some variables do not exist when 'gather_facts' is set to no

[rolfvreijdenberger]

In 'tasks/unattended-upgrades.yml' there are variables used from the host being provisioned.
in case you do not have those variables, those ansible facts are not present and provisioning fails.
a warning/message OR sensible defaults might make sense to implement.

thanks for a nice package guys!

[jnv]

Hi Rolf, what use case is behind turning gather_facts off?

The role uses ansible_distribution and ansible_distribution_release facts to choose default origin patterns. I think the default variable could be empty and left unset if the default configuration is kept intact, i.e. #32.

[BarbzYHOOL]

Yeah, should turn gather_facts on (only off for testing imo)

[lonix1]

I agree. The use case is you are provisioning a new server, so you must turn off gather_facts. But if you use this module as part of the provisioning process (makes sense to do so), then there are no facts.

I suppose we could manually define the variables in such a case. Which variables do I need to define?

[jnv]

@lonix1 See my previous comment, facts are used to detect distribution and version. I will be happy to accept a PR to allow the role to work without gather_facts as long as the default behavior is kept intact and the new feature is properly tested and documented.

Still I am not sure what's the issue with facts during bootstrapping. I understand you need to setup Python on the target system, but can't you gather facts after (e.g. by running the setup module in your playbook)?

[lonix1]

Yeah you are right there are workarounds, so it's not a big problem. And I'm manually defining those variables for now, so it works for me.

[jnv]

I am closing this issue since this role has been deprecated. Feel free to suggest alternatives in #98.