# Global variable to pas dynamic data between plays with different hosts **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [November 25, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102 "2016-11-25T16:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pieter\_Voet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@Pieter\_Voet](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pieter_Voet)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/1 "2016-11-25T16:11:18Z")
Hi all, I’ve been looking into this for some time now, and I think I definitely can use some help here. What I want is to set a variable from a task specific to one host from a group, with a value that is set dynamically by the task outcome. Then next, I want to use this variable by another play, with more hosts from that same group. e.g. : group = { host\_a, host\_b, host\_c } ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/2 "2016-11-29T17:48:22Z")
Why can't do that? You can in the second play also access the result variable directly like so {{ hostvars['host\_a']['result'] }} ---
**Author:** ![Pieter\_Voet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@Pieter\_Voet](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pieter_Voet)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/3 "2016-11-30T09:08:29Z")
True. And thanks for contributing. I knew this. I think I oversimplified my testcase… Thing is, our inventory has many groups, where hosts can be member of multiple groups… Here’s a modified testcase : > groupall = { host\_a, host\_b, host\_c } group1 = { host\_a } group2 = { host\_b, host\_c } > * * * > > - hosts: group1 > tasks: > > - name: get the variable value > whatever\_module: arg=arg\_a > register: result > > - hosts: group2 > tasks: > > - debug: var=“{{result}}” > > The playbook is started with the ‘–limit groupall’ argument. Now, because of the groups, the second play cannot lookup ‘host\_a’ in the hostvars, since it has no knowledge about the hosts in ‘group1’… Any ideas ? ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 10:42am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/4 "2016-11-30T10:42:23Z")
Knowledge of members in group1 you find with groups['group1'] So this should work. hostvars[groups['group1'][0]]['result'] ---
**Author:** ![Pieter\_Voet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@Pieter\_Voet](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pieter_Voet)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/5 "2016-11-30T10:50:16Z")
Hi Kai, you said : > Knowledge of members in group1 you find with groups[‘group1’] > hostvars[groups[‘group1’][0]][‘result’] actually, the ‘group1’ group contains a lot of hosts… There is no quarantee that the first entry in that array actually is the host that applies to my playbook. ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/6 "2016-11-30T12:24:27Z")
Then I don't understand what you are trying to achieve, your testcase must be flawed. Every host in group1 will run that task, so every host in the group will have a "result" variable set. You must choose at some level who is going to be the "global" one. ---
**Author:** ![Pieter\_Voet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@Pieter\_Voet](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pieter_Voet)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/7 "2016-11-30T12:51:49Z")
OK, redefining my testcase then : > groupall = { host\_a, host\_b, host\_c } group1 = { host\_x, host\_y, host\_a, host\_z } group2 = { host\_b, host\_c } > * * * > > - hosts: group1 > > tasks: > > - name: get the variable value > whatever\_module: arg=arg\_a > register: result > > - hosts: group2 > > tasks: > > - debug: var=“{{result}}” > > The playbook is started with the ‘–limit groupall’ argument. Yes, every host in ‘group1’ will have access to the result. What I want is to access that result in the other play ( for ‘group2’ ). ( BTW, I understand that the first play will only be executed on ‘host\_a’ since that’s the only host that is in ‘groupall’…) For now I’ll call it a playbook ‘global’ variable… Like an ‘extra\_var’ , but then settable from within a play. Thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Pieter\_Voet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@Pieter\_Voet](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Pieter_Voet)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 12:12pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/global-variable-to-pas-dynamic-data-between-plays-with-different-hosts/23102/8 "2016-12-05T12:12:21Z")
OK, so I looked at Ansible’s code, and I now know how to implement this. I tried my modification locally and it works fine. It basically adds a module that adds an ‘extra\_vars’ variable if it does not yet exist. That way, any variable set on the commandline using the ‘–extra-vars’ argument cannot be overruled by the playbook. Now this scenario works : Inventory : group\_all = { host\_1, host\_2, host\_3 } group\_one = { host\_1 } group\_two = { host\_2, host3 } Playbook ‘my\_playbook.yml’ :