Support vars_files when using import_playbook

[jlsalmon]

ISSUE TYPE

• Feature Idea

COMPONENT NAME

import_playbook

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible 2.4.2.0
  config file = /opt/rhel-ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = [u'/home/jsalmon/.ansible/plugins/modules', u'/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/ansible
  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible
  python version = 2.7.5 (default, May  3 2017, 07:55:04) [GCC 4.8.5 20150623 (Red Hat 4.8.5-14)]

CONFIGURATION

$ ansible-config dump --only-changed
DEFAULT_HOST_LIST(/opt/rhel-ansible/ansible.cfg) = [u'/opt/rhel-ansible/inventory/dev/hosts.base']
DEFAULT_ROLES_PATH(/opt/rhel-ansible/ansible.cfg) = [u'/opt/rhel-ansible/roles']

OS / ENVIRONMENT

RHEL 7.4

SUMMARY

Currently it is not possible to use vars_files to import variables when using import_playbook. It would be useful for my use case to be able to do this, as I am combining a third-party playbook with a custom inventory file, where the custom inventory file contains placeholders for common variables.

I can use vars with import_playbook, but this means that I cannot leverage my existing common variables and would need to duplicate them.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

$ cat inventory/common_variables.yml
... snip ...
env_http_proxy: 'http://proxy.example.org'
... snip ...

$ cat playbooks/openshift/deploy-cluster.yml
---
- import_playbook: ../third-party/openshift-ansible/playbooks/byo/config.yml
  vars_files:
   - ../../inventory/common_variables.yml

$ cat inventory/dev/hosts.openshift
... snip ...
openshift_http_proxy={{ env_http_proxy }}
... snip ...

EXPECTED RESULTS

I would expect that the above should be possible.

ACTUAL RESULTS

$ sudo ansible-playbook playbooks/openshift/deploy-cluster.yml -i inventory/dev/hosts.openshift
[sudo] password for jsalmon:
ERROR! 'vars_files' is not a valid attribute for a PlaybookInclude

The error appears to have been in '/opt/rhel-ansible/playbooks/openshift/deploy-cluster.yml': line 2, column 3, but may
be elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.

The offending line appears to be:

---
- import_playbook: ../third-party/openshift-ansible/playbooks/byo/config.yml
  ^ here

[ansibot]

Files identified in the description:

• lib/ansible/modules/utilities/logic/import_playbook.py

If these files are inaccurate, please update the component name section of the description or use the !component bot command.

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[naphta]

Any update on this issue? Is there something core blocking the implementation of this feature?

I'm happy to have a look at implementing it if there's nothing specific holding it back which I'm unaware of.

[stawii]

I would love to see this also in include_role and maybe for all other tasks/actions.
I don't see a reason why is this feature is limited only for plays.
There are many vars that are global enough to pass them here and there without need to copy-paste, but not so generic to put them inside inventory itself or extra_vars.

[ansibot]

Files identified in the description:

• lib/ansible/modules/import_playbook.py

If these files are incorrect, please update the component name section of the description or use the !component bot command.

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[Ramblurr]

There definitely seems to be an inconsistency that vars is allowed but not vars_files

[NonLogicalDev]

I would also second this, I feel like import_roles/playbooks/tasks allowing vars_files would make a huge quality of life improvement, as they will allow users to treat import_* as sort of function like blocks.

For example, you could then easily do: (somewhat contrived example)

- name: Setup telegraf service
   import_role: name="example/telegraf"
   vars_files:
     - vars/telegraf.yml
- name: Setup telegraf auxillary service
  import_role: name="example/telegraf"
  vars_files:
    - vars/telegraf-aux.yml

At the moment the closest you can come to that simplicity is (if you want the tags to work correctly)

- name: TELEGRAF | Install and Configure Telegraf
  tags: [ telegraf, sometag ]
  block:
    - include_vars: telegraf.yml
    - include_role: 
        name: "example/telegraf"
        apply:
          tags: [ telegraf, sometag ]

[sivel]

It's not strictly required, but the work I am doing in #73309 would make this much easier to deal with. I wouldn't work on adding vars_files until that PR merges, or we determine that #73309 is not feasible.

[ansibot]

Thank you very much for your submission to Ansible. It means a lot to us that you've taken time to contribute.

Unfortunately, this issue has been open for some time while waiting for a contributor to take it up but there does not seem to have been anyone that did so. So we are going to close this issue to clear up the queues and make it easier for contributors to browse possible implementation targets.

However, we're absolutely always up for discussion. Because this project is very active, we're unlikely to see comments made on closed tickets and we lock them after some time. If you or anyone else has any further questions, please let us know by using any of the communication methods listed in the page below:

• https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/community/communication.html

In the future, sometimes starting a discussion on the development list prior to proposing or implementing a feature can make getting things included a little easier, but it's not always necessary.

Thank you once again for this and your interest in Ansible!

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