# with\_nested in use with variables? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [July 12, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109 "2013-07-12T11:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mark\_Maas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mark\_Maas](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mark_Maas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/1 "2013-07-12T11:44:52Z")
Hi List, We are trying to do this: > - name: Oracle | Copy files > action: copy > backup=yes > src=/media/storage/DM/orabestanden/aix/{{item}} > force=yes > dest=/opt/oracle/admin/network/admin/${item} > owner=oracle > group=dbamgr > with\_items: orafiles > register: nieuweversiegeplaatst > tags: > > - orabestanden > > - name: Oracle | Lookup which files there are > action: shell ls /opt/oracle/product/ > register: oracle\_versions > tags: > > - orabestanden > > - name: Oracle | Find out where the Admin path is > action: shell find /opt/oracle/product/{{ item }} -type d -name admin | grep -i network > with\_items: > > - $oracle\_versions.stdout\_lines > register: oracle\_admin\_path > tags: > > - orabestanden > > - name: Oracle | Remove previous links/files > action: file > state=absent > dest={{ item[0] }}/{{ item[1] }} > with\_nested: > $oracle\_admin\_path.stdout\_lines > $orafiles > when\_changed: $nieuweversiegeplaatst > tags: > > - orabestanden > - name: Oracle | Create new links > action: file > state=link > src=/opt/oracle/admin/network/admin/{{ item[1] }} > dest={{ item[0] }}/{{ item[1] }} > owner=oracle > group=dba > with\_nested: > $oracle\_admin\_path.stdout\_lines > $orafiles > when\_changed: $nieuweversiegeplaatst > tags: > - orabestanden But when activated, We see this: > TASK: [Oracle | Find out where the Admin path is] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* > failed: [laixviola] =\> (item={u’changed’: True, u’end’: u’2013-07-12 13:37:42.035145’, u’stdout’: u’10.2\n11.2’, u’cmd’: u’ls /opt/oracle/product/ ‘, u’rc’: 0, ‘item’: ‘’, u’stderr’: u’‘, u’delta’: u’0:00:00.009996’, ‘invocation’: {‘module\_name’: ‘shell’, ‘module\_args’: ‘ls /opt/oracle/product/’}, ‘stdout\_lines’: [u’10.2’, u’11.2’], u’start’: u’2013-07-12 13:37:42.025149’}.stdout\_lines) =\> {“changed”: true, “cmd”: "find /opt/oracle/product/{u’changed’: True, u’end’: u’2013-07-12 13:37:42.035145’, u’stdout’: u’10.2\n11.2’, u’cmd’: u’ls /opt/oracle/product/ ‘, u’rc’: 0, ‘item’: ‘’, u’stderr’: u’‘, u’delta’: u’0:00:00.009996’, ‘invocation’: {‘module\_name’: ‘shell’, ‘module\_args’: ‘ls /opt/oracle/product/’}, ‘stdout\_lines’: [u’10.2’, u’11.2’], u’start’: u’2013-07-12 13:37:42.025149’}.stdout\_lines -type d -name admin | grep -i network ", “delta”: “0:00:00.013772”, “end”: “2013-07-12 13:37:44.072192”, “item”: “{u’changed’: True, u’end’: u’2013-07-12 13:37:42.035145’, u’stdout’: u’10.2\n11.2’, u’cmd’: u’ls /opt/oracle/product/ ‘, u’rc’: 0, ‘item’: ‘’, u’stderr’: u’‘, u’delta’: u’0:00:00.009996’, ‘invocation’: {‘module\_name’: ‘shell’, ‘module\_args’: ‘ls /opt/oracle/product/’}, ‘stdout\_lines’: [u’10.2’, u’11.2’], u’start’: u’2013-07-12 13:37:42.025149’}.stdout\_lines”, “rc”: 1, “start”: “2013-07-12 13:37:44.058420”} > stderr: find: bad status-- /opt/oracle/product/{uchanged: > find: bad status-- True, > find: bad status-- uend: > find: bad status-- u2013-07-12 13:37:42.035145, > find: bad status-- ustdout: > find: bad status-- u10.2\n11.2, > find: bad status-- ucmd: > find: bad starting directory > find: bad status-- urc: > find: bad status-- 0, > find: bad status-- item: > find: bad status-- , > find: bad status-- ustderr: > find: bad status-- u, > find: bad status-- udelta: > find: bad status-- u0:00:00.009996, > find: bad status-- invocation: > find: bad status-- {module\_name: > find: bad status-- shell, > find: bad status-- module\_args: > find: bad starting directory > find: bad status-- stdout\_lines: > find: bad status-- [u10.2, > find: bad status-- u11.2], > find: bad status-- ustart: > find: bad status-- u2013-07-12 13:37:42.025149}.stdout\_lines > FATAL: all hosts have already failed – aborting I’m guessing that I’m not using the variables correcly, So I also tried variations like these: with\_items: - ${oracle\_versions.stdout\_lines} with\_items: - ${oracle\_versions}.stdout\_lines with\_items: - {{ oracle\_versions.stdout\_lines }} Comes back with: > ERROR: Syntax Error while loading YAML script, /home/mmaas/playbooks/tasks/ora\_bestanden\_aix.yml > Note: The error may actually appear before this position: line 47, column 8 > with\_items: > > - {{ oracle\_versions.stdout\_lines }} S they all came back with errors. What is the exact way of referering to the variable? Thanks in advance, Mark ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/2 "2013-07-12T12:29:16Z")
Looks like you have a syntax error at minimum with\_nested: $oracle\_admin\_path.stdout\_lines $orafiles Missing the “-” before each list element. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Maas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mark\_Maas](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mark_Maas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/3 "2013-07-12T13:01:49Z")
True, it was something I was testing, I tried again with: > with\_nested: > > - $oracle\_admin\_path.stdout\_lines > - $orafiles But still getting this error: > failed: [laixviola] =\> (item={u’changed’: True, u’end’: u’2013-07-12 15:00:13.636800’, u’stdout’: u’10.2\n11.2’, u’cmd’: u’ls /opt/oracle/product/ ‘, u’rc’: 0, ‘item’: ‘’, u’stderr’: u’‘, u’delta’: u’0:00:00.009673’, ‘invocation’: {‘module\_name’: ‘shell’, ‘module\_args’: ‘ls /opt/oracle/product/’}, ‘stdout\_lines’: [u’10.2’, u’11.2’], u’start’: u’2013-07-12 15:00:13.627127’}.stdout\_lines) =\> {“changed”: true, “cmd”: "find /opt/oracle/product/{u’changed’: True, u’end’: u’2013-07-12 15:00:13.636800’, u’stdout’: u’10.2\n11.2’, u’cmd’: u’ls /opt/oracle/product/ ‘, u’rc’: 0, ‘item’: ‘’, u’stderr’: u’‘, u’delta’: u’0:00:00.009673’, ‘invocation’: {‘module\_name’: ‘shell’, ‘module\_args’: ‘ls /opt/oracle/product/’}, ‘stdout\_lines’: [u’10.2’, u’11.2’], u’start’: u’2013-07-12 15:00:13.627127’}.stdout\_lines -type d -name admin | grep -i network ", “delta”: “0:00:00.012722”, “end”: “2013-07-12 15:00:15.631391”, “item”: “{u’changed’: True, u’end’: u’2013-07-12 15:00:13.636800’, u’stdout’: u’10.2\n11.2’, u’cmd’: u’ls /opt/oracle/product/ ‘, u’rc’: 0, ‘item’: ‘’, u’stderr’: u’‘, u’delta’: u’0:00:00.009673’, ‘invocation’: {‘module\_name’: ‘shell’, ‘module\_args’: ‘ls /opt/oracle/product/’}, ‘stdout\_lines’: [u’10.2’, u’11.2’], u’start’: u’2013-07-12 15:00:13.627127’}.stdout\_lines”, “rc”: 1, “start”: “2013-07-12 15:00:15.618669”} > stderr: find: bad status-- /opt/oracle/product/{uchanged: > find: bad status-- True, > find: bad status-- uend: > find: bad status-- u2013-07-12 15:00:13.636800, > find: bad status-- ustdout: > find: bad status-- u10.2\n11.2, > find: bad status-- ucmd: > find: bad starting directory > find: bad status-- urc: > find: bad status-- 0, > find: bad status-- item: > find: bad status-- , > find: bad status-- ustderr: > find: bad status-- u, > find: bad status-- udelta: > find: bad status-- u0:00:00.009673, > find: bad status-- invocation: > find: bad status-- {module\_name: > find: bad status-- shell, > find: bad status-- module\_args: > find: bad starting directory > find: bad status-- stdout\_lines: > find: bad status-- [u10.2, > find: bad status-- u11.2], > find: bad status-- ustart: > > > find: bad status-- u2013-07-12 15:00:13.627127}.stdout\_lines > > FATAL: all hosts have already failed – aborting Thanks, Mark ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/4 "2013-07-12T13:08:45Z")
Ok so you can’t just say $foo.x in the old style syntax way, it would have been ${foo.x} Though no one should be using $foo or ${foo} anymore as {{ foo }} is the preferred way of doing things. - “{{ foo.x }}” ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Maas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mark\_Maas](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mark_Maas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/5 "2013-07-12T13:27:54Z")
Getting closer! > - name: Oracle | Admin pad uitvogelen > action: shell find /opt/oracle/product/{{ item }} -type d -name admin | grep -i network > with\_items: > - “{{ oracle\_versions.stdout\_lines }}” > register: oracle\_admin\_path > tags: > - orabestanden Now still results in something that is not iterated: ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/6 "2013-07-12T13:31:40Z")
Ok good, I didn’t expect that part to actually work 🙂 But did you try: - ${foo.x} ? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/7 "2013-07-12T13:33:42Z")
FWIW, ticket to track this: [http://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/3513](http://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/3513) ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Maas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mark\_Maas](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mark_Maas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/8 "2013-07-12T13:49:12Z")
Ah excellent, because this did work before… So now I’m at the next task, which is: > - name: Oracle | Verwijder links/bestanden > action: file > state=absent > dest={{ item[0] }}/{{ item[1] }} > with\_nested: > - ${oracle\_admin\_path.stdout\_lines} > - ${orafiles} > when\_changed: $nieuweversiegeplaatst > tags: > - orabestanden Which now bums out with: > TASK: [Oracle | Verwijder links/bestanden] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘$’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘$’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘{’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘{’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘o’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘o’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘r’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘r’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘a’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘a’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘c’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘c’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘l’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘l’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘e’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘e’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘_‘, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[’_’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘a’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘a’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘d’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘d’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘m’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘m’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘i’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘i’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘n’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘n’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘_‘, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[’_’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘p’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘p’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘a’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘a’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘t’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘t’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘h’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘h’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘.’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘.’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘s’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘s’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘t’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘t’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘d’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘d’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘o’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘o’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘u’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘u’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘t’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘t’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘_‘, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[’_’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘l’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘l’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘i’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘i’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘n’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘n’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘e’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘e’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘s’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘s’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘}’, ‘sqlnet.ora’]) > skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[‘}’, ‘tnsnames.ora’]) I’m glad it’s skipping 😉 That could have been a mess to clean up! Another syntax error I’m not seeing? I tried this as well: - name: Oracle | Verwijder links/bestanden action: file state=absent dest={{ item[0] }}/{{ item[1] }} with\_nested: - “{{ oracle\_admin\_path.stdout\_lines }}” - “{{ orafiles }}” when\_changed: $nieuweversiegeplaatst tags: - orabestanden Which made it worse 😉 TASK: [Oracle | Verwijder links/bestanden] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’[‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u"’“]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’s’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’q’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’l’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’n’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’e’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’t’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’.‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’o’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’r’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’a’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{', u”‘"]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’,‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’ ‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u"’“]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’t’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’n’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’s’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’n’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’a’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’m’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’e’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’s’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’.‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’o’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’r’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’a’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{', u”‘"]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’]‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’[‘]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u"’"]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’s’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’q’]) skipping: [laixviola] =\> (item=[u’{‘, u’l’]) I snipped the output, it would have been way too long 😉 Thanks again, Mark ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/with-nested-in-use-with-variables/13109/9 "2013-07-12T14:01:34Z")
Ok I’ll take a look.