Inner loop in loop over dict in Ansible - ansible

Question

How to loop over dict in this example?
I can loop over list of strings (lorem:), but I can not loop over objects: dict.
I am using module which needs as input list and dict, so I have be able use both cases, but before module call I have to do some workaround with keys from dict so I have to be able reference it.
I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Can anyone show me a proper example?
Thanks
---
- name: test
hosts: localhost
connection: local
vars:
persons:
foo:
name: john
state: us
objects:
phone: samsung
color: black
capacity: 32
lorem:
- 1
- 2
- 3
bar:
name: helmut
state: de
objects:
phone: lg
color: red
capacity: 16
lorem:
- 4
- 5
- 6
tasks:
- name: List of strings is OK
debug:
msg: "{{ item.0.value.name }} and object: {{ item.1 }}"
loop: "{{ persons | dict2items |subelements('value.lorem',{ 'skip_missing': True }) }}"
- name: Dict referencing key:value is not OK
debug:
msg: "Name: {{ item.0.value.name }} and object: {{ item.1.[value] }} with key name: {{ item.1.[key]}}"
loop: "{{ persons | dict2items |subelements('value.objects',{ 'skip_missing': True }) }}"
Produces an error: fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"msg": "the key 'objects' should point to a list, got {u'color': u'black', u'phone': u'samsung', u'capacity': 32}"}

Answer 1

Best I can think of is to do something like this. Using jinja to generate a list that returns what you need.
---
- name: test
hosts: localhost
connection: local
vars:
persons:
foo:
name: john
state: us
objects:
phone: samsung
color: black
capacity: 32
lorem:
- 1
- 2
- 3
bar:
name: helmut
state: de
objects:
phone: lg
color: red
capacity: 16
lorem:
- 4
- 5
- 6
tasks:
- debug:
msg: |
[
{% for p in persons %}
{% for o in persons[p].objects %}
{
"name": "{{ persons[p].name }}",
"key": "{{ o }}",
"value": "{{ persons[p].objects[o] }}"
},
{% endfor %}
{% endfor %}
]
Output
TASK [debug] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"msg": [
{
"key": "color",
"name": "john",
"value": "black"
},
{
"key": "phone",
"name": "john",
"value": "samsung"
},
{
"key": "capacity",
"name": "john",
"value": "32"
},
{
"key": "color",
"name": "helmut",
"value": "red"
},
{
"key": "phone",
"name": "helmut",
"value": "lg"
},
{
"key": "capacity",
"name": "helmut",
"value": "16"
}
]
}
Oh, and if you wanted to use that in a loop, just something like this.
- debug:
msg: "{{ item.name }} {{ item.key }} {{ item.value }}"
loop_control:
label: "{{ item.name }} {{ item.key }} {{ item.value }}"
loop: |
[
{% for p in persons %}
{% for o in persons[p].objects %}
{
"name": "{{ persons[p].name }}",
"key": "{{ o }}",
"value": "{{ persons[p].objects[o] }}"
},
{% endfor %}
{% endfor %}
]
Output
TASK [debug] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=john color black) => {
"msg": "john color black"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=john phone samsung) => {
"msg": "john phone samsung"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=john capacity 32) => {
"msg": "john capacity 32"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=helmut color red) => {
"msg": "helmut color red"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=helmut phone lg) => {
"msg": "helmut phone lg"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=helmut capacity 16) => {
"msg": "helmut capacity 16"
}

Answer 2

You can use with_items as well.
Please refer below code:
playbook -->
---
- name: test hosts: localhost gather_facts: no tasks:
- include_vars: vars.yml
- name: debug
debug:
msg: "{{ item.vars.persons }}"
with_items:
- "{{ vars }}"
output --->
"msg": {
"bar": {
"lorem": [
4,
5,
6
],
"name": "helmut",
"objects": {
"capacity": 16,
"color": "red",
"phone": "lg"
},
"state": "de"
},
"foo": {
"lorem": [
1,
2,
3
],
"name": "john",
"objects": {
"capacity": 32,
"color": "black",
"phone": "samsung"
},
"state": "us"
}
}
}