ and go back to standard YAML:

valid:

variables: { mode: advance, enabled: true}

also valid:

variables:
    mode: advance
    enabled: true

invalid:

variables: {
  mode: advance,
  enabled: true,
}
1 Like
4

Thanks @bcoca I made a typo with the indention of vars :roll_eyes: this is want I wanted to suggest:

  - name: Apply configuration
    ansible.builtin.template:
      src: config.j2
      dest: "/etc/myapp/config.yaml"
    vars:
      settings:
        mode: advanced
        enabled: true
        threshold: 2.0