Ansible-2.10.0 release candidate 1

[Toshio Kuratomi]

Hi all-

For all those wanting to test the next version of Ansible, we're happy
to announce that Ansible 2.10.0 release candidate 1 is now available
on PyPI!

Ansible 2.10.0rc1 pulls in the ansible-base-2.10.1 package via a
dependency and includes a range of Ansible Collections. The Ansible
2.10 PyPI packages provide similar functionality to Ansible 2.9 and
earlier versions, but from multiple sources. The included Ansible
Collections are maintained by a host of open source contributors who
want to add to what ansible-base has to offer.

For an overview of "Ansible Collections" and the differences between
`ansible-base` and `ansible` please see
https://github.com/ansible-collections/overview/blob/master/README.rst

We need your help
-----------------

This new `ansible` package *should* be a drop-in replacement for
Ansible 2.9. The roles and playbooks that you currently use should
work out of the box with ansible-2.10.0 rc1.

Please let us know if:

* Your playbooks don't work
* There are any installation issues
* Whether the collections are found OK
* If the updated and new modules in the collections work

How to get it
-------------

Due to a limitation in pip, you need to uninstall Ansible 2.9 (or
earlier) before installing the 2.10 version:

$ pip uninstall ansible
$ pip install ansible==2.10.0rc1 --user

The tar.gz of the release can be found here:

* Ansible 2.10.0rc1
https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/a/ansible/ansible-2.10.0rc1.tar.gz
SHA256: 86a69fe18f086e1c857de81e230ff08ab8d4610220cb71f366dfc43093e0f65d


What's new in Ansible 2.10.0rc1
-------------------------------

* Collections which have opted into being a part of the Ansible-2.10.0
unified changelog will have an entry on this page:
https://github.com/ansible-community/ansible-build-data/blob/main/2.10/CHANGELOG-v2.10.rst

* For other collections, consult the list of included collections in
the link below and check their entry on https://galaxy.ansible.com for
information about their changes.

* List of collections included in the 2.10.0rc1 release:
* https://github.com/ansible-community/ansible-build-data/blob/2.10.0rc1/2.10/ansible-2.10.0rc1.deps
* You can find more information for those on
https://galaxy.ansible.com/. For instance, the community.crypto
collection listed in the ansible-2.10.0rc1.deps file has a galaxy page
here at https://galaxy.ansible.com/community/crypto/

* Changelog for ansible-base-2.10.1 which this release of ansible installs:
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.10/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.10.rst


Caveats and known bugs
----------------------

* The individual collections that make up the ansible-2.10.0 package
can be viewed independently. However, they aren't currently listed by
ansible-galaxy. A workaround for this is to explicitly specify where
ansible has installed the collections::

COLLECTION_INSTALL=$(python -c 'import ansible, os.path ;
print("%s/../ansible_collections" %
os.path.dirname(ansible.__file__))') ansible-galaxy collection list -p
"$COLLECTION_INSTALL"

* A fix has been proposed but was not be merged for 2.10.0. This is
being tracked in this bug report:
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/70147

* Due to a limitation in pip, you cannot `pip install --upgrade` from
ansible-2.9 or earlier to ansible-2.10 or higher. Instead, you must
explicitly `pip uninstall ansible` before pip installing the new
version. The install of the ansible package has been modified to warn
you if you attempt to upgrade via pip with instructions to uninstall
first.

* A few fortios modules aren't being redirected from their 2.9.x names
to their names inside of the 2.10.x collections. You'll need to
modify your playbooks to use fully qualified names for those modules.
You can use the documentation for the fortinet.fortios collection to
determine those:
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.10/collections/fortinet/fortios/


What's the schedule for the rest of the 2.10.0 release cycle?
-------------------------------------------------------------

If no blocker bugs are found, ansible-2.10.0 final will be released on
2020-09-22.

The ansible-2.10 roadmap reflects these dates:
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/roadmap/COLLECTIONS_2_10.html

Porting Help
------------

There's a unified porting guide for collections which have opted-in.
You can find that at:
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.10.rst

If you encounter any bugs, please report them. We're putting together
a draft document which includes where to report bugs on various parts
of the ansible package:
* https://github.com/ansible/community/wiki/User-testing-of-ansible-2.10-pre-releases

If you aren't sure where your bug falls, pick which you feel is
closest and the Community Team will always move it if needed.

Thanks!

-Toshio Kuratomi