# Issues with connecting to API using Ansible **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [January 2, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/issues-with-connecting-to-api-using-ansible/29353 "2019-01-02T16:41:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hristo\_Georgiev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Hristo\_Georgiev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Hristo_Georgiev)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/issues-with-connecting-to-api-using-ansible/29353/1 "2019-01-02T16:41:05Z")
Hello, I have a WebService that I need to connect to and add content via POST method. It accepts content in the form of “application/x-www-form-urlencoded”. I am using JSON formatted body and I tell Ansible to use form-urlencoded body format. I do not get any error, the response code is 200, but the content does not get posted to the WebService. Meanwhile, I use the exact same JSON file in a Postman software, again I set it to use form-urlencoded format. and the Postman posts the content to the WebService fine. I am missing something in Ansible and I cannot figure out what. Can you please help? [root@ansible ~]# python --version Python 2.7.5 [root@ansible ~]# [root@ansible ~]# ansible --version --quiet ansible 2.7.5 **Here is my play:** - name: Sample Task local\_action: module: uri url: method: POST headers: Content-Type: “application/x-www-form-urlencoded” body\_format: json body: “{{ lookup(‘file’,‘/tmp/outage.json’) }}” use\_proxy: no validate\_certs: no timeout: 300 **Here is my JSON file:** param={ “Username”: “_**", “Password”: "**_\*”, “MessageInfo”: { “messageId”: “”, “messageType”: “Some Type”, “category”: “Some Category”, “message”: “Message to be added to the WebService”, “recurrenceFlag”: “0”, “indCode”: “”, “requestor”: “”, “implementer”: “”, “ticketNumber”: “Ticke tnumber”, “systemList”: [ { “systemId”: “”, “systemName”: “The system the message should be added to”, “ucmdbCiId”: “” } ], “instanceList”: , “schedule”: { “tzName”: “(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna”, “startDate”: “25.03.2019 00:30”, “endDate”: “25.03.2019 04:15”, “startDay”: null, “endDay”: null, “startTime”: null, “duration”: null, “weeklyDays”: null, “monthlyDay”: null } } } **Here is the Ansible output:** TASK [pre\_patching : Sample Task] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* . . ok: [127.0.0.5 → localhost] =\> { “access\_control\_allow\_headers”: “Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept, LastModified, Authorization”, “access\_control\_allow\_methods”: “GET, POST, HEAD, PUT, DELETE”, “access\_control\_allow\_origin”: “\*”, “access\_control\_max\_age”: “3600”, “changed”: false, “connection”: “close”, “content\_length”: “103”, “content\_type”: “application/json;charset=utf-8”, “cookies”: { “JSESSIONID”: “6704FFEF9C430A10794FB83A0B9F4533” }, “cookies\_string”: “JSESSIONID=6704FFEF9C430A10794FB83A0B9F4533”, “date”: “Wed, 02 Jan 2019 15:29:08 GMT”, “invocation”: { “module\_args”: { “attributes”: null, “backup”: null, “body”: “param={\n "Username": "_ **",\n "Password": "** _",\n "MessageInfo": {\n "messageId": "",\n "messageType": "Some Type",\ "category": "Some Category",\n "message": "Message to be added to the WebService",\n "recurrenceFlag": "0",\n "indCode": "",\n "requestor": ",\n "implementer": "",\n "ticketNumber": "Ticke tnumber",\n "systemList": [\n {\n "systemId": "",\n "systemName": "The system the message should be added to",\n "ucmdbCiId": ""\n }\n],\n "instanceList": ,\n "schedule": {\n "tzName": "(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Ber, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna",\n "startDate": "25.03.2019 00:30",\n "endDate": "25.03.2019 04:15",\n "startDay": null,\n "endDay": null,\n "startTime": null,\n "duration": null,\n "weeklyDays": null,\n "monthlyDay": null\n }\n }\n}”, “body\_format”: “json”, “client\_cert”: null, “client\_key”: null, “content”: null, “creates”: null, “delimiter”: null, “dest”: null, “directory\_mode”: null, “follow”: false, “follow\_redirects”: “safe”, “force”: false, “force\_basic\_auth”: false, “group”: null, “headers”: { “Content-Type”: “application/x-www-form-urlencoded” }, “http\_agent”: “ansible-httpget”, “method”: “POST”, “mode”: null, “owner”: null, “regexp”: null, “remote\_src”: null, “removes”: null, “return\_content”: false, “selevel”: null, “serole”: null, “setype”: null, “seuser”: null, “src”: null, “status\_code”: [ 200 ], “timeout”: 300, “unsafe\_writes”: null, “url”: “”, “url\_password”: null, “url\_username”: null, “use\_proxy”: false, “validate\_certs”: false } }, “msg”: “OK (103 bytes)”, “redirected”: false, “server”: “Apache-Coyote/1.1”, “set\_cookie”: “JSESSIONID=6704FFEF9C430A10794FB83A0B9F4533; Path=/esl/; Secure; HttpOnly”, “status”: 200, “url”: “” ---
**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:** [January 2, 2019, 4:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/issues-with-connecting-to-api-using-ansible/29353/2 "2019-01-02T16:48:51Z")
This is not valid json file, to make it valid "param=" must be removed. ---
**Author:** ![Hristo\_Georgiev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Hristo\_Georgiev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Hristo_Georgiev)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/issues-with-connecting-to-api-using-ansible/29353/3 "2019-01-02T17:02:20Z")
Hi, good point, I removed the “param=” part and the result is still the same. I added the “param=” part because the WebService is using it. For instance, when I use the same JSON file in the Postmane software, I do not add “param=” to it, instead I specify it as a key. The software has the fields “key” and “value”, I put “param=” as a key and the JSON content as a “value”. How can I do that in Ansible, how to specify the key? ---
**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:** [January 2, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/issues-with-connecting-to-api-using-ansible/29353/4 "2019-01-02T17:20:46Z")
If you set   body\_format: form-urlencoded and then body to   body:     param: "{{ lookup('file','/tmp/outage.json') }}" and remove the headers: you will in the body get "parm={......" with proper urlencoding. ---
**Author:** ![Hristo\_Georgiev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Hristo\_Georgiev](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Hristo_Georgiev)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/issues-with-connecting-to-api-using-ansible/29353/5 "2019-01-02T19:55:13Z")
Thanks, that sounds logical, and there seems to be progress, the error now is different, I think there is something small that needs to be adjusted “content”: “\org.codehaus.jettison.json.JSONException: A JSONObject text must begin with ‘{’ at character 1 of Username¶m=MessageInfo¶m=Password\\”,