How to define with_items by variables in ansible 1.4?

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1

In ansible 1.0, I can use $foo in with_items. For example,

with_items:

  • $404_error_page
  • $503_error_page
  • $403_error_page

Ansible 1.0 works well. It can find the variable and replace the value.

In Ansible 1.4, I try to use {{ foo }} or “{{ foo }}”, but both are wrong.

Case1, Syntax Error.

with_items:

  • {{ 404_error_page }}
  • {{ 503_error_page }}
  • {{ 403_error_page }}

Case2, ansible would not find the variable.

with_items:

  • “{{ 404_error_page }}”
  • “{{ 503_error_page }}”
  • “{{ 403_error_page }}”

Who knows how to define with_items by variables in ansible 1.4?

2

with_items:

  • bar
  • baz

Is all you need now

– Michael

3

I tried, but it is failed.

My task is:

  • name: Transfer custom error pages and restart httpd service
    action: copy src={{ local_custom_error_pages_loc }}/{{ item }} dest={{ custom_error_page_dir }}/{{ item }} owner=root group=root mode=0644
    with_items:
  • 404_error_page
  • 503_error_page
  • 403_error_page
    Note: 404_error_page, 503_error_page and 403_error_page are variable names which are defined in vars.yml.

404_error_page: 404_ErrorPage.html
503_error_page: MaintenancePage.html
403_error_page: 403_ErrorPage.html

The error message is:

failed: [192.168.126.143] => (item=404_error_page) => {“failed”: true, “item”: “404_error_page”}
msg: could not find src=/home/agilairedev/playbooks/jboss_deploy_harden/repositories/custom_error_pages/404_error_page
failed: [192.168.126.143] => (item=503_error_page) => {“failed”: true, “item”: “503_error_page”}
msg: could not find src=/home/agilairedev/playbooks/jboss_deploy_harden/repositories/custom_error_pages/503_error_page
failed: [192.168.126.143] => (item=403_error_page) => {“failed”: true, “item”: “403_error_page”}
msg: could not find src=/home/agilairedev/playbooks/jboss_deploy_harden/repositories/custom_error_pages/403_error_page

FATAL: all hosts have already failed – aborting

We can see, variable 404_error_page is not replaced with its value, 404_ErrorPage.html.
If I use $foo, it works well.

with_items:

  • $404_error_page
  • $503_error_page
  • $403_error_page
4

Hmm, it sounds like you want to use the names of the variables, and the system is trying to evaluate them for you.

You can solve this by renaming the variables.

5

I changed the variable name from 404_error_page to error_404_page which starts with letter. But it cannot resolve the issue.

I wrote:
with_items:

  • error_404_page

The error still occur.

failed: [192.168.126.143] => (item=error_404_page) => {“failed”: true, “item”: “error_404_page”}
msg: could not find src=/home/dev/playbooks/harden/repositories/custom_error_pages/error_404_page

We can see that the system didn’t take it as a variable.

If I write:

with_items:

  • {{ error_404_page }}

Syntax Error

6
  • “{{ error_404_page }}”

If that’s the name of your variable.

Hopefully, you will note Ansible gave you a longer syntax error message that told you exactly what to do about quoting, read the rest of the output :slight_smile:

7

Thank you. Quoting resolves the issue. But I want to say, indeed, the rest of the output didn’t tell me what to do. :slight_smile:
The whole output is:

ERROR: Syntax Error while loading YAML script, /home/dev/playbooks/harden/install.yml
Note: The error may actually appear before this position: line 39, column 8

with_items:

  • {{ error_404_page }}

I know some Syntax Error messages describe exactly what to do about quoting. But “with_items” does not. :slight_smile:

8

I’ll file a ticket to add this to the suggester code, thanks!