Ansible: Extracting dictionary values into a list
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Scenario:
In Ansible you have a list of dictionaries containing some values, e.g. a list of mount points:
mymounts:
basedir: /srv/mymounts
mounts:
-
name: first_mount
opts: defaults
-
name: second_mount
opts: noauto,x-systemd.automount,_netdev,reconnect
-
name: third_mount
opts: defaults
And you want to extract a list of mount pathes combined from basedir and name
for further usage, so the result looks like this:
['/srv/mymounts/first_mount', '/srv/mymounts/second_mount', '/srv/mymounts/third_mount']
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Sadly, I could not find an easy or intuitive way to do this. You can neither use
Jinja2 {% for %} loops in Playbooks or variable files, nor Python loops.
But I found a way using set_fact:
- Name: Expand mount dirs for later use
set_fact:
# Sets a list of mount directories
expanded_mounts: "\
{{ expanded_mounts | default([]) }} + \
[ '{{ mymounts['basedir'] }}/{{ item['name'] }}' ]"
with_items: "{{ mymounts['mounts'] }}"
As expanded_mounts is not defined in the first run, it is created as an empty list via the default([]) filter. Afterwards the expanded string is created and appended to the empty list via list addition. As we use with_items, this is done for every dictionary in the mounts list.
What do I need this for? I have a similar list of mountpoints I map SSHFS mounts to. I want to reuse those mountdirs during the creation of a Jinja2 template for Borg Backup. As I have other sources as well, I only needed a list of pathes to back up.
- Name: Add files for backups and enable them
include_tasks: borgmatic.yml
with_items:
-
job_name: "{{ borg['borgmatic']['local_backup']['name'] }}"
job_time: "{{ borg['borgmatic']['local_backup']['time'] }}"
backup_dirs: "{{ borg['borgmatic']['local_backup']['dirs'] }}"
exclude_list: "{{ borg['borgmatic']['local_backup']['exclude_list'] }}"
target_repos: "{{ uberspace_mounts['backup']['repositories'] }}"
-
job_name: "{{ uberspace_mounts['backup']['name'] }}"
job_time: "{{ uberspace_mounts['backup']['time'] }}"
backup_dirs: ""{{ expanded_mounts }}""
exclude_list: "{{ uberspace_mounts['backup']['exclude_list'] }}"
target_repos: ""{{ borg['borgmatic']['local_backup']['repositories'] }}"
Perhaps a bit complicated, but works like a charm. If you found this article helpful but just not the exact solution, I can recommend you the “How to append to lists in Ansible” post from the Crisp blog which also helped me find my solution.