# Unable to ping VirtualBox VMs

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/unable-to-ping-virtualbox-vms/38903>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Tags:** ping, ubuntu\
**Created:** [December 4, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unable-to-ping-virtualbox-vms/38903 "2024-12-04T20:15:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cjzboyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@cjzboyd](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cjzboyd)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unable-to-ping-virtualbox-vms/38903/1 "2024-12-04T20:15:47Z")

</div>

**Hello All**  
I am just beginning to use Ansible and I am following this tutorial [Ansible Tutorial for Beginners: Playbook & Examples](https://spacelift.io/blog/ansible-tutorial)  
I have got the the 2 Ubuntu VMs running however when I try to use the ad hoc ping command

```auto
ansible -i hosts all -m ping -vvv

```

I get the following error

```auto
The full traceback is:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/vagrant/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1733343117.832067-11330-193833005849382/AnsiballZ_ping.py", line 107, in <module>
    _ansiballz_main()
  File "/home/vagrant/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1733343117.832067-11330-193833005849382/AnsiballZ_ping.py", line 99, in _ansiballz_main
    invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)
  File "/home/vagrant/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1733343117.832067-11330-193833005849382/AnsiballZ_ping.py", line 44, in invoke_module
    from ansible.module_utils import basic
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 971, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 951, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 894, in _find_spec
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1157, in find_spec
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1131, in _get_spec
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1112, in _legacy_get_spec
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 441, in spec_from_loader
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 544, in spec_from_file_location
  File "/tmp/ansible_ping_payload_8t4xh_43/ansible_ping_payload.zip/ansible/module_utils/basic.py", line 5
SyntaxError: future feature annotations is not defined
host2 | FAILED! => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/bin/python3"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "module_stderr": "OpenSSH_8.9p1 Ubuntu-3ubuntu0.10, OpenSSL 3.0.2 15 Mar 2022\r\ndebug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config\r\ndebug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 19: include /etc/ssh/ssh_config.d/*.conf matched no files\r\ndebug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 21: Applying options for *\r\ndebug2: resolve_canonicalize: hostname 127.0.0.1 is address\r\ndebug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts' -> '/home/chris/.ssh/known_hosts'\r\ndebug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts2' -> '/home/chris/.ssh/known_hosts2'\r\ndebug1: auto-mux: Trying existing master\r\ndebug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK\r\ndebug2: mux_client_hello_exchange: master version 4\r\ndebug3: mux_client_forwards: request forwardings: 0 local, 0 remote\r\ndebug3: mux_client_request_session: entering\r\ndebug3: mux_client_request_alive: entering\r\ndebug3: mux_client_request_alive: done pid = 11337\r\ndebug3: mux_client_request_session: session request sent\r\ndebug1: mux_client_request_session: master session id: 2\r\ndebug3: mux_client_read_packet: read header failed: Broken pipe\r\ndebug2: Received exit status from master 1\r\nShared connection to 127.0.0.1 closed.\r\n",
    "module_stdout": "Traceback (most recent call last):\r\n File \"/home/vagrant/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1733343117.832067-11330-193833005849382/AnsiballZ_ping.py\", line 107, in <module>\r\n _ansiballz_main()\r\n File \"/home/vagrant/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1733343117.832067-11330-193833005849382/AnsiballZ_ping.py\", line 99, in _ansiballz_main\r\n invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)\r\n File \"/home/vagrant/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1733343117.832067-11330-193833005849382/AnsiballZ_ping.py\", line 44, in invoke_module\r\n from ansible.module_utils import basic\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap>\", line 971, in _find_and_load\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap>\", line 951, in _find_and_load_unlocked\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap>\", line 894, in _find_spec\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>\", line 1157, in find_spec\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>\", line 1131, in _get_spec\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>\", line 1112, in _legacy_get_spec\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap>\", line 441, in spec_from_loader\r\n File \"<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>\", line 544, in spec_from_file_location\r\n File \"/tmp/ansible_ping_payload_8t4xh_43/ansible_ping_payload.zip/ansible/module_utils/basic.py\", line 5\r\nSyntaxError: future feature annotations is not defined\r\n",
    "msg": "MODULE FAILURE\nSee stdout/stderr for the exact error",
    "rc": 1
}

```

I am able to connect to the vms using ‘vagrant ssh host1/host2’

Does anyone know why the ping module is failing? I have also ssh to the hosts and run sudo spt update && sudo upgrade -y

My host machine has Python3.10.12 while the VMs are running Python 2.7.17

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![felixfontein](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/felixfontein/32/7530_2.png) [@felixfontein](https://forum.ansible.com/u/felixfontein)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unable-to-ping-virtualbox-vms/38903/2 "2024-12-04T20:34:09Z")

</div>

The last ansible-core release that supports Python 2.7 on the remote was ansible-core 2.16 ([Releases and maintenance — Ansible Core Documentation](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible-core/devel/reference_appendices/release_and_maintenance.html#ansible-core-support-matrix)). From the error message, it seems you are using a newer version. So either downgrade ansible-core to 2.16, or upgrade the VMs to use an Ubuntu version with a less ancient Python version. (Python 2.7 has been End of Life for almost five years now.)