# role parameter in combination with with\_items **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [June 2, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/role-parameter-in-combination-with-with-items/24633 "2017-06-02T12:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sebastien.barthelemy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@sebastien.barthelemy](https://forum.ansible.com/u/sebastien.barthelemy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/role-parameter-in-combination-with-with-items/24633/1 "2017-06-02T12:52:23Z")
Hello, I would like to apply the same role several times to a host, with different parameters. Sadly, as can be seen in the small example below, using with\_items does not work: the role is applied several times, but the parameters are not expanded, and the loop variable (item) does not seem to be available withing the role scope. Am I missing something? Is there a workaround? Thank you! $ cat roleloopvarexp.yaml - hosts: localhost roles: - role: examplerole name: riri - role: examplerole name: “{{ item }}” with\_items: - fifi - loulou $ cat roles/examplerole/tasks/main.yaml - debug: msg: “name is: {{ name }}” $ ansible-playbook roleloopvarexp.yaml [WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available PLAY [localhost] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* TASK [setup] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] TASK [examplerole : debug] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] =\> { “msg”: “name is: riri” } TASK [examplerole : debug] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! =\> {“failed”: true, “msg”: “the field ‘args’ has an invalid value, which appears to include a variable that is undefined. The error was: {{ item }}: ‘item’ is undefined\n\nThe error appears to have been in ‘/home/sbarthelemy/ar/s/motion-data/buildfarm/roles/examplerole/tasks/main.yaml’: line 1, column 3, but may\nbe elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.\n\nThe offending line appears to be:\n\n\n- debug:\n ^ here\n”} to retry, use: --limit @/home/sbarthelemy/ar/s/motion-data/buildfarm/roleloopvarexp.retry PLAY RECAP \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* localhost : ok=2 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=1 $ ansible-playbook --version ansible-playbook 2.2.0.0 config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg configured module search path = [‘/usr/share/ansible’] ---
**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:** [June 2, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/role-parameter-in-combination-with-with-items/24633/2 "2017-06-02T14:15:31Z")
- name: test hosts: 127.0.0.1 gather\_facts: False tasks:    - name: test      include\_role:        name: test1      with\_items:        - edwin        - henk      vars:        testvar: "{{item}}" ---
**Author:** ![sebastien.barthelemy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@sebastien.barthelemy](https://forum.ansible.com/u/sebastien.barthelemy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/role-parameter-in-combination-with-with-items/24633/3 "2017-06-02T15:13:48Z")
Hi Brian, thank you for the workaround. Do you know if this limitation of the role directive is documented some where (in the doc or maybe in a ticket ?). For completeness, here is what your workaround gives when applied to my example. I had to rename the “name” variable to avoid collisions. $ cat roleloopvarexp.yaml - hosts: localhost tasks: - include\_role: name: examplerole vars: aname: riri - include\_role: name: examplerole with\_items: - fifi - loulou vars: aname: “{{ item }}” $ cat roles/examplerole/tasks/main.yaml - debug: msg: “aname is: {{ aname }}” $ ansible-playbook roleloopvarexp.yaml [WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available PLAY [localhost] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* TASK [setup] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] TASK [examplerole : debug] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] =\> { “msg”: “aname is: riri” } TASK [include\_role] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* TASK [examplerole : debug] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] =\> { “msg”: “aname is: fifi” } TASK [examplerole : debug] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] =\> { “msg”: “aname is: loulou” } PLAY RECAP \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* localhost : ok=4 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 ---
**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:** [June 2, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/role-parameter-in-combination-with-with-items/24633/4 "2017-06-02T15:20:19Z")
Well, roles: have always been statick, with\_ and other directives ONLY execute on tasks, so when adding them to static imports (like roles:) they should just be inherited by the imported tasks.