Testing a task result which uses a loop? - linux

Question

So the first task is always skipped because RedHat 8 is detected which should trigger the fail module to run but this gets skipped also. Is works fine without the loop though.
- name: installing packages
hosts: ansible2
ignore_errors: true
vars_files: varsfile
tasks:
- name: install software based on OS distro and version
yum:
name: "{{ item.name }}"
state: latest
loop: "{{ packages }}"
when: >
( ansible_distribution == "RedHat" and ansible_distribution_major_version is version('12', '>=') )
or
( ansible_distribution == "CentOS" and ansible_distribution_major_version | int >= 8 )
register: result
- fail:
msg: error {{ ansible_hostname }} does not meet minimum requirements
when: result is skipped

Answer 1

Regarding
So the first task is always skipped because RedHat 8 is detected which should trigger the fail module to run but this gets skipped also.
with a small test setup and a debug task for the variable name to debug
---
- hosts: test.example.com
become: false
gather_facts: true
tasks:
- name: Install software based on OS distro and version
debug:
msg: "{{ ansible_distribution }} {{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}"
register: result
when: ansible_distribution == "RedHat" and ansible_distribution_major_version is version('12', '>=')
with_items: ['pkg1', 'pkg2']
- name: Show result
debug:
var: result
- fail:
msg: "Error: {{ ansible_hostname }} does not meet minimum requirements"
when: result.results[0].skipped
resulting into an output of
TASK [Gathering Facts] ********************************
ok: [test.example.com]
TASK [Show result] ************************************
ok: [test.example.com] =>
result:
changed: false
msg: All items completed
results:
- ansible_loop_var: item
changed: false
item: pkg1
skip_reason: Conditional result was False
skipped: true
...
TASK [fail] *******************************************
fatal: [test.example.com]: FAILED! => changed=false
msg: 'Error: test does not meet minimum requirements'
you can see that the loop will create a list.
- name: Show result
debug:
var: result.results | type_debug
TASK [Show result] ****************
ok: [test.example.com] =>
result.results | type_debug: list
Therefore you need to set the Conditional to when: result.results[0].skipped.
Regarding
Is works fine without the loop though.
it is recommended to simplify your use case with the following approach
- name: Install software based on OS distro and version
yum:
name: "{{ packages }}"
state: latest
according the yum module Notes
When used with a loop: each package will be processed individually, it is much more efficient to pass the list directly to the name option.
and as it is faster and consumes less resources. Furthermore the result set and conditionals are less complex.