# How to stop fileglob lookup warning for not existing paths **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [March 8, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410 "2022-03-08T12:50:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cloos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/cloos/32/7297_2.png) [@cloos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cloos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/1 "2022-03-08T12:50:59Z")
Hi, I have the following task: - ansible.builtin.copy: src: “{{ item }}” dest: /tmp/ with\_fileglob: “files/tmp/{{ inventory\_hostname }}/\*.yaml” Directory files/tmp/bar/ contains yaml files for host **bar**. Directory files/tmp/foo/ doesn’t exist because host **foo** should not receive any files with this task. If I run this task on hosts **bar** and **foo** , I always get a warning: [WARNING]: Unable to find ‘files/tmp/foo’ in expected paths (use -vvvvv to see paths) I added a condition: when: inventory\_hostname == “bar” and even wrapped the above task in a **block** with the above mentioned when condition, but I always get the warning. Any idea how to stop the warning? ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/2 "2022-03-08T14:00:16Z")
The simplest solution is to create empty directories if missing     - ansible.builtin.file:         state: directory         path: "files/tmp/{{ inventory\_hostname }}"       delegate\_to: localhost     - ansible.builtin.copy:         src: "{{ item }}"         dest: /tmp/       with\_fileglob: "files/tmp/{{ inventory\_hostname }}/\*.yaml" ---
**Author:** ![cloos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/cloos/32/7297_2.png) [@cloos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cloos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/3 "2022-03-08T14:20:10Z")
That’s not really a solution if I have 100 playbook hosts and 5 hosts where I will deploy files in this way. ---
**Author:** ![cloos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/cloos/32/7297_2.png) [@cloos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cloos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/4 "2022-03-08T14:34:50Z")
I was really surprised that wrapping the task in a block still gives me the warning for host **foo** : - block: - ansible.builtin.copy: src: “{{ item }}” dest: /tmp/ with\_fileglob: “files/tmp/{{ inventory\_hostname }}/\*.yaml” when: inventory\_hostname == “bar” I would expect here that the task (and the fileglob lookup) isn’t run for host **foo**. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/5 "2022-03-08T14:57:52Z")
In this case, it would be more efficient to select those 5 hosts instead of looping all 100. ---
**Author:** ![cloos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/cloos/32/7297_2.png) [@cloos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cloos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/6 "2022-03-08T17:10:35Z")
The above task is just a minimal example that shows my problem. This is actually used in my “one playbook to rule them all” and it doesn’t make sense to split this playbook in multiple ones. I already know some not so nice workaround that maybe will suppress the warning. I actually look for someone who shows me that I’m maybe missing something or telling me that this is a bug. Especially when wrapping the task in a block which still triggers the fileglob for hosts which doesn’t met the when condition sounds line a bug to me. ---
**Author:** ![Philippe\_Kueck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19b73/32.png) [@Philippe\_Kueck](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Philippe_Kueck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/7 "2022-03-08T17:18:10Z")
Hi, see [https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/47344](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/47344) I believe it's simply not wanted to avoid the warnings. - Philippe ---
**Author:** ![cloos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/cloos/32/7297_2.png) [@cloos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cloos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/8 "2022-03-08T17:54:31Z")
Thanks Philippe for the PR link. I just thought about extending fileglob in this way. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2022, 7:43am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-stop-fileglob-lookup-warning-for-not-existing-paths/36410/9 "2022-03-09T07:43:44Z")
It's not a bug it's by design. In a loop, the condition is evaluated on each iteration. In your case, \*with\_fileglob\* must evaluate the list before the condition is applied. \*block\* is irrelevant here. The condition is applied to all tasks. Try for example     - block:         - debug:             msg: OK1         - debug:             msg: OK2       when: false Instead of skipping the whole block the tasks will be skipped one by one.