set_fact array in loop

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1

Hi,

I tried to construct an array with set_fact and I found this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/23507589/is-it-possible-to-set-a-fact-of-an-array-in-ansible

So I tested:

  tasks:
    - set_fact: foo="[ 'one', 'two', 'three' ]"
    - debug: var=foo
    - set_fact: foo="{{foo}} + [ 'four' ]"
    - debug: var=foo

and it worked very well.

But when I try to add a ‘with_items’:

  tasks:
    - set_fact: foo="[ 'one' ]"
    - debug: var=foo
    - set_fact: foo="{{foo}} + [ '{{item}}' ]"
      with_items: [ "two", "three" ]
    - debug: var=foo

It doesn’t work, I get:

“foo”: [
“one”,
“three”
]

instead of:

“foo”: [
“one”,
“two”,
“three”
]

Whereas this works:

  tasks:
    - name: set foo fact to an array
      set_fact: foo="[ 'one' ]"
    - debug: var=foo
    - set_fact: foo="{{foo}} + [ 'two' ]"
    - set_fact: foo="{{foo}} + [ 'three' ]"
    - debug: var=foo

But is not suitable for my needs (It just proves that a fact can be overriden multiple times).

The behaviour of with_items is not what I expected, is something wrong with my approach?

I’m using ansible 1.8.2 on ubuntu 14.04

Regards,
Michaël

2

Hi Michaël, I’ve fixed this in the v2 code base, which also suffered from the same problem. We will look at potentially fixing this in any future 1.9.x releases as well.

Thanks!

3

Hi James,in Ansible version 1.9.2 the problem is still alive

`
[root@]# ansible --version
ansible 1.9.2
[root@]# date
Tue Dec 6 22:14:59 CET 2016
[root@]# ansible-playbook play03.yml

PLAY [localhost] **************************************************************

TASK: [set_fact foo=“[ ‘one’ ]”] **********************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK: [debug var=foo] *********************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
“var”: {
“foo”: [
“one”
]
}
}

TASK: [set_fact foo=“{{foo}} + [ ‘{{item}}’ ]”] *******************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=two)
ok: [localhost] => (item=three)

TASK: [debug var=foo] *********************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
“var”: {
“foo”: [
“one”,
“three”
]
}
}

PLAY RECAP ********************************************************************

Playbook run UUID: 0edf4886-bbf9-11e6-9392-005056a3151a

`

News?

Thanks

Ferdinand

4

Given that this works just fine in the v2 release of Ansible:

`

(vagrant) [vagrant@atrebla:vagrant] ansible --version

ansible 2.2.0.0

config file =

configured module search path = Default w/o overrides

(vagrant) [vagrant@atrebla:vagrant] ansible-playbook loop.yml

PLAY [Test set_facts for loop.] ************************************************

TASK [setup] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [set_fact] ****************************************************************

ok: [localhost]

TASK [debug] *******************************************************************

ok: [localhost] => {
“foo”: [

“one”

]

}

TASK [set_fact] ****************************************************************

ok: [localhost] => (item=two)

ok: [localhost] => (item=three)

TASK [debug] *******************************************************************

ok: [localhost] => {

“foo”: [

“one”,

“two”,

“three”

]

}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************

localhost : ok=5 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0

`

I’m curious to know: why not just upgrade?

5

Hi Alexander,

Unfortunately it’s not my choice. The upgrade policy are decided by company.

A common situation . That’s all

Thanks
Ferdinand