Ansible templates and jinja {%block%} - ansible

Question

I need to generate a single file on the remote host using multiple template files and Jinja's {% block block_name %} in my Ansible role
For example,
main.conf.j2:
value1 = 123
value2 = 456
{% block test %} {% endblock %}
value3 = 789
{% block example %} {% endblock %}
value4 = abcd
test.conf.j2:
{% block test %}
more text here
{% endblock %}
example.conf.j2
{% block example %}
....
example_param = 'example!'
....
{% endblock %}
What's the next step? I must use {% extends 'nginx.conf.j2' %} in test.conf.j2 and example.conf.j2? And if so - how will look my Ansible task? Or even something else?
If I trying something like this:
- name: Copy config
template:
src: "{{ item }}"
dest: "{{ conf_file_path }}"
with_items:
- "main.conf.j2"
- "test.conf.j2"
- "example.conf.j2"
- "abcd.conf.j2"
it works only for main.conf.j2 and test.conf.j2, but ignores example.conf.j2 and other templates

Answer 1

Q: "What's the next step? I must use {% extends 'nginx.conf.j2' %} ... ?"
A: Yes. extends is needed. For example
- template:
src: test.j2
dest: test
with the templates
shell> cat main.j2
value1 = 123
{% block test %}
value = default value in main.j2
{% endblock %}
value3 = 789
shell> cat test.j2
{% extends 'main.j2' %}
{% block test %}
value = custom value in test.j2
{% endblock %}
gives
shell> cat test
value1 = 123
value = custom value in test.j2
value3 = 789
Q: "How will look my Ansible task?"
- name: Copy config
template:
src: "{{ item }}"
dest: "{{ conf_file_path }}"
with_items:
- "main.conf.j2"
- "test.conf.j2"
- "example.conf.j2"
- "abcd.conf.j2"
A: The loop will repeatedly overwrite the dest file in each iteration. See template.
FWIW. It's possible to use blockinfile and loop the lookup of the templates. For example
- template:
src: main2.j2
dest: test
- blockinfile:
marker: "# {mark} ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK {{ item }}"
path: test
block: "{{ lookup('template', item) }}"
loop:
- test.conf.j2
- example.conf.j2
with the templates
shell> cat main2.j2
value1 = 123
# BEGIN ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK test.conf.j2
value_test = default value in main2.j2
# END ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK test.conf.j2
# BEGIN ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK example.conf.j2
value_example = default value in main2.j2
# END ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK example.conf.j2
value3 = 789
shell> cat test.conf.j2
value_test = custom value in test.conf.j2
shell> cat example.conf.j2
value_example = custom value in example.conf.j2
give
shell> cat test
value1 = 123
# BEGIN ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK test.conf.j2
value_test = custom value in test.conf.j2
# END ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK test.conf.j2
# BEGIN ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK example.conf.j2
value_example = custom value in example.conf.j2
# END ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK example.conf.j2
value3 = 789