How do I share variables/facts between Molecule Playbooks? - ansible

Question

I'm trying to share a variable between my converge step and my cleanup step of my Molecule. Since both playbooks are being run on the same host, I figure I can use facts to cache the variable as a fact.
In converge.yml:
- name: Cache some variable
set_fact:
cacheable: yes
my_fact: "howdy, world"
In cleanup.yml:
- debug:
msg: "{{ my_fact }}"
and in my top-level ansible.cfg I specify:
[defaults]
gathering = smart
fact_caching = jsonfile
fact_caching_connection = /tmp/facts_cache
fact_caching_timeout = 7200
I first run molecule converge and then I run molecule cleanup I'm getting the error: (reformatted)
TASK [debug] *******************************************************************
fatal: [cluster-toolchain]: FAILED! => {"msg": "The task includes an option
with an undefined variable. The error was: 'my_fact' is undefined
The error appears to be in '{REDACTED}/cleanup.yml': line 5, column 7, but may be
elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.
The offending line appears to be:\n\n tasks:\n - debug:\n ^ here\n"}
I've got some guesses, like maybe Molecule doesn't see my top level ansible.cfg or something.
Anyway, I was hoping for some help here. Maybe there is a better way to share the variable in Molecule world.

Answer 1

Molecule is a tool to test Ansible roles. It is not targeted to execute Ansible playbooks. Usual command is ansible-playbook.
Molecule cannot not read your ansible.cfg with fact caching settings. If you want to make your commands working, add settings in molecule.yml:
provisioner:
name: ansible
config_options:
defaults:
gathering: smart
fact_caching: jsonfile
fact_caching_connection: /tmp/facts_cache
fact_caching_timeout: 7200
Then molecule converge followed by molecule cleanup gives:
PLAY [Cleanup] ************************************************************************************************************************
TASK [debug] **************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [vagrant-instance] => {
"msg": "howdy, world"
}