Unable to load and fetch variables from group_vars file from /etc/ansible

user_6580198 0
Viewed 1450

I am trying to fetch the variable value from group_vars but ansible is unable to locate it from the default location /etc/ansible. Here are the details.

Ansible Version

[admin@ansicontrol newvarsexample]$ ansible --version
ansible 2.9.18
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/admin/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/ansible
  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.8.2 (default, Feb 28 2020, 00:00:00) [GCC 10.0.1 20200216 (Red Hat 10.0.1-0.8)]

Ansible Inventory file /etc/ansible/hosts:

[stack]
192.168.47.130

Ansible Playbook fedoragroupvarfile.yaml:

- hosts: all
  remote_user: admin
  tasks:
    - name: Set OS distribution dependent variables
      include_vars: "os_{{ ansible_facts['distribution'] }}.yaml"
    - debug:
        var: fedcharm

Ansible group_vars file /etc/ansible/group_vars/os_Fedora.yaml:

fedcharm: "This is Fedora 32 OS variable file"

Error

TASK [Set OS distribution dependent variables] *******************************************************************************
fatal: [192.168.47.130]: FAILED! => {"ansible_facts": {}, "ansible_included_var_files": [], "changed": false, "message": "Could not find or access 'os_Fedora.yaml'\nSearched in:\n\t/home/admin/practiceansible/newvarsexample/vars/os_Fedora.yaml\n\t/home/admin/practiceansible/newvarsexample/os_Fedora.yaml\n\t/home/admin/practiceansible/newvarsexample/vars/os_Fedora.yaml\n\t/home/admin/practiceansible/newvarsexample/os_Fedora.yaml on the Ansible Controller.\nIf you are using a module and expect the file to exist on the remote, see the remote_src option"}

Why does include_vars try to find the variables file in the current playbook's directory rather than the default /etc/ansible/group_vars location where the file is located.

ansible-inventory ansible
1 Answers

The "default location" is where ansible looks for the inventory if you don't specify one with -i /path/to/inventory.yaml, but a file you include with include_vars is not an inventory, but only contains bare variables.
If you use include_vars with a relative path, ansible will look for the file in a location relative to the playbook/role (see documentation).
You can specify an absolute path in include_vars as well. E.g. /etc/ansible/variables.yaml (the file has to exist).

But actually, I don't think that is what you want. If you have your variables in /etc/ansible/group_vars, they will be loaded by default without include_vars if you structure your directories correctly. Check the docs.

Place a file containing this line in /etc/ansible/group_vars/stack.yaml:

fedcharm: "This is Fedora 32 OS variable file"

And fedoragroupvarsfile.yaml should contain this:

- hosts: all
  remote_user: admin
  tasks:
    - debug:
        var: fedcharm

Then run your playbook as before. If you did everything correctly, ansible will load the variables for the group stack in your inventory from /etc/ansible/group_vars/stack.yaml and display the correct message.

user_36836390
Related