# How to make the package module useful again?

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-make-the-package-module-useful-again/30496>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Tags:** fedora, ubuntu\
**Created:** [June 5, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-make-the-package-module-useful-again/30496 "2019-06-05T16:01:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![opoplawski](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/opoplawski/32/2112_2.png) [@opoplawski](https://forum.ansible.com/u/opoplawski)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-make-the-package-module-useful-again/30496/1 "2019-06-05T16:01:53Z")

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We manage both Ubuntu and RedHat/Fedora systems from the same playbooks. One of the tools that has been very helpful for us in this is the generic “package” module. However, with the recent change to the yum lock timeout behavior with ansible 2.8, we are now required to set a long “lock\_timeout” to avoid yum failing during the periodic (hourly) yum cache updates and other operations. This parameter breaks using package with apt:

```auto

Unsupported parameters for (apt) module: lock_timeout

So, any suggestions as to how to make the package module useful again?

- Orion

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sivel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/sivel/32/1198_2.png) [@sivel](https://forum.ansible.com/u/sivel)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-make-the-package-module-useful-again/30496/2 "2019-06-05T16:49:19Z")

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To avoid duplicating my answer, and just for completeness. Please see my response here: [https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/57189#issuecomment-499165098](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/57189#issuecomment-499165098)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-make-the-package-module-useful-again/30496/3 "2019-06-11T14:00:32Z")

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"package" was always 'limited' in functionality, you just happened not  
to hit the issue of 'different options needed for the underlying  
package OS modules' until we added the lock option to the yum module.  
This is NOT a change to the package action and can happen again for  
any/all other package OS modules that it calls in the end, since it  
cannot currently validate arguments nor be selective on which ones it  
passes, it is only useful for the 'lowest common denominator' set of  
options.