Persist environment variables for future ansible tasks

Question

i´m triying to set in my localhost via a play env vars for future tasks/playbooks in the same localhost.

- name: Environment_vars
  hosts: 127.0.0.1
  connection: local
  vars:
    env_vars: /opt/env_vars.yml
    env_path: ~/.bashrc
  tasks:

  - name: put into .bashrc
    lineinfile:
        path: "{{env_path}}"
        state: present
        regexp: "^{{ item.key }}="
        line: "export {{item.key}}={{item.value}}"
    with_dict: "{{ env_vars_dict }}"
    become: yes

  - name: test bash
    shell: source ~/.bashrc

i have tried all of this methods that i found here, here and here. All of them worked but only inside the tasks. Including also, tasks to restart or source the shell, however didn´t work.

Is there any chance to set env vars in a play and use in the next play via 'ansible.builtin.env lookup'? and also these new vars stay in the 'env'??

Thanks!!!

Environment variables are process-local on UNIX (Windows has a persistence mechanism through the registry, but UNIX ain't Windows). They're not _supposed_ to last past the current process and its children, and in general, I advise against designing things that lead you to need them to be persisted. — Charles Duffy, Mar 19 '23 at 22:43
That said, it would do this question a lot of good if you added a [mre] that shows how you're testing for success and otherwise provides everything someone needs to see the problem themselves -- that way we could be sure that I'm interpreting your question correctly above. — Charles Duffy, Mar 19 '23 at 22:44
Please explain what information you're trying to retain and why you're trying to do so in an environment variable. This looks like an [XY problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem). — Grismar, Mar 19 '23 at 22:53

Vladimir Botka · Accepted Answer · 2023-03-19T23:49:43.487

Q: "Set env vars in a play and use in the next play."

A: It is not possible. You can set environment in the scope of a play. There is no such thing as a 'scope of a playbook'. For example, the second play knows nothing about the environment set in the first play only

- hosts: localhost
  environment:
    MY_VAR1: my variable 1
  tasks:
    - command: echo $MY_VAR1
      register: out
    - debug:
        var: out.stdout

- hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - command: echo $MY_VAR1
      register: out
    - debug:
        var: out.stdout

gives (abridged)

  out.stdout: my variable 1
  out.stdout: $MY_VAR1

As a workaround, you can put the environment into the vars. For example, into the group_vars/all

shell> cat group_vars/all/my_env.yml 
my_env:
  MY_VAR1: my variable 1
  MY_VAR2: my variable 2

Then, you can use it in each play

- hosts: localhost
  environment: "{{ my_env }}"
  tasks:
    - command: echo $MY_VAR1
      register: out
    - debug:
        var: out.stdout

- hosts: localhost
  environment: "{{ my_env }}"
  tasks:
    - command: echo $MY_VAR1
      register: out
    - debug:
        var: out.stdout

gives (abridged)

  out.stdout: my variable 1
  out.stdout: my variable 1

Q: "Set env vars in a play and use ansible.builtin.env"

A: The lookup plugin env never returns environment set via the keyword environment

- hosts: localhost
  environment:
    MY_VAR1: my variable 1
  tasks:
    - debug:
        msg: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.env', 'SHELL') }}"
    - debug:
        msg: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.env', 'MY_VAR1') }}"

gives (abridged)

  msg: /bin/bash
  msg: ''

Any lookup plugin is always running on the localhost. The plugin env returns the environment inherited from the shell running the ansible-* utility.

Both command and shell modules do not run the commands in the inherited environment. For example,

shell> cat pb.yml
- hosts: localhost
  environment:
    MY_VAR1: my variable 1
  tasks:
    - debug:
        msg: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.env', 'MY_VAR3') }}"
    - command: echo $MY_VAR3 $MY_VAR1
      register: out
    - debug:
        var: out.stdout

gives (abridged)

shell> MY_VAR3='my variable 3' ansible-playbook pb.yml

  msg: my variable 3
  out.stdout: $MY_VAR3 my variable 1

Thanks! this explains a lots. Is only apply to playbooks in localhost or for playbooks in other hosts too? — Cir02, Mar 20 '23 at 07:11
The *environment* will apply to all hosts in the play, of course. Test it. — Vladimir Botka, Mar 20 '23 at 07:19

Persist environment variables for future ansible tasks

1 Answers1