ansible if else construct

Question

Heres my if else Ansible logic ..

- name: Check certs exist
  stat: path=/etc/letsencrypt/live/{{ rootDomain }}/fullchain.pem
  register: st

- include: ./_common/check-certs-renewable.yaml
  when: st.stat.exists

- include: ./_common/create-certs.yaml
  when: not st.stat.exists

This code boils down to:

IF certs exist

renew certs

ELSE

create certs

END IF

Is this the correct approach or is there a better approach to the IF ELSE construct in ansible?

score 34 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 04 '17 at 10:54

34

What you have there should work and is one way of doing it.

Alternatively, you could use a Jinja query to reduce it to 2 tasks, such that:

 - name: Check certs exist
   stat: path=/etc/letsencrypt/live/{{ rootDomain }}/fullchain.pem
   register: st

- include: "{{ './_common/check-certs-renewable.yaml' if st.stat.exists else './_common/create-certs.yaml' }}"

However, it's more a matter of personal preference than anything else, and your way is more readable, so I would just stick with that IMHO.

answered Feb 04 '17 at 10:54

Willem van Ketwich

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how about if the value was a variable? let's say: else './_common/{{ file }}' – w00t Jul 18 '18 at 13:29
w00t, if the answer doesn't fit that case, maybe open another question for it. – Willem van Ketwich Jul 18 '18 at 21:01
I would think it fits the case since this page is in the top results when googling ansible if else. – w00t Jul 19 '18 at 21:43
It looks more like a jinja2 question that an if/else question – Willem van Ketwich Jul 19 '18 at 23:39

score 8 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 28 '23 at 09:56

8

What about the following:

condition_arg: >-
  {%- if ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu' -%}
  'param for ubuntu'
  {%- elif ansible_distribution == 'Debian' -%}
  'params for debian'
  {%- else -%}
  'what else'
  {%- end -%}

Kind of if-else statement.. ? They have been used in some projects with Ansible. This form isn't available from the official docs but from an active thread on stackexchange.

edited Jul 28 '23 at 09:56

Dmitriy Popov

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answered Nov 26 '19 at 22:17

TRicks43

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This sounds more like a comment than an answer. Can you rewrite this to make it less ambiguous? Thanks! – Max Vollmer Nov 26 '19 at 22:49

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 23 '22 at 00:07

4

The following can be used if you want to search if a register is empty. The msg Unavailable is printed if php -version info is not found.If it is found, it prints the output of the command.

- name: Check php
  shell: php -version
  register: result

- name: Print register
  debug:
    msg: '{{ (result.stdout) | ternary( (result.stdout),"Unavailable") }}'

edited Jul 23 '22 at 00:07

VMAtm

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answered Jan 20 '21 at 18:26

Shruthi Rajaram

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Please, do not insert code as a picture – VMAtm Jul 23 '22 at 00:05

ansible if else construct

3 Answers3

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