# Service\_facts doesn't gather facts on systemd timers

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/service-facts-doesnt-gather-facts-on-systemd-timers/4052>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Tags:** systemd\
**Created:** [February 25, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/service-facts-doesnt-gather-facts-on-systemd-timers/4052 "2024-02-25T22:27:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dstubq](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dstubq/32/2406_2.png) [@dstubq](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dstubq)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/service-facts-doesnt-gather-facts-on-systemd-timers/4052/1 "2024-02-25T22:27:03Z")

</div>

**I want to disable a systemd timer**  
So i see there is an example on enabling a timer:

```auto
- name: enable a timer for dnf-automatic
  systemd:
    name: dnf-automatic.timer
    state: started
    enabled: yes

```

But i would like to collect facts about the services/timers and then disable services/timers based on the availability.

```auto
- name: get info
  ansible.builtin.service_facts:

- name: disable services/timers
  ansible.builtin.systemd:
    name: "{{ item }}"
    state: stopped
    enabled: no
  loop:
    - motd-news.service
    - motd-news.timer
  when: "item in ansible_facts.services"

```

fyi, the timer wont be disabled because its not included in the facts

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kpfleming](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cc9497/32.png) [@kpfleming](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kpfleming)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/service-facts-doesnt-gather-facts-on-systemd-timers/4052/2 "2024-02-26T12:29:28Z")

</div>

Well, to be fair, timers are not services and so they don’t really belong in `service_facts`.

There are a number of other types of systemd units which also do not appear there but which can be managed using Ansible: I’m managing path and mount units too.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dstubq](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dstubq/32/2406_2.png) [@dstubq](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dstubq)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/service-facts-doesnt-gather-facts-on-systemd-timers/4052/3 "2024-02-26T14:50:32Z")

</div>

I understand it doesn’t belong in service\_facts. But can i find it at all in other facts then? ofc I can use the command: option but im curious if its possbile to do it within ansible.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Denney-tech](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/denney-tech/32/1556_2.png) [@Denney-tech](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Denney-tech)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/service-facts-doesnt-gather-facts-on-systemd-timers/4052/4 "2024-02-26T17:27:30Z")

</div>

There’s a few ways you could do this:

1. Register the output from a shell command
2. Use a custom facts file for the setup module to gather
3. You can make your own custom facts module.

The first option is the easiest, and leads into 2 as a possible alternative. Simply run `systemctl list-unit-files --all --output=json` using the command module and register the output. Then you can loop through this however you please. This gets you all of the unit files, their current and default state (preset), but it does not get you their current status (active/running/exited/failed, etc).

```yaml
- name: get info
  ansible.builtin.command: systemctl list-unit-files --all --output=json
  register: systemd_units

- name: set fact
  set_fact:
    systemd_facts: "{{ systemd_units.stdout | from_json | map(attribute='unit_file') }}"

- name: disable services/timers
  ansible.builtin.systemd:
    name: "{{ item }}"
    state: stopped
    enabled: no
  loop:
    - motd-news.service
    - motd-news.timer
  when: item in systemd_facts

```

If you want gather\_facts to do this instead, make a shell script using the same command and save it as /etc/ansible/facts.d/systemd.fact (make sure it’s executable and has the shebang). You’ll have to change the `when:` condition to use the ansible\_local.systemd fact.

Or lastly, you could go implement an actual systemd\_facts module, since there is an RFE for it, but no work has been done.

If you need the run status of the systemd units, take a look at some of the other systemctl commands. If you just want timers, you can add a pattern filter to the command: `systemctl list-unit-files *.timer --all --output=json` If you only want active/loaded units, you can switch to `systemctl list-units *.timer --all --output=json`, and change the mapped attribute to `map(attribute='unit')`.