How to improve Ansible YAML error output

Are you struggling with deciphering errors while writing YAML in Ansible? A simple tweak in your Ansible configuration can vastly improve your error troubleshooting process. In this post, I’ll guide you through the steps to modify your Ansible configuration for better error visibility. You can see how the Before and After have changed as shown below.

Before

After

Step 1: Accessing the Ansible Configuration File

First, you need to access the Ansible configuration file. This file is typically located at /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg. To edit this file, use a text editor like vi. Here’s how you can open it:

sudo vi /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

Using sudo is essential because the configuration file requires administrative privileges for modifications.

Step 2: Modifying the stdout_callback Option

Once you have the configuration file open in vi, you’re looking to modify the stdout_callback option. By default, this might be set to skippy. The skippy setting is useful for skipping over tasks that don’t have any changes, but it can be less informative when you’re trying to debug.

You’ll change this to debug to get more detailed output, especially useful for troubleshooting YAML syntax and runtime errors.

Locate the line that looks like this:

stdout_callback = skippy

or

stdout_callback = default

Change it to:

stdout_callback = debug

If you can’t find this line, you might need to add it under the [defaults] section.

Step 3: Saving the Changes

After making the change, save your modifications. In vi, you can do this by pressing Esc, typing :wq, and then pressing Enter. This command writes the changes to the file and quits the editor.

Step 4: Testing the New Configuration

To ensure your changes are effective, run an Ansible playbook. You should now see more detailed output when errors occur, making it easier to identify and fix any issues in your YAML syntax or other Ansible-related errors.

Remember, detailed debug output can be quite verbose, so it’s a good idea to use this setting primarily for debugging purposes.

Conclusion

Enhancing error visibility in Ansible is as simple as changing one line in the configuration file. This small change can save you a significant amount of time in debugging and ensure a smoother automation experience with Ansible. Happy automating!

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