# iteration over list of dictionaries. **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [November 21, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839 "2014-11-21T02:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![michael.ibarra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@michael.ibarra](https://forum.ansible.com/u/michael.ibarra)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/1 "2014-11-21T02:59:52Z")
Hi, I’m trying to iterate over this list of dictionaries but I got: “One or more undefined variables: ‘hostname’ is undefined”. Task: - name: LXC - creating directory file: path={{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ item.hostname}} owner=root group=root owner=755 with\_items: containers Vars: lxc\_dir: “/var/lib/lxc” containers: [ { hostname : “test”, lxc\_rootfs : ‘{{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ hostname }}/rootfs’, lxc\_mount : ‘{{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ hostname }}/fstab’, lxc\_utsname : ‘{{ hostname }}’, lxc\_arch : ‘{{ ansible\_architecture }}’, lxc\_ip\_addr : “10.0.3.101”, lxc\_prefix\_ip\_addr : “24”, lxc\_broadcast\_addr : “10.0.0.255”, lxc.network.ipv4 : ‘{{ lxc\_ip\_addr }}/{{ lxc\_prefix\_ip\_addr }} {{ lxc\_broadcast\_addr }}’, lxc.network.ipv4.gateway : “10.0.3.1”, lxc\_network\_type : ‘{{ | default(veth) }}’, lxc\_network\_flags : ‘{{ | default(up) }}’, lxc\_network\_link : ‘{{ | default(link) }}’ }, ] ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/2 "2014-11-21T03:04:27Z")
try item[0].hostname ---
**Author:** ![michael.ibarra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@michael.ibarra](https://forum.ansible.com/u/michael.ibarra)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/3 "2014-11-21T03:49:53Z")
It doesn’t work. I tried with: - name: LXC - Debug debug: msg={{item.[0].hostname}} with\_items: containers ok: [127.0.0.1] =\> (item={‘hostname’: ‘test’, ‘lxc\_utsname’: u’{{hostname}}‘, ‘lxc\_network\_flags’: u’{{| default(up)}}‘, ‘lxc\_arch’: u’x86\_64’, ‘lxc\_ip \_addr’: ‘10.0.3.101’, ‘lxc\_rootfs’: u’{{lxc\_dir}}/{{hostname}}/rootfs’, ‘lxc\_network\_link’: u’{{| default(link)}}‘, ‘lxc\_prefix\_ip\_addr’: ‘24’, ‘lxc\_br oadcast\_addr’: ‘10.0.0.255’, ‘lxc\_network\_type’: u’{{| default(veth)}}‘, ‘lxc\_mount’: u’{{lxc\_dir}}/{{hostname}}/fstab’, ‘lxc.network.ipv4’: u’{{lxc\_ip \_addr}}/{{lxc\_prefix\_ip\_addr}} {{lxc\_broadcast\_addr}}', ‘lxc.network.ipv4.gateway’: ‘10.0.3.1’}) =\> { “item”: { “hostname”: “test”, “lxc.network.ipv4”: “{{lxc\_ip\_addr}}/{{lxc\_prefix\_ip\_addr}} {{lxc\_broadcast\_addr}}”, “lxc.network.ipv4.gateway”: “10.0.3.1”, “lxc\_arch”: “x86\_64”, “lxc\_broadcast\_addr”: “10.0.0.255”, “lxc\_ip\_addr”: “10.0.3.101”, “lxc\_mount”: “{{lxc\_dir}}/{{hostname}}/fstab”, “lxc\_network\_flags”: “{{| default(up)}}”, “lxc\_network\_link”: “{{| default(link)}}”, “lxc\_network\_type”: “{{| default(veth)}}”, “lxc\_prefix\_ip\_addr”: “24”, “lxc\_rootfs”: “{{lxc\_dir}}/{{hostname}}/rootfs”, “lxc\_utsname”: “{{hostname}}” }, **“msg”: “{{item.[0].hostname}}”** } No success obtaining the dictionary values. ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/4 "2014-11-21T04:00:37Z")
could you change the vars definition to: containers:    - hostname : "test"       lxc\_rootfs : '{{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ hostname }}/rootfs'       lxc\_mount : '{{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ hostname }}/fstab'        ... this should make item.hostname work ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 4:54am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/5 "2014-11-21T04:54:25Z")
never mind, it wasn't that, these are the problem:         lxc\_rootfs : '{{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ hostname }}/rootfs',         lxc\_mount : '{{ lxc\_dir }}/{{ hostname }}/fstab',         lxc\_utsname : '{{ hostname }}', the 'hostname' variable you are referencing there does not exist. If you are trying to reference the key in the same dictionary, that will not work. ---
**Author:** ![michael.ibarra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@michael.ibarra](https://forum.ansible.com/u/michael.ibarra)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/6 "2014-11-21T11:02:32Z")
It worked. - name: LXC - Debug debug: msg={{ item.hostname }} with\_items: containers containers: [ { hostname : “test”, lxc\_rootfs : “{{ lxc\_dir }}/test/rootfs”, lxc\_mount : “{{ lxc\_dir }}/test/fstab”, lxc\_utsname : “test”, lxc\_arch : “{{ ansible\_architecture }}”, lxc\_network\_ipv4 : “[10.0.3.103/24](http://10.0.3.103/24) 10.0.3.255”, lxc\_network\_ipv4\_gateway : “10.0.3.1”, lxc\_network\_type : “{{ | default(veth) }}”, lxc\_network\_flags : “{{ | default(up) }}”, lxc\_network\_link : “{{ | default(link) }}”, }, ] Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![rektide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@rektide](https://forum.ansible.com/u/rektide)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/iteration-over-list-of-dictionaries/16839/7 "2014-11-21T16:04:51Z")
{{item[0].hostname}} no dot, afaik also, when reporting errors, helpfully provide the output you get too.