Ansible - Install package pinned to major versions

Actual package name in the repo is package-2.6.12-3.el7.x86_64.

The goal is to install a package with Ansible, to:

Ensure the point release is installed, such as package-2.6
Doesn't install major releases, such as package-3.0
Updates for minor releases, such as package-2.6.13-4

The repo can update packages from time to time, but I don't know when.

My thought was to install a package like this;

- name: Install package
  yum:
    name: package-2.6
    state: present

But the task fails, because package-2.6 is not in the repo. Whereas simply package works, but it is not future proof.

Update:

Seems wildcards * do work, eg name: "package-2.6*". Ensure to quote the wildcard.

Solution

Not sure if applicable for your Yum package. But for Java Open JDK installations where both java-1.7.0 and java-1.8.0 packages are available for installation from my configured yum repos.

This will ensure the 1.7.x version is at the latest version, without ever installing 1.8.x.

- name: Install latest 1.7.x jdk
  yum:
    name: java-1.7.0-openjdk.x86_64
    state: latest

Actual version installed from the above is:

$ rpm -q java-1.7.0-openjdk.x86_64
  java-1.7.0-openjdk-1.7.0.121-2.6.8.1.el6_8.x86_64

In the case of MongoDB the package name is the same for the 2.x version and the 3.x version.

But there is one Yum repo file for the 2.x version and another for the 3.x version. https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-red-hat/

So to ensure you get the latest 2.x version without ever moving to 3.x add the 2.x repo file to your target hosts and use the disable and enablerepo parameters in your ansible task for the install/update operation.

 - name: Ensure latest 2.x mongodb version is installed
   yum:
     name: mongodb-org
     disablerepo: "*"
     enablerepo: mongodb-org-2.6
     state: latest

Note: using disablerepo: "*" as mongodb packages also exist in other repos such as epel.