Stat.exists with list of variables in ansible - variables

Question

I have a problem with checking existing files using dictonary in Ansible.
tasks:
- name: Checking existing file id
stat: path=/tmp/{{ item.id }}.conf
with_items: "{{ file_vars }}"
register: check_file_id
- name: Checking existing file name
stat: path=/tmp/{{ item.name }}.conf
with_items: "{{ file_vars }}"
register: check_file_name
- name: Checking file exists
debug: msg='File_id exists'
when: check_file_id.stat.exists == True
- name: Checking file name exists
debug: msg='File name exists'
when: check_file_name.stat.exists == True
vars:
file_vars:
- { id: 1, name: one }
- { id: 2, name: two }
Then, if I trying to run playbook, I got the error:
FAILED! => {"failed": true, "msg": "The conditional check 'check_file_id.stat.exists == True' failed. The error was: error while evaluating conditional (check_file_id.stat.exists == True): 'dict' object has no attribute 'stat'\n\n
I've tried to debug it:
- debug: var=check_file_id
and got:
"results": [
{
"_ansible_item_result": true,
"_ansible_no_log": false,
"changed": false,
"invocation": {
"module_args": {
"checksum_algorithm": "sha1",
"follow": false,
"get_checksum": true,
"get_md5": true,
"mime": false,
"path": "/tmp/1.conf"
},
"module_name": "stat"
},
"item": {
"id": 1,
"name": "one"
},
"stat": {
"exists": false
}
},
{
"_ansible_item_result": true,
"_ansible_no_log": false,
"changed": false,
"invocation": {
"module_args": {
"checksum_algorithm": "sha1",
"follow": false,
"get_checksum": true,
"get_md5": true,
"mime": false,
"path": "/tmp/2.conf"
},
"module_name": "stat"
},
"item": {
"id": 2,
"name": "two"
},
"stat": {
"exists": false
}
}
]
Where I am wrong?
Is is possible to use stat.exists with list of variables?
Thanks for answer!

Answer 1

The problem is that you are registering check_file_id in a loop. You need to read the documentation on using register in a loop, which discusses the implications of doing this. Your variable has a results key that contains the result of each iteration of the loop. You can see that in your debug output.
In subsequent tasks, you should iterate over check_file_id.results instead of file_vars, like this:
- hosts: localhost
gather_facts: false
vars:
file_vars:
- {id: 1, name: foo}
- {id: 2, name: bar}
tasks:
- name: Checking existing file id
stat:
path: ./files/{{ item.id }}.conf
with_items: "{{ file_vars }}"
register: check_file_id
- name: Checking existing file name
stat:
path: ./files/{{ item.name }}.conf
with_items: "{{ file_vars }}"
register: check_file_name
- debug:
msg: 'file id {{item.item.id}} (name {{item.item.name}}) exists'
with_items: "{{ check_file_id.results }}"
when: item.stat.exists
- debug:
msg: 'file name {{item.item.name}} (id {{item.item.id}}) exists'
with_items: "{{ check_file_name.results }}"
when: item.stat.exists