Yml must be stored as a dictionary/hash - ansible

Question

I have a yaml file of usernames and their ssh keys stored like this:
---
- user: bob
name: bob McBob
ssh_keys:
- ssh-rsa ...
- user: fred
name: fred McFred
ssh_keys:
- ssh-rsa ...
I'm trying to grab the user and ssh_keys keys so i can use this file to setup the users on linux hosts
It seems Ansible does not like the format of this file though, as this simple task throws an error:
- name: Get SSH Keys
include_vars:
file: ../admins.yml
name: ssh_keys
TASK [network-utility-servers : Get SSH Keys] *******************************************************************************************************************************
task path: main.yml:1
fatal: [127.0.0.1]: FAILED! => {
"ansible_facts": {
"ssh_keys": {}
},
"ansible_included_var_files": [],
"changed": false,
"message": "admins.yml must be stored as a dictionary/hash"
}
Unfortunately I can't change the format of the admins.yml file as it is used in other tools and changing the format will break them.
Any suggestions on how I can work around this?
Looks like ansible wants the admins.yml file to look like this:
---
foo:
- user: bob
name bob mcbob
ssh_keys:
- ssh-rsa ..

Answer 1

As you found out, include_vars is expecting a file containing dict key(s) at the top level. But there are other ways to read yaml files in ansible.
If you cannot change the file, the simplest way is to read its content inside a variable using a file lookup and the from_yaml filter.
Here is an example playbook. For this test, your above example data was stored in admins.yml in the same folder as the playbook. Adapt accordingly.
---
- hosts: localhost
gather_facts: false
vars:
admins: "{{ lookup('file', 'admins.yml') | from_yaml }}"
tasks:
- name: Show admin users list
debug:
var: admins
Which gives:
PLAY [localhost] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
TASK [Show admin users list] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"admins": [
{
"name": "bob McBob",
"ssh_keys": [
"ssh-rsa ..."
],
"user": "bob"
},
{
"name": "fred McFred",
"ssh_keys": [
"ssh-rsa ..."
],
"user": "fred"
}
]
}
PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost : ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0

Answer 2

As you said, the given vars file has not a valid format. You could use a task to fix the file in the fashion you described, and then attempt to load it.
The lineinfile task could be of use to do the trick, as in below example:
---
- hosts: localhost
gather_facts: false
vars:
tasks:
- name: fix vars file
lineinfile:
path: "{{ playbook_dir }}/vars_file.yml"
insertafter: "^---$"
line: "ssh_keys:"
backup: yes
- name: Get SSH Keys
include_vars:
file: "{{ playbook_dir }}/vars_file.yml"
- debug: var=ssh_keys
If you are not supposed to edit that file, you could copy to a new file name (vars_file_fixed.yml), then apply the lineinfile and load it.
cheers