Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Find centralized, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you use most.

Teams

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

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.
                Please refrain from using include which is deprecated and use the specific include_<type> statements, in that specific case include_tasks. This remark is also valid for import => import_<type>. Moreover, I edited your question to use the correct wording between playbook and task file. Make sure you are not confusing both. You cannot include a playbook anyway. You can eventually import one with import_playbook but that statement is only available at the top level list of a playbook (basically in place of a play) and does not support any kind of conditional.
– Zeitounator
                Dec 8, 2022 at 10:59
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   
                This seems to work. How Can I add something in here so that, in addition to retries, if my dummy task gives me a certain result it should leave the block and don't execute it anymore (success).
– fr0zt
                Dec 15, 2022 at 14:45
                @fr0zt Register the result of the dummy task and add a condition to the following one(s). If there are several, group them in a sub-block (so as to write the condition only once).
– Zeitounator
                Dec 15, 2022 at 16:12
                ok, so i register the dummy task: reegister: dummy_result. Than lets say if dummy_result is search("status ok"), how can I leave the task_file.yml and proceed to the following task in the playbook?
– fr0zt
                Dec 15, 2022 at 16:21
                This is not a chat but a Q/A site. What about editing your actual question with a minimal reproducible example containing what you have tried base on the above and the problems you're still trying to solve?
– Zeitounator
                Dec 15, 2022 at 16:26
        
Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow!
Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.