Add 2.20 porting guide

docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/core_porting_guides.rst

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Please note that this is not a complete list. If you believe any extra informati
    :maxdepth: 1
    :glob:
 
+   porting_guide_core_2.20
    porting_guide_core_2.19
    porting_guide_core_2.18
    porting_guide_core_2.17

docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_core_2.20.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+
+.. _porting_2.20_guide_core:
+
+*******************************
+Ansible-core 2.20 Porting Guide
+*******************************
+
+This section discusses the behavioral changes between ``ansible-core`` 2.19 and ``ansible-core`` 2.20.
+
+It is intended to assist in updating your playbooks, plugins,
+and other parts of your Ansible infrastructure so they will work with this version of Ansible.
+
+Review this page and the
+`ansible-core Changelog for 2.20 <https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.20/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.20.rst>`_
+to understand necessary changes.
+
+This document is part of a collection on porting.
+The complete list of porting guides can be found at :ref:`porting guides <porting_guides>`.
+
+.. contents:: Topics
+
+.. _2.20_introduction:
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+No notable changes
+
+.. _2.20_playbook:
+
+Playbook
+========
+
+Removed quote stripping in PowerShell operations
+-------------------------------------------------
+
+The PowerShell module utilities no longer attempt to remove quotes from paths when performing Windows operations like copying and fetching files. This should not affect normal playbooks unless a value is quoted too many times. If you have playbooks that rely on this automatic quote removal, you will need to adjust your path formatting.
+
+.. _2.20_engine:
+
+Engine
+======
+
+No notable changes
+
+.. _2.20_plugin_api:
+
+Plugin API
+==========
+
+Removed Features
+----------------
+
+The following previously deprecated features have been removed:
+
+* The ``DEFAULT_TRANSPORT`` configuration option no longer supports the ``smart`` value that selected the default transport as either ``ssh`` or ``paramiko`` based on the underlying platform configuration.
+* The ``vault`` and ``unvault`` filters no longer accept the deprecated ``vaultid`` parameter.
+* The ``ansible-galaxy`` command no longer supports the v2 Galaxy server API. Galaxy servers hosting collections must support v3.
+* The ``dnf`` and ``dnf5`` modules no longer support the deprecated ``install_repoquery`` option.
+* The ``encrypt`` module utility no longer includes the deprecated ``passlib_or_crypt`` API.
+* The ``paramiko`` connection plugin no longer supports the ``PARAMIKO_HOST_KEY_AUTO_ADD`` and ``PARAMIKO_LOOK_FOR_KEYS`` configuration keys, which were previously deprecated.
+* The ``py3compat.environ`` call has been removed.
+* Vars plugins that do not inherit from ``BaseVarsPlugin`` and define a ``get_vars`` method can no longer use the deprecated ``get_host_vars`` or ``get_group_vars`` fallback.
+* The ``yum_repository`` module no longer supports the deprecated ``keepcache`` option.
+
+Behavioral Changes
+------------------
+
+* The ``DataLoader.get_basedir`` method now returns an absolute path instead of a relative path. Plugin code that relies on relative paths may need adjustment.
+* Argument spec validation now treats ``None`` values as empty strings for the ``str`` type for better consistency with pre-2.19 templating conversions.
+* When using ``failed_when`` to suppress an error, the ``exception`` key in the result is now renamed to ``failed_when_suppressed_exception``. This prevents the error from being displayed by callbacks after being suppressed. If you have playbooks that check for the exception in the result, update them as follows:
+
+.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
+
+    # Before
+    - command: /bin/false
+      register: result
+      failed_when: false
+
+    - debug:
+        msg: "Exception was: {{ result.exception }}"
+      when: result.exception is defined
+
+    # After
+    - command: /bin/false
+      register: result
+      failed_when: false
+
+    - debug:
+        msg: "Exception was: {{ result.failed_when_suppressed_exception }}"
+      when: result.failed_when_suppressed_exception is defined
+
+.. _2.20_command_line:
+
+Command Line
+============
+
+* Python 3.11 is no longer a supported control node version. Python 3.12+ is now required for running Ansible.
+* Python 3.8 is no longer a supported remote version. Python 3.9+ is now required for target execution.
+
+.. _2.20_deprecated:
+
+Deprecated
+==========
+
+INJECT_FACTS_AS_VARS
+--------------------
+
+The ``INJECT_FACTS_AS_VARS`` configuration currently defaults to ``True``, but this is now deprecated and it will switch to ``False`` in Ansible 2.24.
+
+When enabled, facts are available both inside the ``ansible_facts`` dictionary and as individual variables in the main namespace. In the ``ansible_facts`` dictionary, the ``ansible_`` prefix is removed from fact names.
+
+You will receive deprecation warnings if you are accessing 'injected' facts. To prepare for the future default:
+
+**Update your playbooks to use the ansible_facts dictionary:**
+
+.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
+
+    # Deprecated - will stop working in 2.24
+    - debug:
+        msg: "OS: {{ ansible_os_distribution }}"
+
+    # Recommended - works in all versions
+    - debug:
+        msg: "OS: {{ ansible_facts['distribution'] }}"
+        # Note: 'ansible_' prefix is removed inside ansible_facts
+
+**Or explicitly enable the current behavior in your configuration:**
+
+In your ``ansible.cfg`` file:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+    [defaults]
+    inject_facts_as_vars = True
+
+By exporting an environment variable:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    export ANSIBLE_INJECT_FACT_VARS=True
+
+Other Deprecations
+------------------
+
+* The ``vars`` internal variable cache will be removed in 2.24. This cache, once used internally, exposes variables in inconsistent states. The ``vars`` and ``varnames`` lookups should be used instead.
+* Specifying ``ignore_files`` as a string in the ``include_vars`` module is deprecated. Use a list instead:
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+    # Deprecated
+    - include_vars:
+        dir: vars/
+        ignore_files: ".gitkeep"
+
+    # Correct
+    - include_vars:
+        dir: vars/
+        ignore_files: [".gitkeep"]
+
+.. _2.20_modules:
+
+Modules
+=======
+
+Modules removed
+---------------
+
+The following modules no longer exist:
+
+* No notable changes
+
+Deprecation notices
+-------------------
+
+No notable changes
+
+Noteworthy module changes
+-------------------------
+
+* The ``include_vars`` module now raises an error if the ``extensions`` parameter is not specified as a list. Previously, non-list values were silently accepted.
+* The ``include_vars`` module now raises an error if the ``ignore_files`` parameter is not specified as a list. Previously, string values were accepted but are now deprecated.
+* The ``replace`` module now reads and writes files in text-mode as unicode characters instead of as bytes, and switches regex matching to unicode characters instead of bytes. This may affect playbooks that rely on byte-level operations.
+
+Plugins
+=======
+
+Noteworthy plugin changes
+-------------------------
+
+No notable changes
+
+Porting custom scripts
+======================
+
+No notable changes
+
+Networking
+==========
+
+No notable changes