Ansible format list variable

Question

I'm working on setting up some automation for an F5 BigIP load balancer. When creating the virtual server, I have a variable containing the various profiles I want to include and also a few that should always be included.

I want to use this variable:

 domains:
   - foo.example.com
   - bar.example.com
   - baz.example.com

In the following module under profiles. Note, I can't do a loop because that would replace the value each time. I want all list items from domains to be expanded in the single execution of this task. I've tried using a Jinja for loop but it just hangs when I try to execute.

 - name: Configure virtual server
   f5networks.f5_modules.bigip_virtual_server:
     state: present
     partition: Common
     name: insite-ssl
     destination: 10.10.10.10
     port: 443
     pool: example-pool
     snat: Automap
     description: Testing VIP
     profiles: |
       {% for domain in domains %}
       - name: {{ domain }}
         context: client-side
       {% endfor %}
       - http-SSL-XForwarded
       - name: example.com_wildcard
         context: client-side
     provider: "{{ f5_conn }}"
   tags:
     - vip

What is the right way to solve this?

β.εηοιτ.βε · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-24 20:57:35Z

1

By using this construct, you are actually creating a string, not a list.
This can be tested doing:

- set_fact:
    what_am_I: |
      {% for domain in domains %}
      - name: {{ domain }}
        context: client-side
      {% endfor %}
      - http-SSL-XForwarded
      - name: example.com_wildcard
        context: client-side

- debug:
    var: what_am_I is string

Which gives:

TASK [set_fact] ******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [debug] *********************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => 
  what_am_I is string: true

You could use json_query in order to create a list of dictionaries out of your domains list, something like:

- name: Configure virtual server
  f5networks.f5_modules.bigip_virtual_server:
    state: present
    partition: Common
    name: insite-ssl
    destination: 10.10.10.10
    port: 443
    pool: example-pool
    snat: Automap
    description: Testing VIP
    profiles: |
      {{ domains | json_query("[].{name: @, context: 'client-side'}") + extra_domains }}
    provider: "{{ f5_conn }}"
  tags:
    - vip
  vars:
    extra_domains:
      - http-SSL-XForwarded
      - name: example.com_wildcard
        context: client-side

edited Nov 24, 2021 at 20:57

answered Nov 24, 2021 at 20:26

β.εηοιτ.βε

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4 Comments

Jeff Bilbro Over a year ago

After installing jmespath this worked perfectly - thank you for the explanation why my attempt wasn't working and for a workable solution!

Jeff Bilbro Over a year ago

Follow-up question on this. The requirements have changed on my and now my domains list is all top-level-domain domains, eg example.com. The requirement is to be able to support adding both the top-level-domain AND a www.top-level-domain to the profiles.

Jeff Bilbro Over a year ago

Given your solution, how would I add an additional json_query and modify the value for name to append 'www' to it? I tried adding an additional json_query within the curly braces but that gave an error. + domains | community.general.json_query("[].{name: 'www.' + @, context: 'client-side'}" but that

β.εηοιτ.βε Over a year ago

I’d suggest you to open a new question.

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