# variable not defined **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [August 24, 2022, 9:17am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030 "2022-08-24T09:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kenady\_Inampudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kenady\_Inampudi](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kenady_Inampudi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 9:17am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/1 "2022-08-24T09:17:38Z")
Here is my play book, i am trying to check the id’s using wildcards like ora\*\*\*\* I am getting variable not defined ---
**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 24, 2022, 10:37am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/2 "2022-08-24T10:37:53Z")
The variable \*id\* was registered in a loop. You need the attribute \*results\*. (Take a look at \*id\*.) Try     - debug:         msg: "{{ id.results|map(attribute='stdout')|list }}" Notes: \* Use \*getent\* instead of reading /etc/passwd\* on your own [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/builtin/getent\_module.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/builtin/getent_module.html) \* Use \*command\* instead of \*shell\*, \*loop\* instead of \*with\_items\*,   and \*userid.stdout\_lines\* instead of \*userid.stdout.split('\n')\*     - command: "id {{ item }}"       register: id       loop: "{{ userid.stdout\_lines }}" ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Rowe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/walter_rowe/32/4506_2.png) [@Walter\_Rowe](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Walter_Rowe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 11:21am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/3 "2022-08-24T11:21:44Z")
You can make your shell command much more efficient. No need to use cat and grep. awk -F: ‘$1 ~ /^ora/ { print $1 }’ /etc/passwd This will find and print all usernames that begin “ora”. - shell: “awk -F: ‘$1 ~ /^ora/ { print $1 }’ /etc/passwd” register: userid ignore\_errors: true Then you can look at userid.results.stdout\_lines (as a list) to see the list of usernames. - debug: var=userid.results.stdout\_lines Walter ---
**Author:** ![Kenady\_Inampudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kenady\_Inampudi](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kenady_Inampudi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/4 "2022-08-24T12:05:14Z")
Thank you Vladimir Botka, This worked like a charm. - debug: msg: “{{ id.results|map(attribute=‘stdout’)|list }}” ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 12:32pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/5 "2022-08-24T12:32:35Z")
Try - hosts: node1.example.com   gather\_facts: false   vars:     users: "{{ getent\_passwd.keys()|list }}"   tasks:     - getent:         database: passwd     - command: "id {{ item }}"       register: id       loop: "{{ users|select('match', '^user.\*$') }}"     - debug:         msg: "{{ id.results|map(attribute='stdout')|list }}" Notes: \* The module \*getent\* stores the data automagically. In the case of   \*passwd\* the dictionary will be \*getent\_passwd\* \* Put the declaration of \*users\* into vars \* Fit the regex to your needs and iterate the selected users \* The debug of the results is the same as before \* Take a look at \*getent\_passwd\* \* The same way you can get the content of /etc/group in the   dictionary \*getent\_group\* \* You can create any structure you like when you have both   dictionaries \*getent\_passwd\* and \*getent\_group\* ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Rowe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/walter_rowe/32/4506_2.png) [@Walter\_Rowe](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Walter_Rowe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/6 "2022-08-24T12:56:53Z")
You all are making this way too hard. You don’t even have to ignore errors with this task. - shell: “awk -F: ‘$1 ~ /^ora/ { print $1 }’ /etc/passwd” register: userids - debug: var=userids.results.stdout\_lines when: userid.results.stdout\_lines Then ‘when’ condition will be true only when the list is longer than zero length. Walter ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Rowe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/walter_rowe/32/4506_2.png) [@Walter\_Rowe](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Walter_Rowe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/variable-not-defined/37030/7 "2022-08-24T13:04:23Z")