I currently have a playbook which includes a task file. In that task file, I would like to check for a condition. If the exit code of that condition is not equal to 0, all steps in the task file should be repeated. I have tried a few variations with block and loops but I have not figured out a way to make it do what I described above.
Currently I have something like this:
tasks:
- name: call task file
include: task_file.yml
In task_file.yml,
- name: perform an operations
shell: do A
- name: check
shell: do B
register: result
Next, I would like to tell the main playbook that if result.rc != 0, please repeat task_file.yml until result.rc == 0.
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated
The playbook seems to end no matter what the exit code.
There's no direct way to reach your goal as include_tasks does not support the retry/until loop keywords.
There is an attempt to circumvent that limitation by teaching ansible a new loop_control.until keyword for loops which could be used for includes. Unfortunately, the pull request has been opened since Sep. 2019 and has still not reached a realease.
The good news is you can implement that with some work by using include recursion with a block. The below example is largely inspired by a blog article on https://dev.to. I adapted to the current context, fixed some good practice and added features like flexible retries number and delay between retries. Here we go:
The tasks to be retried go in task_file.yml
---
- name: group of tasks to repeat until success
block:
- name: increment attempts counter
ansible.builtin.set_fact:
attempt_number: "{{ attempt_number | d(0) | int + 1 }}"
- name: dummy task
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "I'm a dummy task"
- name: task to check for success.
# Just for the example. Will return success on attempt number 3
ansible.builtin.command: "[ {{ attempt_number | int }} -eq 3 ]"
changed_when: false
rescue:
- name: "Fail if we reached the max of {{ max_attempts | d(3) }} attempts"
# Default will be 3 attempts if max_attempts is not passed as a parameter
ansible.builtin.fail:
msg: Maximum number of attempts reached
when: attempt_number | int == max_attempts | int | d(3)
- ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "group of tasks failed on attempt {{ attempt_number }}. Retrying"
- name: add delay if needed
# no delay if retry_delay is not passed as parameter
ansible.builtin.wait_for:
timeout: "{{ retry_delay | int | d(omit) }}"
when: retry_delay is defined
# include ourselves to retry.
- ansible.builtin.include_tasks: task_file.yml
As you can see, the file includes itself again in case of failure until success of max attempts is reached. Also, note that a retry will happen if any task fails inside the block, not only the last one. If you have a more complex scenario, you can implement more checks for fail/not fail in the rescue section an even add an always section if needed. See anbile blocks
Then you can call this file from your playbook:
---
- hosts: localhost
gather_facts: false
tasks:
- name: Include tasks to retry. 7 attempts max with 1 second delay
ansible.builtin.include_tasks: task_file.yml
vars:
max_attempts: 7
retry_delay: 1
Playing this example succeeds on third attempt as hardcoded and expected. (You can play around with the parameters to test a fail scenario)
$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml
PLAY [localhost] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
TASK [Include tasks to retry] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /tmp/toto/task_file.yml for localhost
TASK [increment attempts counter] ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [dummy task] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"msg": "I'm a dummy task"
}
TASK [task to check for success.] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "cmd": ["[", "1", "-eq", "3", "]"], "delta": "0:00:00.002104", "end": "2022-12-08 14:16:27.850578", "msg": "non-zero return code", "rc": 1, "start": "2022-12-08 14:16:27.848474", "stderr": "", "stderr_lines": [], "stdout": "", "stdout_lines": []}
TASK [Fail if we reached the max of 7 attempts] ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]
TASK [ansible.builtin.debug] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"msg": "group of tasks failed on attempt 1. Retrying"
}
TASK [add delay if needed] *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [ansible.builtin.include_tasks] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /tmp/toto/task_file.yml for localhost
TASK [increment attempts counter] ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [dummy task] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"msg": "I'm a dummy task"
}
TASK [task to check for success.] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "cmd": ["[", "2", "-eq", "3", "]"], "delta": "0:00:00.004009", "end": "2022-12-08 14:16:29.496509", "msg": "non-zero return code", "rc": 1, "start": "2022-12-08 14:16:29.492500", "stderr": "", "stderr_lines": [], "stdout": "", "stdout_lines": []}
TASK [Fail if we reached the max of 7 attempts] ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]
TASK [ansible.builtin.debug] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"msg": "group of tasks failed on attempt 2. Retrying"
}
TASK [add delay if needed] *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [ansible.builtin.include_tasks] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /tmp/toto/task_file.yml for localhost
TASK [increment attempts counter] ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
TASK [dummy task] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
"msg": "I'm a dummy task"
}
TASK [task to check for success.] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost : ok=14 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=2 rescued=2 ignored=0