apt_repository errors out with multiline strings with trailing newline

[jonasPoehler]

Summary

I tried to switch from Ansible 2.15.7 to 2.16.1 and discovered, that apt_repository fails on me when I try to run a task as described in the steps to reproduce.

I did some quick debugging and saw, that in module_utils/basic.py:376 the buffere contains some json including the input with its newline. The newline then causes json.loads to fail.

My simple (and probably correct) fix was to replace > with >- to strip the trailing newline. However, I did not find any mention of this behaviour change in the porting guide (since this did work in 2.15.7) and without some debugging I could have never known the true reason for this error, so the error message could be improved (verbose logging did not help).

Issue Type

Bug Report

Component Name

apt_repository

Ansible Version

$ ansible --version
ansible [core 2.16.1]
  config file = /home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/poehler/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /home/poehler/dev/ansible/venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/poehler/dev/ansible/collections:/home/poehler/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /home/poehler/dev/ansible/venv/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.11.6 (main, Oct  8 2023, 05:06:43) [GCC 13.2.0] (/home/poehler/dev/ansible/venv/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.2
  libyaml = True

Configuration

# if using a version older than ansible-core 2.12 you should omit the '-t all'
$ ansible-config dump --only-changed -t all
CALLBACKS_ENABLED(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['foconis_prometheus_push_callback']
COLLECTIONS_PATHS(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/home/poehler/dev/ansible/collections', '/home/poehler/.ansible/collections', '/usr/share/ansible/collections']
CONFIG_FILE() = /home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg
DEFAULT_CALLBACK_PLUGIN_PATH(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/usr/share/ansible/plugins/callback', '/home/poehler/dev/ansible/plugins/callback']
DEFAULT_FORKS(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = 10
DEFAULT_GATHERING(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = smart
DEFAULT_HOST_LIST(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/home/poehler/dev/ansible/hosts']
DEFAULT_ROLES_PATH(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/home/poehler/dev/ansible/roles', '/home/poehler/.ansible/roles', '/usr/share/ansible/roles', '/etc/ansible/roles']
DEFAULT_STDOUT_CALLBACK(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = yaml
DEFAULT_VARS_PLUGIN_PATH(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = ['/usr/share/ansible/plugins/vars', '/home/poehler/dev/ansible/plugins/vars']
DISPLAY_SKIPPED_HOSTS(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = False
PAGER(env: PAGER) = less

CALLBACK:
========

foconis_prometheus_push_callback:
________________________________
gateway_url(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = https://some.url

default:
_______
display_skipped_hosts(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = False

CONNECTION:
==========

ssh:
___
pipelining(/home/poehler/dev/ansible/ansible.cfg) = True

OS / Environment

Ubuntu 23.10 running on WSL

Steps to Reproduce

- name: "Remove old docker repository configuration"
  ansible.builtin.apt_repository:
    repo: >
      deb [arch=amd64]
      https://download.docker.com/linux/{{ ansible_distribution | lower if ansible_distribution == 'Debian' or
      ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu' else omit }} {{ ansible_lsb.codename }} stable
    filename: docker
    state: absent

Expected Results

Either this just works (as in 2.15) or the error I get is more helpful for me to actually understand, what I'm doing wrong.

Actual Results

TASK [docker : Remove old docker repository configuration] *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
task path: /home/poehler/dev/ansible/roles/docker/tasks/install.yml:30
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => changed=false 
  msg: 'Error: Module unable to decode valid JSON on stdin.  Unable to figure out what parameters were passed'

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow the Ansible Code of Conduct

[ansibot]

Files identified in the description:

• lib/ansible/modules/apt_repository.py

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

[lkthomas]

lower if ansible_distribution == 'Debian' or ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu' else omit <- could you try to use "when:" instead so you reduce the complexity on the "repo:" section?

Example:
when: ansible_os_family == "Debian"

[jonasPoehler]

could you try to use "when:" instead so you reduce the complexity on the "repo:" section?

That's kinda the point of me creating this issue. I have a couple of such templates with apt_repository and the problem is not the complexity of the template, but rather the behaviour with newlines in these templates changing from 2.15 to 2.16. Obviously I can rewrite this template to be a bit simpler, but this isn't relevant to the issue since you could remove the templating in its entirety and the problem would still be here, as long as I have to introduce linebreaks.

- name: "Remove old docker repository configuration"
  ansible.builtin.apt_repository:
    repo: >
      deb [arch=amd64]
      https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu mantic stable
    filename: docker
    state: absent