Ansible inline jinja templating out to a list - ansible

Question

I can't figure out why this wouldn't work.
I'm using jinja to dynamically generate the list I would pass to the vmware_guest module, so I can decide in host or group vars if I would like to add additional disks.
I'm using the vmware_disk_info module to look up the size of the template disk and then add any additional disks that I would define in a group var.
It looks to me like the outputted list just isn't a list????
---
- name: "Get facts for named template"
vmware_guest_disk_info:
hostname: "{{ vcenter_server }}"
username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
password: "{{ vcenter_pass }}"
validate_certs: False
datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
name: "{{ template_name }}"
register: template_disk
delegate_to: localhost
- name: "Define new disk structure"
set_fact:
vm_disks: >-
[{% for disk in (template_disk.guest_disk_info|dictsort) %}{
'size_kb': {{ disk[1].capacity_in_kb }},
'datastore': {{ datastore_name }}},
{% endfor %}
{% for disk in additional_disks|default([]) %}{
{% if disk.size_gb is defined %}'size_gb': {{ disk.size_gb }},{% endif %}
{% if disk.size_mb is defined %}'size_mb': {{ disk.size_mb }},{% endif %}
{% if disk.size_kb is defined %}'size_kb': {{ disk.size_kb }},{% endif %}
'datastore': {{ datastore_name }}},
{% endfor %}]
delegate_to: localhost
- name: Clone the template
vmware_guest:
hostname: "{{ vcenter_server }}"
username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
password: "{{ vcenter_pass }}"
validate_certs: False
name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
template: "{{ template_name }}"
datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
folder: "/{{ datacenter_name }}/vm/{{ folder_name }}"
cluster: "{{ cluster_name }}"
datastore: "{{ datastore_name }}"
resource_pool: "{{ resource_pool_name }}"
disk: "{{ vm_disks }}"
hardware:
memory_gb: "{{ mem_size_gb }}"
num_cpu: "{{ cpu_size }}"
networks:
- name: "{{ network_name }}"
ip: "{{ ansible_host }}"
netmask: "{{ network_mask }}"
gateway: "{{ network_gw }}"
type: static
customization:
hostname: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
domain: "{{ domain_name }}"
dns_suffix:
- "{{ domain_name }}"
dns_servers: "{{ network_dns }}"
state: poweredon
wait_for_ip_address: yes
delegate_to: localhost
and an example var would be:
additional_disks:
- size_gb: "120"
datastore: "VSAN_Datastore"
the error out:
fatal: [docker02 -> localhost]: FAILED! => changed=false
module_stderr: |-
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/piwi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1586075176.0007603-201082838827202/AnsiballZ_vmware_guest.py", line 102, in <module>
_ansiballz_main()
File "/home/piwi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1586075176.0007603-201082838827202/AnsiballZ_vmware_guest.py", line 94, in _ansiballz_main
invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)
File "/home/piwi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1586075176.0007603-201082838827202/AnsiballZ_vmware_guest.py", line 40, in invoke_module
runpy.run_module(mod_name='ansible.modules.cloud.vmware.vmware_guest', init_globals=None, run_name='__main__', alter_sys=True)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 205, in run_module
return _run_module_code(code, init_globals, run_name, mod_spec)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 96, in _run_module_code
mod_name, mod_spec, pkg_name, script_name)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 85, in _run_code
exec(code, run_globals)
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_fiddyn_z/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2834, in <module>
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_fiddyn_z/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2823, in main
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_fiddyn_z/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2342, in deploy_vm
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_fiddyn_z/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2005, in configure_disks
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'
module_stdout: ''
msg: |-
MODULE FAILURE
See stdout/stderr for the exact error
rc: 1
The full traceback is:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/piwi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1586075175.423514-45894902001082/AnsiballZ_vmware_guest.py", line 102, in <module>
_ansiballz_main()
File "/home/piwi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1586075175.423514-45894902001082/AnsiballZ_vmware_guest.py", line 94, in _ansiballz_main
invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)
File "/home/piwi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1586075175.423514-45894902001082/AnsiballZ_vmware_guest.py", line 40, in invoke_module
runpy.run_module(mod_name='ansible.modules.cloud.vmware.vmware_guest', init_globals=None, run_name='__main__', alter_sys=True)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 205, in run_module
return _run_module_code(code, init_globals, run_name, mod_spec)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 96, in _run_module_code
mod_name, mod_spec, pkg_name, script_name)
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 85, in _run_code
exec(code, run_globals)
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_mspbq6yr/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2834, in <module>
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_mspbq6yr/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2823, in main
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_mspbq6yr/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2342, in deploy_vm
File "/tmp/ansible_vmware_guest_payload_mspbq6yr/ansible_vmware_guest_payload.zip/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py", line 2005, in configure_disks
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'
example var output:
ok: [gluster01] =>
vm_disks: |-
[{
'size_kb': 125829120,
'datastore': VSAN_Datastore},
{
'size_gb': 120, 'datastore': VSAN_Datastore},
]
ok: [gluster02] =>
vm_disks: |-
[{
'size_kb': 125829120,
'datastore': VSAN_Datastore},
{
'size_gb': 120, 'datastore': VSAN_Datastore},
]
ok: [docker01] =>
vm_disks: |-
[{
'size_kb': 125829120,
'datastore': VSAN_Datastore},
]
New code based on below suggestion:
The same error, however:
- name: "Define new disk structure"
set_fact:
vm_disks: >-
{%- set results = [] -%}
{%- for osdisk in ( template_disk.guest_disk_info | dictsort ) -%}
{%- set od = { "size_kb": osdisk[1].capacity_in_kb } -%}
{%- set _ = od.update({ "datastore": osdisk[1].backing_datastore }) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(od) -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{%- for disk in additional_disks|default([]) -%}
{%- set d = {"size_gb": disk.size_gb} if (disk.size_gb is defined) else {} -%}
{%- set _ = d.update({"datastore": disk.datastore_name}) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(d) -%}
{%- endfor -%}
"{{ results }}"
var debugging:
TASK [vm_clone : Debugging var] *******************************************************************************************************************
ok: [gluster01] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}, {''size_gb'': ''120'', ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
ok: [gluster02] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}, {''size_gb'': ''120'', ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
ok: [docker01] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
ok: [docker02] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
ok: [docker03] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
ok: [docker04] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
ok: [docker05] =>
vm_disks: '"[{''size_kb'': 125829120, ''datastore'': ''VSAN_Datastore''}]"'
This looks like a list to me, So to verify this, I piped the result to the to_json filter, and it errored out saying, it's not a str it's a list.
So it is definitely a list.

Answer 1

As Uttam correctly pointed out, but didn't provide an answer for, the problem is that your set_fact: produces a string but disks must be a list of dict, as one can see from the fine manual (and the code)
There are two reasons: the first is that ansible only auto-coerces JSON-looking strings into actual python list and dict structures, but you have used python syntax with the single quoted string literals and trailing commas, both of which are illegal is JSON
the second is that one should never build up a rich data structure in jinja using text: it has strong support for those data structures, as well as the wonderful | to_json and |from_json filters to ensure the output is legal JSON and correctly escaped characters
But I know that's a lot of words, so I believe the smallest change you can make to cause your situation to work is to stop using single quotes and guard the trailing comma:
- name: "Define new disk structure"
set_fact:
vm_disks: >-
[
{% for disk in (template_disk.guest_disk_info|dictsort) %}
{{ "" if loop.first else "," }}
{
"size_kb": {{ disk[1].capacity_in_kb }},
"datastore": "{{ datastore_name }}"
}
{% endfor %}
{% for disk in additional_disks|default([]) %}
{{ "," if template_disk.guest_disk_info else "" }}
{
{% if disk.size_gb is defined %}"size_gb": {{ disk.size_gb }},{% endif %}
{% if disk.size_mb is defined %}"size_mb": {{ disk.size_mb }},{% endif %}
{% if disk.size_kb is defined %}"size_kb": {{ disk.size_kb }},{% endif %}
"datastore": "{{ datastore_name }}"
}
{% endfor %}
]
The correct code would be something akin to:
set_fact:
vm_disks: >-
{%- set results = [] -%}
{%- for disk in additional_disks|default([]) -%}
{%- set d = {"datastore": datastore_name} -%}
{%- set _ = d.update({"size_gb": disk.size_gb} if (disk.size_gb is defined) else {}) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(d) -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{{ results }}

Answer 2

final working code, Big Thanks to #mdaniel
- name: "Get facts for named template"
vmware_guest_disk_info:
hostname: "{{ vcenter_server }}"
username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
password: "{{ vcenter_pass }}"
validate_certs: False
datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
name: "{{ template_name }}"
register: template_disk
delegate_to: localhost
- name: "Define new disk structure"
set_fact:
vm_disks: >-
{%- set results = [] -%}
{%- for osdisk in ( template_disk.guest_disk_info | dictsort ) -%}
{%- set od = { "size_kb": osdisk[1].capacity_in_kb } -%}
{%- set _ = od.update({ "datastore": osdisk[1].backing_datastore }) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(od) -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{%- for disk in additional_disks|default([]) -%}
{%- if (disk.size_gb is defined) -%}
{%- set d = {"size_gb": disk.size_gb} -%}
{%- set _ = d.update({"datastore": disk.datastore_name}) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(d) -%}
{%- endif -%}
{%- if (disk.size_mb is defined) -%}
{%- set d = {"size_mb": disk.size_mb} -%}
{%- set _ = d.update({"datastore": disk.datastore_name}) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(d) -%}
{%- endif -%}
{%- if (disk.size_kb is defined) -%}
{%- set d = {"size_kb": disk.size_kb} -%}
{%- set _ = d.update({"datastore": disk.datastore_name}) -%}
{%- set _ = results.append(d) -%}
{%- endif -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{{ results }}
- name: Clone the template
vmware_guest:
hostname: "{{ vcenter_server }}"
username: "{{ vcenter_user }}"
password: "{{ vcenter_pass }}"
validate_certs: False
name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
template: "{{ template_name }}"
datacenter: "{{ datacenter_name }}"
folder: "/{{ datacenter_name }}/vm/{{ folder_name }}"
cluster: "{{ cluster_name }}"
datastore: "{{ datastore_name }}"
resource_pool: "{{ resource_pool_name }}"
disk: "{{ vm_disks }}"
hardware:
memory_gb: "{{ mem_size_gb }}"
num_cpu: "{{ cpu_size }}"
networks:
- name: "{{ network_name }}"
ip: "{{ ansible_host }}"
netmask: "{{ network_mask }}"
gateway: "{{ network_gw }}"
type: static
customization:
hostname: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
domain: "{{ domain_name }}"
dns_suffix:
- "{{ domain_name }}"
dns_servers: "{{ network_dns }}"
state: poweredon
wait_for_ip_address: yes
delegate_to: localhost
and set your vars like this, in any combination you need:
additional_disks:
- size_gb: "120"
datastore_name: "VSAN_Datastore"
- size_mb: "10240"
datastore_name: "VSAN_Datastore"
- size_kb: "10240000"
datastore_name: "VSAN_Datastore"