Multiline error messages are unreadable

[mgedmin]

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

• core

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible 2.0.0.2
  config file = /home/mg/src/deployments/provisioning/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = Default w/o overrides

CONFIGURATION

N/A

OS / ENVIRONMENT

N/A

SUMMARY

Ansible 2.0 reports error messages like this:

RUNNING HANDLER [fridge : reload apache] ***************************************
fatal: [precise]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "failed": true, "msg": "Warning: DocumentRoot [/home/mg/gedmin.as/] does not exist\nWarning: DocumentRoot [/home/mg/gedmin.as/] does not exist\nWarning: DocumentRoot [/home/sirex/htlog/var/www/] does not exist\nWarning: DocumentRoot [/home/mg/www] does not exist\napache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 10.0.2.15 for ServerName\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8443, the first has precedence\n[Thu Feb 18 06:57:34 2016] [warn] _default_ VirtualHost overlap on port 8001, the first has precedence\n"}

This is, to put it politely, unreadable.

It's especially surprising when Ansible's own nice multi-line YAML errors get squished into a single line with embedded \ns.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Create a test.yml like this:

---
- hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - include: err.yml

Create an err.yml like this:

---
- command: echo hi
  with_items:
    - one
    - two
    - "and a syntax error for fun

Run ansible-playbook test.yml

EXPECTED RESULTS

Ansible 1.9.4 wasn't too bad and used to produce this:

ERROR: Syntax Error while loading YAML script, /path/to/err.yml
Note: The error may actually appear before this position: line 8, column 1



^

ACTUAL RESULTS

Ansible 2.0.0.2 as well as Ansible 2.1.0 (devel 875ea74) produce this:

PLAY ***************************************************************************

TASK [include] *****************************************************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"failed": true, "reason": "ERROR! Syntax Error while loading YAML.\n\n\nThe error appears to have been in '/path/to/err.yml': line 8, column 1, but may\nbe elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.\n\n(specified line no longer in file, maybe it changed?)"}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=0    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1   

[metalrufflez]

+1

[ilyapoz]

+1 please fix this, really a big and totally unneeded hurdle in diagnosing

[aairey]

+1

Same on v2.1.2.
It seems to happen when you include tasks/roles. If the error happens in one of those tasks it gets printed on one line.

[ansibot]

@mgedmin Greetings! Thanks for taking the time to open this issue. In order for the community to handle your issue effectively, we need a bit more information.

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[mkrizek]

I get the following with today's devel branch:

ERROR! Syntax Error while loading YAML.
  found unexpected end of stream

The error appears to have been in '/home/mkrizek/devel/ansible-repro/err.yml': line 6, column 1, but may
be elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.

(specified line no longer in file, maybe it changed?)

Closing as per above.