with_fileglob always looks up files on localhost

[riccardomurri]

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

with_fileglob core built-in looping feature.

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible 2.3.2.0
  config file =
  configured module search path = Default w/o overrides
  python version = 2.7.14 (default, Sep 23 2017, 22:06:14) [GCC 7.2.0]

CONFIGURATION

Empty ansible.cfg file.

OS / ENVIRONMENT

 $ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 17.10
Release:    17.10
Codename:   artful

SUMMARY

Looping over existing files with with_fileglob always looks up
filesystem entries on the controller host where Ansible is running,
and not on the target host.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Use the following playbook to reproduce:

---

- name:
  hosts: all
  gather_facts: yes

  tasks:
    - name: Make test files
      file:
        name: '/tmp/issue-test.{{item}}'
        state: touch
      with_items:
        - foo
        - bar
        - baz

    - name: List results of `with_fileglob`
      debug:
        msg: 'path={{ item }}'
      with_fileglob: '/tmp/issue-test.*'

1. Remove any local files matching the glob pattern:

    rm -f /tmp/issue-test.*
   

2. Run the playbook targeting any remote host -- files /tmp/issue-test.{foo.bar.baz} will be created but not listed.

EXPECTED RESULTS

I would expect with_fileglob to look up files remotely.

If this is not the intended behavior, it should be clearly stated in the docs.
(Still, I would like a way to do file globs with remote files.)

ACTUAL RESULTS

Ansible expands with_fileglob with contents of a local file lookup.
This can be seen by running the above playbook:

# ensure that no test files exist locally
$ rm /tmp/issue-test.*

# now run ansible targeting a remote host -- no files are listed
$ ansible-playbook -i "ubuntu@172.23.28.106," /tmp/issue.yml

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

TASK [Gathering Facts] ***************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ubuntu@172.23.28.106]

TASK [Make test files] ***************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ubuntu@172.23.28.106] => (item=foo)
changed: [ubuntu@172.23.28.106] => (item=bar)
changed: [ubuntu@172.23.28.106] => (item=baz)

TASK [List results of `with_fileglob`] ***********************************************************************************************************************

PLAY RECAP ***************************************************************************************************************************************************
ubuntu@172.23.28.106       : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0

[ansibot]

Files identified in the description:
None

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[sivel]

This is the expected behavior. with_fileglob is a lookup and as documented at http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/playbooks_lookups.html

Note
Lookups occur on the local computer, not on the remote computer.

To iterate a list of files on a remote node, use the find module, register the results, and then loop over them with with_items or similar.

If you have further questions please stop by IRC or the mailing list:

• IRC: #ansible on irc.freenode.net
• mailing list: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ansible-project

[riccardomurri]

This is the expected behavior. with_fileglob is a lookup

This information is however, nowhere to be found on the "loops" page. Everything that is stated about with_fileglob is:

with_fileglob matches all files in a single directory, non-recursively, that match a pattern. It calls Python’s glob library

(plus a warning about relative paths with roles).

I still think there should be a warning/note.

[doxxx]

I only learned of this by reading this issue.