Ansible sub-role loads variables from parent role

[afunix]

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

include_vars

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible 2.2.1.0 (stable-2.2 b1e44d1195) last updated 2016/12/21 09:59:48 (GMT -500)
  lib/ansible/modules/core: (detached HEAD 62dbe0debb) last updated 2016/12/21 10:00:23 (GMT -500)
  lib/ansible/modules/extras: (detached HEAD 17eebf2b4f) last updated 2016/12/21 10:00:23 (GMT -500)
  config file = 
  configured module search path = Default w/o overrides

CONFIGURATION

$  env | grep ANSIBLE
ANSIBLE_HOME=/Users/cqx874/ansible/ansible

OS / ENVIRONMENT

N/A

SUMMARY

include_vars documentation says that file parameter is relative, it will look for the file in vars/ subdirectory of a role or relative to playbook.

However when I use include_vars with with_first_found in sub-role variables are loaded from master role.

I have lots of roles which try to load variables based on ansible_distribution, ansible_os_family or ansible_system.
I also have lots of roles which depend on each other.
I need a way to load variables relative to the role itself, just like documentation states.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

playbook.yml:

- hosts: 127.0.0.1
  connection: local
  roles:
    - master

roles/master/meta/main.yml:

---
dependencies:
    - { role: slave }

roles/slave/tasks/main.yml:

---
- include_vars:
    file: "{{item}}"
  with_first_found:
    - test_master.yml
    - test_slave.yml

- debug:
    var: variable

roles/master/vars/test_master.yml:

---
variable: master

roles/slave/vars/test_slave.yml:

---
variable: slave

EXPECTED RESULTS

Expected variable to be slave as there is no test_master.yml in role/slave/vars, so sensible should load test_slave.yml according to documentation.

ACTUAL RESULTS

variable is master.

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv
No config file found; using defaults
 [WARNING]: Host file not found: /etc/ansible/hosts

 [WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available


PLAYBOOK: playbook.yml *********************************************************
1 plays in playbook.yml

PLAY [127.0.0.1] ***************************************************************

TASK [setup] *******************************************************************
Using module file /Users/cqx874/ansible/ansible/lib/ansible/modules/core/system/setup.py
<127.0.0.1> ESTABLISH LOCAL CONNECTION FOR USER: cqx874
<127.0.0.1> EXEC /bin/sh -c '( umask 77 && mkdir -p "` echo ~/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997 `" && echo ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997="` echo ~/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997 `" ) && sleep 0'
<127.0.0.1> PUT /var/folders/9h/p9701fj55yx6rld3m4d1w7qm0000gn/T/tmpTL11wC TO /Users/cqx874/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997/setup.py
<127.0.0.1> EXEC /bin/sh -c 'chmod u+x /Users/cqx874/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997/ /Users/cqx874/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997/setup.py && sleep 0'
<127.0.0.1> EXEC /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/python /Users/cqx874/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997/setup.py; rm -rf "/Users/cqx874/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1482438409.93-219791886340997/" > /dev/null 2>&1 && sleep 0'
ok: [127.0.0.1]

TASK [slave : include_vars] ****************************************************
task path: /Users/cqx874/ansible/bugs/XXXXX-vars-subroles/roles/slave/tasks/main.yml:2
ok: [127.0.0.1] => (item=/Users/cqx874/ansible/bugs/XXXXX-vars-subroles/roles/master/vars/test_master.yml) => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "variable": "master"
    }, 
    "invocation": {
        "module_args": {
            "file": "/Users/cqx874/ansible/bugs/XXXXX-vars-subroles/roles/master/vars/test_master.yml"
        }, 
        "module_name": "include_vars"
    }, 
    "item": "/Users/cqx874/ansible/bugs/XXXXX-vars-subroles/roles/master/vars/test_master.yml"
}

TASK [slave : debug] ***********************************************************
task path: /Users/cqx874/ansible/bugs/XXXXX-vars-subroles/roles/slave/tasks/main.yml:8
ok: [127.0.0.1] => {
    "variable": "master"
}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
127.0.0.1                  : ok=3    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0   

[ansibot]

cc @bennojoy
click here for bot help

[yabhinav]

+1

I am facing similar issue when running a dependency role declare in meta/main.yml, where both roles has include_vars to load distribution specific variables.

- name: Gather OS Specific Variables
  include_vars: "{{ item }}"
  with_first_found:
    - "{{ ansible_distribution }}-{{ ansible_distribution_version }}.yml"
    - "{{ ansible_distribution }}-{{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}.yml"
    - "{{ ansible_distribution }}.yml"
    - "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"
    - "default.yml"

>>> Working on ansible version : latest
 'source ~/.bashrc && workon ansible_latest && ansible-playbook /etc/ansible/roles/role_under_test/playbooks/test.yml && deactivate ; (exit $?)'

PLAY [all] *********************************************************************

TASK [setup] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [yabhinav.common : Gather OS Specific Variables] **************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=/etc/ansible/roles/yabhinav.common/vars/CentOS-7.yml)

TASK [yabhinav.common : Ensure NTP Synchronised] *******************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [role_under_test : Gather OS Specific Variables] **************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=/etc/ansible/roles/role_under_test/vars/RedHat.yml)

TASK [role_under_test : Install IPA Client Packages] ***************************
changed: [localhost] => (item=[u'ipa-client', u'ipa-admintools', u'sssd-ipa', u'sssd-ldap', u'ipa-python', u'libipa_hbac', u'python-libipa_hbac', u'python-iniparse'])

As you can see above dependency role yabhinav.common has CentOS-7.yml and role_under_test has RedHat.yml in their relative vars folders. But for CentOS 6 both roles will lead from RedHat.yml

'source ~/.bashrc && workon ansible_latest && ansible-playbook /etc/ansible/roles/role_under_test/playbooks/test.yml && deactivate ; (exit $?)'
/root/.virtualenvs/ansible_latest/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cryptography/__init__.py:26: DeprecationWarning: Python 2.6 is no longer supported by the Python core team, please upgrade your Python. A future version of cryptography will drop support for Python 2.6
  DeprecationWarning

PLAY [all] *********************************************************************

TASK [setup] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [yabhinav.common : Gather OS Specific Variables] **************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=/etc/ansible/roles/role_under_test/vars/RedHat.yml)

TASK [yabhinav.common : Install Common Packages] *******************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"failed": true, "msg": "'common_pkgs' is undefined"}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1   

And as you can see the yabhinav.common/tasks/main.yml is loading variables from /etc/ansible/roles/role_under_test/vars/RedHat.yml instead of /etc/ansible/roles/yabhinav.common/vars/RedHat.yml and hence next task fails with undefined error

Even using relative path in the file names doesnt work

- name: Gather OS Specific Variables
  include_vars: "{{ item }}"
  with_first_found:
    - "../vars/{{ ansible_distribution }}-{{ ansible_distribution_version }}.yml"
    - "../vars/{{ ansible_distribution }}-{{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}.yml"
    - "../vars/{{ ansible_distribution }}.yml"
    - "../vars/{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"
    - "../vars/default.yml"

This bug exist in all previous and latest ansible versions and needs an immediate path...

reproduced in ansible versions 2.0.0.0, 2.1.0.0, 2.2.0.0 and 2.2.1.0

[afunix]

So I worked around the issue adding paths to with_first_found:

- name: Load variables specific for OS family
  include_vars: "{{item}}"
  with_first_found:
    - files:
        - "{{ansible_distribution}}-{{ansible_distribution_version}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_distribution}}-{{ansible_distribution_major_version}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_distribution}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_os_family}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_system}}.yml"
      paths:
        - "../myrole/vars"

Not convenient, but works. Still waiting for a fix.

[yabhinav]

@afunix Thanks for the work around!!

I would suggest a slightly better improvement :
*if using ansible-galaxy and installing role , rolename would be .
*if running the role from GitHub src code , role name would be

custom-role-name can be differently set in ansible galaxy but by default it will be same as gitHub-role-name, but still considering the . prefix its better we use {{role_path}} or {{role_path|basename}}

- name: Gather OS Specific Variables
  include_vars: "{{ item }}"
  with_first_found:
    - files:
        - "{{ansible_distribution}}-{{ansible_distribution_version}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_distribution}}-{{ansible_distribution_major_version}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_distribution}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_os_family}}.yml"
        - "{{ansible_system}}.yml"
      paths:
        - "{{ role_path }}/vars"

I also notice that I have name my var Redhat.yml which is sometimes picket as RedHat.yml and sometimes ignored by inlcude_vars, so is it really case sensitive or case-insensistive

PLAY [all] *********************************************************************
TASK [setup] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [role_under_test : Gather OS Specific Variables] **************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"failed": true, "msg": "No file was found when using with_first_found. Use the 'skip: true' option to allow this task to be skipped if no files are found"}
PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1   

PLAY [all] *********************************************************************

TASK [setup] *******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [role_under_test : Gather OS Specific Variables] **************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=/etc/ansible/roles/role_under_test/vars/RedHat.yml)

Although this has nothing to with current bug.

[ansibot]

cc @linuxdynasty
click here for bot help

[samdoran]

This is working as intended as described in the documentation. Adding paths: vars/ is the recommend way to get the desired behavior.

We should probably improve the documentation to describe the behavior more explicitly, possibly adding an example to the first_found lookup for this case specifically.

[s-hertel]

Closing as per above