include_vars task does not merge hashes if told so via ansible config

[udondan]

Issue Type:

Bug Report

Ansible Version:

$ ansible --version
ansible 1.7.1

Environment:

Local: OS X Mavericks
Remote: Debian

Summary:

include_vars task does not merge hashes if told so via ansible config.

Steps To Reproduce:

ansible.cfg contains this line:

hash_behaviour = merge

Playbook with 3 tasks:

- include_vars: /path/to/file/A

- include_vars: /path/to/file/B

- debug: var=test

Content of file A:

test:
  a: 1

Content of file B:

test:
  b: 1

Expected Results:

The merged hash test should contain both keys, a and b.

TASK: [include_vars /path/to/file/A] *** 
ok: [test1.local]


TASK: [include_vars /path/to/file/B] *** 
ok: [test1.local]


TASK: [debug var=test] ****************************************** 
ok: [test1.local] => {
    "test": {
        "a": 1,
        "b": 1
    }
}

Actual Results:

The hash keys have not been merged. Only the latter one, b is available.

TASK: [include_vars /path/to/file/A] *** 
ok: [test1.local]


TASK: [include_vars /path/to/file/B] *** 
ok: [test1.local]


TASK: [debug var=test] ****************************************** 
ok: [test1.local] => {
    "test": {
        "b": 1
    }
}

[udondan]

BTW, where is the code of that component? The only file I was able to find only contains documentation, not the actual code. https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/75e5b6401c65da9de8ec4acee0dd54cabdcdb546/library/utilities/include_vars

[srgvg]

Part of the code is in https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/include_vars.py

The merging however happens somewhere in the runner I believe.

Those vars are actually returned as ansible_facts, so merging include_vars would mean merging ansible_facts AFAICS.

[udondan]

In that case this closed PR looks like it could have been the solution? #7700

[srgvg]

Yes, that looks like it..

[srgvg]

Given Michaels comments on #7700:

FWIW and AFAICS: choosing wether to merge or not is done separately for
vars returned from:

• module returning ansible_facts key (which is the use case for
  include_vars)
• set_fact module
• the setup module

[udondan]

If anyone has the same problem, I created an action plugin include_vars_merged which will do just that. Additionally it will merge hashes no matter how you have set up your hash_behaviour.

https://gist.github.com/udondan/b730206056a018cf9838

[jimi-c]

This could be done apart from ansible_facts, by making the result parser look for something beyond ansible_facts, ie. ansible_vars. Those could then be merged into the vars_cache (as opposed to the setup_cache), which is probably more appropriate anyway without having to worry about merging facts from runs.

The relevant code is in lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py, around line 515, if you'd like to look into that approach.

Based on the above discussion though, and that on #7700, I'll go ahead and close this. If you have any further questions, please let us know by stopping by one of the two mailing lists, as appropriate:

• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ansible-project - for user questions, tips, and tricks
• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ansible-devel - for strategy, future planning, and questions about writing code

Because this project is very active, we're unlikely to see comments made on closed tickets, but the mailing list is a great way to ask questions, or post if you don't think this particular issue is resolved.

Thank you!

[udondan]

If you look into my gist you will see that this can never be solved inside the runner. Merging needs to happen in the plugin. Anyway, I expected nothing else than this to be closed, therefore solved myself with the plugin.

[awasilyev]

@udondan, don't you update your code for ansible-2.0?

[mprinc]

Starting with Ansible v2.0 you can do it:

• name: merging hash_a and hash_b into hash_c
  set_fact: hash_c="{{ hash_a|combine(hash_b) }}"
  Check more under Ansible filters - Combining hashes/dictionaries (coming from Jinja2)