# with\_dict expects a dict...can a dict be too large **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [June 22, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838 "2016-06-22T19:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jdelaporte](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jdelaporte/32/366_2.png) [@jdelaporte](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jdelaporte)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/1 "2016-06-22T19:55:01Z")
I messed up and deleted my first post. Sorry! I think I need another pair of eyes here. I am attempting to run a dict of users through an ipa user-add command, but it fails with the error “with\_dict expects a dict.” I believe I have formatted my dict correctly (it’s about 40,000 lines long, generated from a python3 script): `---` `students:` `username1:` `lastname: jibberish` `firstname: jibberish` `firstinitial: jibberish` `studentid: jibberish` `dob: jibberish` `dateexpires: 2018-06-19` `epochexpiry: 1529415778` `uid: jibberish` `passwordhash: "jibberish"` `username2:` `lastname: jibberish` `firstname: jibberish` `firstinitial: jibberish` `studentid: jibberish` `dob: jibberish` `dateexpires: 2018-06-19` `epochexpiry: 1529416593` `uid: jibberish` `passwordhash: "jibberish"` `username3:` `lastname: jibberish` `firstname: jibberish` `firstinitial: jibberish` `studentid: jibberish` `dob: jibberish` `dateexpires: 2018-06-19` `epochexpiry: 1529416755` `uid: jibberish` `passwordhash: "jibberish"` And here is the play where I am trying to use it: ` - name: Add existing student users to ipaserver command: “/bin/ipa user-add {{ item.key }} –first=‘{{ item.value.firstname }}’ –last=‘{{ item.value.lastname }}’ –cn=‘{{item.value.firstname}} {{item.value.lastname}}’ –email={{ [item.value.name](http://item.value.name/) }}@[d](http://stu.parkland.edu/)omain –shell=/bin/bash –homedir=‘/home/students/{{ item.value.firstinitial }}/{{ item.key }}’ –uid=‘{{ item.value.uid }}’ –gidnumber=‘{{ item.value.uid }}’ –skeleton=/etc/skel –setattr userpassword=‘{crypt}{{ item.value.passwordhash}}’ –title=student” with\_dict: “{{students}}” register: added\_students ` And the error: `TASK [Add existing student users to ipaserver] ********************************* fatal: [216.125.253.133]: FAILED! => {"failed": true, "msg": "with_dict expects a dict"}` Running it verbose only gives me the task path in addition to the above error. Is there a maximum size a dict can be? Is there something else wrong with my dict? I have tried it as a list (with a - before each username and with\_items in the play), but got a unicode error. I’m stumped. Thanks for taking a look! ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Davies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Dick\_Davies](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dick_Davies)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/2 "2016-06-23T00:04:03Z")
I always find with\_dict fiddly, it'll work eventually. I can't see anything obvious at first glance ( I do think    --email={{ item.value.name }}@domain should be    --email="{{ item.key }}@domain" but I don't think Ansible is getting as far as even opening the dict yet ) When I get this kind of issue, I cut down the size of the dict to a little sample set, just to verify the YAML is formatted correctly (no whitespace gotchas?). Also, are you sure the dict is in scope at this point? ---
**Author:** ![jdelaporte](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jdelaporte/32/366_2.png) [@jdelaporte](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jdelaporte)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/3 "2016-06-23T00:51:18Z")
Hi Dick, Thanks for replying! Good catch on the email address. I’ll tweak that. I tried even just a debug of printing each item and that had the same with\_dict error. It’s a good idea to try a truncated dict; then at least I’ll have a better idea whether it’s the length breaking it. That’s my next step. Thanks! Joanna ---
**Author:** ![jdelaporte](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jdelaporte/32/366_2.png) [@jdelaporte](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jdelaporte)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/4 "2016-06-23T01:17:03Z")
Good question about whether the dict is in scope. I import the vars this way at the top of the playbook: ` vars\_files: - vars/studentdict.yml - vars/staffdict.yml ` I run the playbook with become: yes. I verified that root and the local ansible user can read the dict. I wonder if dashes in my date fields are breaking it. I am testing quoting those entries right now. ---
**Author:** ![sivel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/sivel/32/1198_2.png) [@sivel](https://forum.ansible.com/u/sivel)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/5 "2016-06-23T01:19:20Z")
I don’t have an exact answer as to why currently, but the problem is with your `dateexpires` values. That value gets converted to a python datetime object. And because of it being automatically parsed as a datetime object, the dict is transformed into a string representation of the dict. The conversion to a string representation is the part that I don’t fully understand right now. It seems to be something inside of jinja2 itself that is causing this behavior. So effectively you end up with a list that has 1 element, and that 1 element is a string representation of your dict. Simply quoting the value of `dateexpires` resolves the issue, such as: username1: lastname: jibberish firstname: jibberish firstinitial: jibberish studentid: jibberish dob: jibberish dateexpires: “2018-06-19” epochexpiry: 1529415778 uid: jibberish passwordhash: “jibberish” ---
**Author:** ![jdelaporte](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jdelaporte/32/366_2.png) [@jdelaporte](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jdelaporte)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/6 "2016-06-23T01:24:29Z")
Yup, a test with a short dict of only three records failed. Until I quoted all the date fields containing dashes. Each user record contains two dates that formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, which apparently breaks yaml. It makes sense now, but hadn’t occurred to me until I was driving home a while ago. I was using this: `dob: 1962-01-21 dateexpires: 2018-06-19 epochexpiry: 1529415778` Dashes break hashes, so it fixed it to quote the values: `dob: '1962-01-21' dateexpires: '2018-06-19' epochexpiry: 1529415778` I have yet to tweak my 40,000 lines (about 4000 records) and try with those. ---
**Author:** ![jdelaporte](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jdelaporte/32/366_2.png) [@jdelaporte](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jdelaporte)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-dict-expects-a-dict-can-a-dict-be-too-large/21838/7 "2016-06-23T02:24:45Z")
It turns out I had various dashes and apostrophes (isolated single quotes spell trouble, too) smattered throughout the user’s first and last names. So, after quoting dates, password hashes, and name fields, I tried with the full large dictionary. Now my play works! Even more exciting, I have new users appearing on my IPA server with appropriate data. Thanks Dick and Matt! If you’re ever in Champaign, IL USA, look me up. I’ll buy you a coffee. Joanna