# Passing condition to "failed\_when" as a variable **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Created:** [March 15, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-condition-to-failed-when-as-a-variable/45530 "2026-03-15T13:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Openuser87](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/openuser87/32/10468_2.png) [@Openuser87](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Openuser87)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-condition-to-failed-when-as-a-variable/45530/1 "2026-03-15T13:08:34Z")
I try to pass a condition to `failed_when` as a variable in a role: `my-role/defaults/main.yml`: ```auto # list of commands to execute in form [command, changed_when, failed_when] my_commands: - ["myapp init", "cmd_result.rc == 0", "(cmd_result.rc != 0) and ('Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stdout) and ('Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stderr)"] - [...] ``` This would allow me to loop through the command list with custom `changed_when` and `failed_when` conditions: `my-role/tasks/main.yml`: ```auto - name: Execute commands ansible.builtin.include_tasks: my-task.yml loop: "{{ my_commands }}" loop_control: loop_var: my_command ``` `my-role/tasks/my-task.yml`: ```auto - name: My task ansible.builtin.command: "{{ my_command[0] }}" register: cmd_result changed_when: my_command[1] failed_when: my_command[2] ``` But I face following behaviour: - task fails with `non-zero return code` ❌ - if I copy the condition line into `failed_when` statement explicitly, like `failed_when: "(cmd_result.rc != 0) and ('Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stdout) and ('Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stderr)"`, task works ✅ I _suppose_ it may be that - the statement is not evaluated properly - `cmd_result` variable is not injected into the conditional statement Can anyone explain this, and maybe suggest an elegant and functional way to get this work? Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![kks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/kks/32/10352_2.png) [@kks](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kks)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-condition-to-failed-when-as-a-variable/45530/2 "2026-03-15T13:26:49Z")
> [@Openuser87](#): > > ```auto > my_commands: > - ["myapp init", "cmd_result.rc == 0", "(cmd_result.rc != 0) and ('Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stdout) and ('Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stderr)"] > - [...] > > ``` > [@Openuser87](#): > > `failed_when: my_command[2]` failed\_when is evaluated to literal string “(cmd\_result.rc != 0) and (‘Non-critical error’ not in cmd\_result.stdout) and (‘Non-critical error’ not in cmd\_result.stderr)” What you want is to have same literal string “(cmd\_result.rc != 0) and (‘Non-critical error’ not in cmd\_result.stdout) and (‘Non-critical error’ not in cmd\_result.stderr)” to be used as condition. In your case there is only one evaluation - my\_command[2] is evaluated to string, ansible does just one evaluation. The solution is ```yaml failed_when: "{{ my_command[2] }}" ``` In this case `{{ my _command[2] }}` is evaluated to as string (variable evaluation) and when string (condition you wrote) is evaluated as condition. ---
**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 16, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-condition-to-failed-when-as-a-variable/45530/3 "2026-03-16T01:46:47Z")
> [@Openuser87](#): > > This would allow me to loop through the command list Create the files on the fly. For example, ```yaml - name: Create my commands. run_once: true delegate_to: localhost block: - name: Create directory for my commands. file: state: directory path: /tmp/my_commands - name: Create my commands. copy: dest: "{{ my_task }}" content: | --- - name: My task ansible.builtin.command: "{{ item.0 }}" register: cmd_result changed_when: "{{ item.1 }}" failed_when: "{{ item.2 }}" loop: "{{ my_commands }}" loop_control: extended: true ``` Declare the filename as appropriate ```yaml my_task: "/tmp/my_commands/{{ ansible_loop.index }}-{{ item.0 }}.yml" ``` Then, execute the commands ```yaml - name: Execute my commands. ansible.builtin.include_tasks: "{{ my_task }}" loop: "{{ my_commands }}" loop_control: extended: true ``` [[source code]](https://github.com/vbotka/ansible_qa/tree/master/tasks/forum-45530) ---
**Author:** ![shertel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/shertel/32/1241_2.png) [@shertel](https://forum.ansible.com/u/shertel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-condition-to-failed-when-as-a-variable/45530/4 "2026-03-16T14:00:23Z")
As mentioned already, the items in my\_command are all strings, not variables. If you look at `changed_when_result` in the output - you’ll see a message that it’s derived from a string. If you fix that by adding brackets around the 2nd and 3rd fields for every item in my\_commands, you’ll run into another issue: the loop is templated before the task executes. I’d use two different variables - one for the loop, and another that is referenced by `changed_when` and `failed_when` using the loop item. For example, the variables could look like: ```yaml my_commands: - myapp init cmd_results: # Or, instead of a dict, you could use a list with the same indices # as in my_commands, and loop over "{{ range(0, my_commands|length) | list }}". "myapp init": changed_when: "{{ cmd_result.rc == 0 }}" failed_when: - "{{ cmd_result.rc != 0 }}" - "{{ 'Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stdout }}" - "{{ 'Non-critical error' not in cmd_result.stderr }}" ``` And could be used in the task like: ```yaml changed_when: cmd_results[my_command].changed_when failed_when: cmd_results[my_command].failed_when is all ```