Ansible slurp module fails with a variable - ansible

Question

When I use an Ansible variable with the src option of the slurp module, the slurp module fails.
I'm trying to build an Ansible playbook to copy the SSH public key from each node in the group to every other node in the group. I cannot use the Ansible lookup() function because that can lookup files only on the Ansible server. Instead, I build the path to the id_rsa.pub with the intent of slurp'ing into memory for the authorized_key function.
My problem is that when I specify an Ansible variable for the src for the slurp module, the playbook fails, even though it lists the correct path to the id_rsa.pub file. If I specify the path instead of using the variable, the slurp module works.
Here is my playbook:
# Usage: ansible-playbook copyPublicKey.yaml --limit <GRP> --extra-vars "userid=<userid>"
---
- hosts: all
remote_user: root
vars:
user_id: "{{ userid }}"
tasks:
- name: Determine the path to the public key file
shell: grep "{{ user_id }}" /etc/passwd | cut -d":" -f6
changed_when: false
register: user_home
- set_fact:
rsa_file: "{{ user_home.stdout_lines | to_nice_yaml | replace('\n', '') }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub"
- debug:
msg: "Public key file - {{ rsa_file }}"
- slurp:
src: "{{ rsa_file }}"
register: public_key
- debug:
msg: "Public key: {{ public_key }}"
The invocation:
ansible-playbook copyPublicKey.yaml --limit DEV --extra-vars "userid=deleteme2"
The output of the slurp module:
TASK: [slurp ] ****************************************************************
failed: [hana-np-11.cisco.com] => {"failed": true}
msg: file not found: - /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
failed: [hana-np-13.cisco.com] => {"failed": true}
msg: file not found: - /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
failed: [hana-np-14.cisco.com] => {"failed": true}
msg: file not found: - /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
failed: [hana-np-15.cisco.com] => {"failed": true}
msg: file not found: - /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
failed: [hana-np-12.cisco.com] => {"failed": true}
msg: file not found: - /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
FATAL: all hosts have already failed -- aborting
Yet if I specify the actual path in the slurp module:
- slurp:
src: /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
I get the output I expect:
TASK: [slurp ] ****************************************************************
ok: [hana-np-11.cisco.com]
ok: [hana-np-12.cisco.com]
ok: [hana-np-15.cisco.com]
ok: [hana-np-14.cisco.com]
ok: [hana-np-13.cisco.com]
TASK: [debug ] ****************************************************************
ok: [hana-np-11.cisco.com] => {
"msg": "Public key: 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..."
}
ok: [hana-np-12.cisco.com] => {
"msg": "Public key: c3NoLXJzYSBBQUFBQjNOemFDMXljMkVBQUFBQkl3QUFBUUVBd2hPa0FqcEhwbUU4ZEkvemR6d0I1U0htZnlpdXljd2ZmK2lDNW9KaEN4aU5ST0ZKbnVyOFArWno2K2c4Qy8waUdkNGs1ZHIwcE9IY1liWHlMeDNObHhTTWN6RnowZWNSUnMzL1FOOEQzSnBtWlR6T0JaMm1SaG1FY0hGbS9uTkh5eUZyWXlPOHlQNWpqNmxiSUlwU0lMb1BZZGJvM1dxenBGZjhiaDFlVkhRTEo2citVZzNwcUhUeWRzRDZhY3Rtc1ZvWWUvdVV6WExiYkpKbUxxdi9ZeGU4ZW9aUmtONkVqNGtaVDBibDFYUktkM0xTQlZKMHRwa3A1bVgzekxMNGVvWVEzMzMzam1qd2MzU1dWSHVObVl1b1ZsRFEvSzdoR2lFVHd5YUM3VU9hQ29pcEVnUGl5b2o3U1JpNzZCenpxV2hXc2dIbHI0REM3U0p2WFpObk9RPT0gYW5zaWJsZS1nZW5lcmF0ZWQgb24gaGFuYS1ucC0xMgo=..."
}
ok: [hana-np-13.cisco.com] => {
"msg": "Public key: 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..."
}
ok: [hana-np-14.cisco.com] => {
"msg": "Public key: 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..."
}
ok: [hana-np-15.cisco.com] => {
"msg": "Public key: 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..."
}
What am I doing wrong? What don't I know about using Ansible variables?

Answer 1

slurp module fails because you provide it incorrect data -- the error message is:
msg: file not found: - /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Rephrasing:
The file named "- /usr/sap/DEV/home/deleteme2/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" cannot be found.
Quite obviously such a file with a hyphen and a space at the beginning does not exist and the error is valid.
The reason for malformed data is unnecessary to_nice_yaml filter on a user_home.stdout_lines list (hyphen is an element marker in YAML).
You can safely remove it and use the following:
---
- hosts: all
remote_user: root
vars:
user_id: "{{ userid }}"
tasks:
- name: Determine the path to the public key file
shell: grep "{{ user_id }}" /etc/passwd | cut -d":" -f6
changed_when: false
register: user_home
- slurp:
src: "{{ user_home.stdout_lines[0] }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub"
register: public_key
- debug:
msg: "Public key: {{ public_key }}"
Elements of stdout_lines don't have trailing newlines, so replace('\n', '') is unnecessary, but as it is a list, even though south a single element, you need to address only the first element with [0].
Otherwise you could also get the value with user_home.stdout | replace('\n', '') }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.

Answer 2

In this case, the issue is related to incorrect file name (as mentioned by techraf).
But just a note about what I have experienced is that slurp also shows the same error "File not found" when the file resides in a directory whose permissions are not allowing ansible user to read content from it. Though, it should print permission related error but it shows instead "File not found" error.