Undefined Variable error in ansible for /etc/ansible/hosts varaiables - ansible

I have two VMs one as ansible control machine and running playbook to perform action on second vm.
Following are files on ansible control machine
/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
inventory = /etc/ansible/hosts
/etc/ansible/hosts
# My nodes
[my-group]
my1-node ansible_user=imran DB_SERVER=10.136.10.49 DB_USER=mydbusr
I tried following two ways to access variables but no success, but if i provide with command line like -e DB_SERVER=10.136.10.49. its working
myplaybook
---
- hosts: all
tasks:
- debug:
msg:
- "Database server {{DB_SERVER}}"
- "Database Username {{ hostvars['DB_USER'] }}"
Above is producing error
Update:
I also run with verbose and its saying so its pointing to correct config, as i read due to vagrant sometime configuration is not pointed correctly.
Using /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg as config file

if you want to use the hostvars magic variables array, you should use the below syntax:
---
- hosts: all
tasks:
- debug:
msg:
- "Database server {{DB_SERVER}}"
- "Database Username {{ hostvars[inventory_hostname]['DB_USER'] }}"
{{DB_SERVER}} should work, ansible knows how to resolve it to the value you defined in the inventory file.
hope it helps.

Related

Ansible using dynamic variable on hosts returns Error

I'm trying to create a playbook which basically consists 2 hosts init; (don't ask why)
---
- hosts: all
tasks:
- name: get the hostname of machine and save it as a variable
shell: hostname
register: host_name
when: ansible_host == "x.x.x.x" *(will be filled by my application)*
- hosts: "{{ host_name.stdout }}"
tasks:
- name: use the variable as hostname
shell: whoami
I don't have any hostname information in my application so I need to trigger my playbook with an IP address, then i should get the hostname of that machine and save it to a variable to use in my other tasks to avoid "when" command for each task.
The problem is that I'm able to use "host_name" variable in all other fields except "hosts", it gives me an Error like this when i try to run;
ERROR! The field 'hosts' has an invalid value, which includes an undefined variable. The error was: 'host_name' is undefined
Screenshot of the error
By default, Ansible itself gathers some information about a host. This happens at the beginning of a playbook's execution right after PLAY in TASK [Gathering Facts].
This automatic gathering of information about a system can be turned off via gather_facts: no, by default this is active.
This collected information is called Ansible Facts. An example of the collected facts is shown in the Ansible Docs, for your host you can print out all Ansible Facts:
either in the playbook as a task:
- name: Print all available facts
debug:
var: ansible_facts
or via CLI as an adhoc command:
ansible <hostname> -m setup
The Ansible Facts contain values like: ansible_hostname, ansible_fqdn, ansible_domain or even ansible_all_ipv4_addresses. This is the simplest way to act with the hostname of the client.
If you want to output the hostname and IP addresses that Ansible has collected, you can do it with the following tasks for example:
- name: Print hostname
debug:
var: ansible_hostname
- name: Print IP addresses
debug:
var: ansible_all_ipv4_addresses
If you start your playbook for all hosts, you can check the IP address and also stop it directly for the "wrong" clients.
---
- hosts: all
tasks:
- name: terminate execution for wrong hosts
assert:
that: '"x.x.x.x" is in ansible_all_ipv4_addresses'
fail_msg: Terminating because IP did not match
success_msg: "Host matched. Hostname: {{ ansible_hostname }}"
# your task for desired host

how can I get hostname and put it on cfg

how can I edit a remote cfg file or in my case
I must modify the "hostname" by the name of the remote machine,
knowing that it is for automated because aprre I will deploy it on +300 server
I must be able to get the remote hostname and put it in the cfg file with ansible
thanks
############# file for config host ############
---
- hosts: computer_user
remote_user: toto
tasks:
- name: "config zabbix agent"
lineinfile:
path: /etc/zabbix.cfg
regexp: '(.*)hostname_local(.*)'
line: '%hostname%'
########### file_cfg_on_computer_user #########
hostname_local: here_i_want_put_the_hostname_of_my_computer_user_with_a_like_%hostname%
I'm not really sure about what you really want, but if you want to get the hostname of the system where your playbook is running, then you have two possibility :
You can get the value of inventory_hostname : It is the name of the hostname as configured in Ansible’s inventory host file
Or you can get the value of the ansible fact ansible_hostname : this one is discovered during the gathering fact phase
You can find more info about hosts variables and facts here
Ansible defines many special variables at runtime.
You can use {{ inventory_hostname }} to returns the inventory name for the ‘current’ host being iterated over in the play.
Or you can execute a remote command and use result in next task :
---
- hosts: computer_user
remote_user: toto
tasks:
- name: "get hostname from remote host"
shell: hostname
register: result_hostname
- name: "config zabbix agent"
lineinfile:
path: /etc/zabbix.cfg
regexp: '(.*)hostname_local(.*)'
line: '{{ result_hostname.stdout }}'

ERROR! no action detected in task. This often indicates a misspelled module name, or incorrect module path

I trying to create a simple paybook with a common role. Unfortunately I get stymied by ansible. I have looked up and down the internet for solution for this error.
The setup:
I am running ansible 2.7.4 on Ubuntu 18.04
directory structure:
~/Ansible_Do
playbook.yml
inventory (hosts file)
/roles
/common
/defaults
main.yml (other variables)
/tasks
main.yml
richard_e.yml
/vars
vars_and_stuff.yml (vault)
I have a simple playbook.yml
---
# My playbook 1
- hosts: test
- name: Go to common role to run tasks.
roles:
- common
tasks:
- name: echo something
shell: echo $(ip addr | grep inet)
...
I run this command to start the playbook:
~/Ansible_Do$ ansible-playbook -vv --vault-id #prompt -i ~/Ansible_Do/inventory playbook.yml
I enter the vault password continuing the playbook.
The playbook starts pulls facts from the test group of servers. Then reads the role and works to /roles/common. That calls the /common/tasks/main.yml file. This is where the error happens.
The error appears to have been in '/home/~/Ansible_Do/roles/common/tasks/main.yml': line 8, column 3
# Common/tasks file
---
- name: Bring variable from vault
include_vars:
file: vars_and_stuff.yml
name: My_password
- name: Super Richard <====== Error
become: yes
vars:
ansible_become_pass: "{{ My_password }}"
- import_tasks: ./roles/common/tasks/ricahrd_e.yml
...
The ./roles/common/tasks/ricahrd_e.yml is a simple testing task.
---
- name: say hi
debug:
msg: "Active server."
...
The error on "- name". I have checked online and in the Ansible docs to see if there is a key I'm missing. I found an example for include_vars in a /role/tasks (https://gist.github.com/halberom/ef3ea6d6764e929923b0888740e05211) showing proper syntax (I presume) in a simple role. The code works as parts, but not together.
I have reached what I can understand. I feel that is error is utterly simple and I am missing something (forest for the trees).
The error means exactly what it says, except the "module name" is not misspelled in your case, but missing altogether.
This...
- name: Super Richard <====== Error
become: yes
vars:
ansible_become_pass: "{{ My_password }}"
... is not a valid task definition, it does not declare an action.
An action in Ansible is a call to a module, hence "misspelled module name".
The error comes after name, because that's where Ansible expects the name of the "module" that you want to call, e.g. shell in your first example.
You are probably assuming that become is a "module", but it is not.
It is a "playbook keyword", in this case applied on the task level, which has the effect that you become another user for this task only.
But as the task has no action, you get this error.
See docs:
Playbook keywords
Understanding privilege escalation
After a bit of work I got the playbook to work. Knowing that 'become' is not a task was the start. I also found out how to pull the proper vars from the vault.
# My first playbook 1
- hosts: test
become: yes
vars_files:
- ./roles/common/vars/vars_and_stuff.yml
vars:
ansible_become_pass: "{{ My_password }}"
roles:
- common
tasks:
- name: echo something
shell: echo $(ip addr | grep inet)
The vars file access the vault and then vars: pulls the password used by become. With become in force I ran the other tasks in the common role with a last standalone task. Lastly, don't try to - name: at the top level of the playbook as it trigger a hosts undefined error.

Ansible: Include playbook according to inventory variable

I am trying to set up Ansible to be able to run a playbook according to what inventory group the host is in. For example, in the inventory, we have:
[group1]
host1.sub.domain.tld ansible_host=10.0.0.2
...
[group1:vars]
whatsmyplaybook=build-server.yml
Then we want to make a simple playbook that will more or less redirect to the playbook that is in the inventory:
---
- name: Load Playbook from inventory
include: "{{hostvars[server].whatsmyplaybook}}"
Where the "server" variable would be the host's FQDN, passed in from the command line:
ansible-playbook whatsmyplaybook.yml -e "server=host1.sub.domain.tld"
Our reasoning for this would be to have a server bootstrap itself from a fresh installation (PXE boot), where it will only really know its FQDN, then have a firstboot script SSH to our Ansible host and kick off the above command. However, when we do this, we get the below error:
ERROR! 'hostvars' is undefined
This suggests that the inventory is not parsed until a host list is provided, which sucks a lot. Is there another way to accomplish this?
A bit strange workflow, honestly.
Your setup doesn't work, because most of variables are not defined during playbook parse time.
You may be more lucky with defining single playbook with different plays for different groups (no need to set group var, just use correct host pattern (group name in my example)) and execute it limiting to specific host:
site.yml:
---
- hosts: group1
tasks:
- include: build-web-server-tasks.yml
- hosts: group2
tasks:
- include: build-db-server-tasks2.yml
command to provision specific server:
ansible-playbook -l host1.sub.domain.tld site.yml
You can develop your own dynamic inventory file so that all machines which needs to be bootstrapped will automatically added into your inventory and group respectively with out an manual entry in to the inventory file.
For developing dynamic inventory you can follow the below link:
http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/dev_guide/developing_inventory.html
You can include multiple playbooks targeted to different groups as follows.
---
- hosts: all
tasks:
- include: build-web-server-tasks.yml
where: inventory_hostname in groups['group1']
- include: build-db-server-tasks2.yml
where: inventory_hostname in groups['group2']
inventory_hostname is the name of the hostname as configured in Ansible’s inventory host file. This can be useful for when you don’t want to rely on the discovered hostname ansible_hostname or for other mysterious reasons. If you have a long FQDN, inventory_hostname_short also contains the part up to the first period, without the rest of the domain.

Make Ansible included playbooks run on same hosts as their parent

Helllo, what is the best way to make an included playbook run on the same hosts as the playbook that called him?
I've tried declaring a variable in the parent playbook with the host name and then passing it to the included playbook, but I get an error telling me that the variable is undefined.
Below is my playbook:
---
# Main staging configuration playbook
- vars:
host_name: "stage_ansible"
hosts: "{{ host_name }}"
remote_user: ubuntu
tasks:
- name: test connection
ping:
remote_user: ubuntu
- include: NginxDefinitions.yml
vars:
service_name: "interaction.qmerce.com"
env_name: "stage4"
host_name_pass: "{{ host_name }}"
...
and the error I'm receiving:
`ERROR! 'host_name' is undefined
If you want to define the hosts runtime and avoid hard coding them on the playbook, you can pass the hosts as extra variables on the command line.
To do so, remove vars definition from your first play and add the following to the ansible-playbook command line:
--extra-vars host_name=localhost
or when you have multiple hosts:
--extra-vars '{"host_name":["host1","host2","host3"]}'

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