Variable file path in lookup

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1

Hi there,

I’m attempting to configure a variable lookup to a public key file, and am running into some trouble. What confuses me is that the variable substitution works fine in a debug statement, but then blows up in the lookup statement for assigning authorized key values. Here’s the general idea;

provisioning/git.yml (playbook):

  • hosts: git

sudo: true

roles:

  • { role: git, git_users: [ ‘me’ ] }

provisioning/roles/git/tasks/main.yml:

  • user: name=git state=present home=/opt/git

  • debug: msg={{ ‘…/…/users/files/’ + item + ‘.pub’ }}

with_items: git_users

  • authorized_key: user=git key={{ lookup(‘file’, ‘…/…/users/files/’ + item + ‘.pub’) }}

with_items: git_users

When I run ansible against the git.yml playbook, I end up with the following:

TASK: [debug msg=…/…/users/files/.pub] **************************************

ok: [dev-build-c.oedev.us] => (item=me) => {“item”: “me”, “msg”: “…/…/users/files/me.pub”}

ERROR: blah/blah/blah/provisioning/roles/users/files/.pub does not exist

I’m really struggling with understanding what I am missing in terms of looping and the lookup functionality. We’re using lookups elsewhere with dynamically constructed paths for passwords, and it seems to work like I’d expect. But when I introduce a loop, it falls apart.

Thanks for any pointers to relieve me of my ignorance!

Chris

2

I don’t see this as blowing up, I see this as reporting an error that it couldn’t find the file.

Help me understand why the file is not where you think it is?

3

In the debug and error lines:

ok: [dev-build-c.oedev.us] => (item=me) => {“item”: “me”, “msg”: “…/…/users/files/me.pub”}

ERROR: blah/blah/blah/provisioning/roles/users/files/.pub does not exist

The item it’s supposed to be supplying is “me”, so I would expect the path it derives for the lookup to be “…/…/users/files/me.pub”, but instead it’s hitting the lookup as “…/…/users/files/.pub”, and the portion where the replacement would occur is blank (hence it’s “.pub” and not “me.pub”. Does that make sense?

4

I’ve managed to create a test case for this (these files fall under an ansible-test directory):

## looptest.yml

  • hosts: 127.0.0.1

connection: local

vars:

mylist:

  • “item1”

roles:

  • looptest

## roles/looptest/tasks/main.yml

  • debug: msg=“{{ item }}”

with_items: mylist

  • debug: msg=“{{ lookup(‘file’, ‘…/…/filerole/files/item1.txt’) }}”

  • debug: msg=“{{ lookup(‘file’, ‘…/…/filerole/files/’ + item + ‘.txt’) }}”

with_items: mylist

## roles/filerole/files/item1.txt

Testing!

This produces the following output on Ansible 1.3.2, Python 2.7.5 (Homebrew), Mac OSX 10.8.5, using the command ansible-playbook looptest.yml -i “127.0.0.1,”:

PLAY [127.0.0.1] **************************************************************

GATHERING FACTS ***************************************************************
ok: [127.0.0.1]

TASK: [debug msg=“”] **********************************************************
ok: [127.0.0.1] => (item=item1) => {“item”: “item1”, “msg”: “item1”}

TASK: [debug msg=“Testing”] ***************************************************
ok: [127.0.0.1] => {“item”: “”, “msg”: “Testing”}
ERROR: /blah/blah/blah/ansible-test/roles/filerole/files/.txt does not exist

I would expect that ERROR line to be searching for /blah/blah/blah/ansible-test/roles/filerole/files/item1.txt, not just a “.txt” file with no filename portion.

Does that help at all?

Chris

5

Please file a github ticket.

Thanks!

6

You bet, ticket 4549 created!