# Using information between Ansible playbooks

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [August 29, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157 "2019-08-29T05:00:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pk\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@pk\_s](https://forum.ansible.com/u/pk_s)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157/1 "2019-08-29T05:00:20Z")

</div>

Hi,

How do i store/use information retrieved from running a playbook task later in another playbook task?

I tried dumping the information in json format from the first playbook/task to a file. But then how do i read/pass this information to the new playbook task as input?

thanks,  
Raji

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [August 29, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157/2 "2019-08-29T05:31:28Z")

</div>

Short answer: Use "vars\_files" or "include\_vars".

Details: It's possible to store the variables in a file. For example the play

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- hosts: localhost  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;vars:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var1: VAR-1  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var2: VAR-2  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var3: VAR-3  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;tasks:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- copy:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;content: |  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var1: {{ test\_var1 }}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var2: {{ test\_var2 }}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var3: {{ test\_var3 }}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;dest: amnesiac-01.yml

creates the file with the variables

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$ cat amnesiac-01.yml  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var1: VAR-1  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var2: VAR-2  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var3: VAR-3

Use "vars\_files" or "include\_vars" to read the variables. For example the play

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- hosts: localhost  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;tasks:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- include\_vars: amnesiac-01.yml  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- debug:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;msg: "{{ msg.split('\n') }}"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;vars:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;msg: |  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var1: {{ test\_var1 }}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var2: {{ test\_var2 }}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var3: {{ test\_var3 }}

gives

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ok: [localhost] =\> {  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"msg": [  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"test\_var1: VAR-1",  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"test\_var2: VAR-2",  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"test\_var3: VAR-3",  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;""  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;]  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}  
...

Cheers,

&nbsp;&nbsp;-vlado

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pk\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@pk\_s](https://forum.ansible.com/u/pk_s)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157/3 "2019-08-29T17:50:11Z")

</div>

Thanks. It works for localhost.

But let’s say i need to save information from a task on all remote hosts in a local file (or files), how do i do it? So that in the next yml file, i can load the local file for all remote hosts.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [August 29, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157/4 "2019-08-29T20:12:53Z")

</div>

It's possible to store all "hostvars". For example with this template

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$ cat my\_hostvars.json.j2  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;my\_hostvars\_all:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{% for my\_host in ansible\_play\_hosts\_all %}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{ my\_host }}:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{ hostvars[my\_host]|to\_nice\_json }}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{% endfor %}

the playbook below stores "hostvars" of all hosts in the dictionary  
"my\_hostvars\_all" and put it into the file  
"{{ inventory\_dir }}/my\_hostvars.json" at localhost

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- hosts: test\_jails  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;tasks:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- set\_fact:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;test\_var: "test\_var\_in\_{{ inventory\_hostname }}"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- template:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;src: my\_hostvars.json.j2  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;dest: "{{ inventory\_dir }}/my\_hostvars.json"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;delegate\_to: localhost  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;run\_once: true

The dictionary can be included in the next playbook. For example the playbook  
below

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- hosts: test\_jails  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;tasks:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- include\_vars: my\_hostvars.json  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- set\_fact:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;my\_hostvars: "{{ my\_hostvars\_all[inventory\_hostname] }}"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- debug:  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;var: my\_hostvars.test\_var

gives

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ok: [test\_01] =\> {  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"my\_hostvars.test\_var": "test\_var\_in\_test\_01"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ok: [test\_02] =\> {  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"my\_hostvars.test\_var": "test\_var\_in\_test\_02"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ok: [test\_03] =\> {  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"my\_hostvars.test\_var": "test\_var\_in\_test\_03"  
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}

Cheers,

&nbsp;&nbsp;-vlado

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pk\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@pk\_s](https://forum.ansible.com/u/pk_s)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/using-information-between-ansible-playbooks/31157/5 "2019-08-29T22:06:33Z")

</div>

Thanks Vladimir. Actually ‘delegate\_to: localhost’ helped, and i’m using it with the copy module itself.

Thanks,  
Raji