How can I expand multiple lists in the same task - yaml

Question

I have a situation where I have two different variables, which I want to reference in a single command:
For example, I am expecting the following as output :
list 1
item a
item b
list 2
another item from different var 10
-name : Run a module which executes a command on a host eg. via ssh
command:
host: {{ device_ip }}
cmd_str:
- 'list 1 '
- ' {{ item item[0].name }}'
- 'list 2 '
- ' {{ another item from different var item[1].id }}'
with_items:
- {{ var1 }}
- {{ var2 }}
var1:
- { name:a, address:test }
- { name:b, address:test2 }
var2:
- { name:x, id:10 }
What do I write instead of "with_items" to get this done?
The issue is how do I expand two different variables, in the same place without having to iterate the entire command (this is do-able if I move with_items to the same indentation level as the module invocation)

Answer 1

I cannot understand what you actually want to do, but the following playbook demonstrates:
Passing multiple vars in a single item using dict
Iterating over each var using Jinja2 template
playbook.yml:
---
- hosts: all
gather_facts: no
vars:
var1:
- { name: a, address: test }
- { name: b, address: test2 }
var2:
- { name: x, id: 10 }
tasks:
- debug:
msg: |
list 1
{% for x in item.1 %}
item {{x.name}}
{% endfor %}
list 2
{% for x in item.2 %}
another item from different var {{x.id}}
{% endfor %}
with_items:
- { 1: "{{var1}}", 2: "{{var2}}" }
- shell: |
>/tmp/output.txt # truncate file
{% for x in item.1 %}
echo item {{x.name}} >>/tmp/output.txt
{% endfor %}
{% for x in item.2 %}
echo another item from different var {{x.id}} >>/tmp/output.txt
{% endfor %}
with_items:
- { 1: "{{var1}}", 2: "{{var2}}" }
Sample session:
$ ansible-playbook -i localhost, playbook.yml
PLAY [all] ********************************************************************
TASK: [debug ] ****************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item={1: [{'name': 'a', 'address': 'test'}, {'name': 'b', 'address': 'test2'}], 2: [{'name': 'x', 'id': 10}]}) => {
"item": {
"1": [
{
"address": "test",
"name": "a"
},
{
"address": "test2",
"name": "b"
}
],
"2": [
{
"id": 10,
"name": "x"
}
]
},
"msg": "list 1\n item a\n item b\nlist 2\n another item from different var 10\n"
}
TASK: [shell >/tmp/output.txt # truncate file
{% for x in item.1 %}
echo item {{x.name}} >>/tmp/output.txt
{% endfor %}
{% for x in item.2 %}
echo another item from different var {{x.id}} >>/tmp/output.txt
{% endfor %}
] ***
changed: [localhost] => (item={1: [{'name': 'a', 'address': 'test'}, {'name': 'b', 'address': 'test2'}], 2: [{'name': 'x', 'id': 10}]})
PLAY RECAP ********************************************************************
localhost : ok=2 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0
Output shown in msg from debug module:
list 1
item a
item b
list 2
another item from different var 10
Output in /tmp/output.txt from shell module:
item a
item b
another item from different var 10

Answer 2

Here is the Ansible docs page on loops: http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks_loops.html
I think you are looking for either nested loops, subelements, or looping over parallel sets.