Accessing inventory host variable in Ansible playbook - ansible

Question

In Ansible 2.1, I have a role being called by a playbook that needs access to a host file variable. Any thoughts on how to access it?
I am trying to access the ansible_ssh_host in the test1 section of the following inventory host file:
[test1]
test-1 ansible_ssh_host=abc.def.ghi.jkl ansible_ssh_port=1212
[test2]
test2-1 ansible_ssh_host=abc.def.ghi.mno ansible_ssh_port=1212
[test3]
test3-1 ansible_ssh_host=abc.def.ghi.pqr ansible_ssh_port=1212
test3-2 ansible_ssh_host=abc.def.ghi.stu ansible_ssh_port=1212
[all:children]
test1
test2
test3
I have tried accessing the role in the following fashions:
{{ hostvars.ansible_ssh_host }}
and
{{ hostvars.test1.ansible_ssh_host }}
I get this error:
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"failed": true, "msg": "'ansible.vars.hostvars.HostVars object' has no attribute 'ansible'"}

Answer 1

You are on the right track about hostvars.
This magic variable is used to access information about other hosts.
hostvars is a hash with inventory hostnames as keys.
To access fields of each host, use hostvars['test-1'], hostvars['test2-1'], etc.
ansible_ssh_host is deprecated in favor of ansible_host since 2.0.
So you should first remove "_ssh" from inventory hosts arguments (i.e. to become "ansible_user", "ansible_host", and "ansible_port"), then in your role call it with:
{{ hostvars['your_host_group'].ansible_host }}

Answer 2

[host_group]
host-1 ansible_ssh_host=192.168.0.21 node_name=foo
host-2 ansible_ssh_host=192.168.0.22 node_name=bar
[host_group:vars]
custom_var=asdasdasd
You can access host group vars using:
{{ hostvars['host_group'].custom_var }}
If you need a specific value from specific host, you can use:
{{ hostvars[groups['host_group'][0]].node_name }}

Answer 3

You should be able to use the variable name directly
ansible_ssh_host
Or you can go through hostvars without having to specify the host literally
by using the magic variable inventory_hostname
hostvars[inventory_hostname].ansible_ssh_host

Answer 4

I struggled with this, too. My specific setup is: Your host.ini (with the modern names):
[test3]
test3-1 ansible_host=abc.def.ghi.pqr ansible_port=1212
test3-2 ansible_host=abc.def.ghi.stu ansible_port=1212
plus a play fill_file.yml
---
- remote_user: ec2-user
hosts: test3
tasks:
- name: fill file
template:
src: file.j2
dest: filled_file.txt
plus a template file.j2 , like
{% for host in groups['test3'] %}
{{ hostvars[host].ansible_host }}
{% endfor %}
This worked for me, the result is
abc.def.ghi.pqr
abc.def.ghi.stu
I have to admit it's ansible 2.7, not 2.1. The template is a variation of an example in https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks_variables.html.
The accepted answer didn't work in my setup. With a template
{{ hostvars['test3'].ansible_host }}
my play fails with "AnsibleUndefinedVariable: \"hostvars['test3']\" is undefined" .
Remark: I tried some variations, but failed, occasionally with "ansible.vars.hostvars.HostVars object has no element "; Some of this might be explained by what they say. in https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/13343#issuecomment-160992631
hostvars emulates a dictionary [...]. hostvars is also lazily loaded

Answer 5

I've found also a nice and simple way to address hostsvars right on one of Ansible's Github issues
Looks like you can do this as well:
- debug:
msg: "{{ ansible_ssh_host }}"

Answer 6

Thanks a lot this note was very useful for me!
Was able to send the variable defined under /group_var/vars in the ansible playbook
as indicated below.
tasks:
- name: check service account password expiry
- command:
sh /home/monit/get_ldap_attr.sh {{ item }} {{ LDAP_AUTH_USR }}