Stuck: One or more undefined variables: 'str object' has no attribute 'base'

[Patrick Ansible-ML]

Hi all,

New to the list. Been playing with Ansible for a few hours and I could
use a hand in getting a task going. I've not figured out any of the YAML
magic so please excuse the undoubtedly spectacular errors :)

Goal: create a task that installs a couple of directories in
/home/patrick and /root.

---
# file: roles/common/tasks/main.yml

- name: dirs | Include vars
include_vars: main.yml

- name: dirs | Create some directories
file:
dest: "{{ item.base }}/{{ item.usr }}/{{ item.dirs }}"
mode: 0750
owner: "{{ item.usr }}"
group: "{{ item.usr }}"
state: directory
with_items: test

---
# file: roles/common/vars/main.yml

test:
- usr: patrick
base: /home
- usr: root
base: /
- dirs: test1
- dirs: test2


When I run this with:
$ ansible-playbook -v -i stage site.yml

I get:
TASK: [common | dirs | Create some directories]
*******************************
fatal: [test.local] => One or more undefined variables: 'str object' has
no attribute 'base'

I'm guessing that the issue is in vars/main.yml file but lots of
Googling and staring at Github/Galaxy examples did not reveal a
solution. Can anyone please enlighten me a bit?

Thanks,
Patrick

[Michael DeHaan]

Yes, where you are defining "test" some of the items in that list are hash tables that don't have a value for "base", which is why you are getting that error.

Easiest would be to set it to empty string when it does not apply.

However, it's a little weird that it says "str object", which seems to imply you have, probably in that "dirs" variable file, refined the variable "test" to a list of strings, as opposed to a list of hash elements.

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[Patrick Ansible-ML]

Hi Michael,

Thank you for your feedback.

On 10-09-14 15:26, Michael DeHaan wrote:
> Yes, where you are defining "test" some of the items in that list are
> hash tables that don't have a value for "base", which is why you are
> getting that error.

Clearly I need to read more about lists, hashes and dicts. Not being a
developer, please stand by while I try to wrap my head around them :)

> Easiest would be to set it to empty string when it does not apply.

I couldn't figure that out but in the docs I found 'Nested Loops' that
seemed promising. For the archives, here's how I got it working:

------

# file: roles/common/tasks/main.yml

- name: dirs | Include vars
include_vars: main.yml

- name: dirs | Create some directories
file:

dest: "{{ item.0.base }}{{ item.0.usr }}/{{ item.1 }}"
mode: 0750
state: directory
with_nested:
- users
- dirs

---
# file: roles/common/vars/main.yml

users:
- usr: patrick
base: /home/

- usr: root
base: /

dirs:
- test1
- test2

> However, it's a little weird that it says "str object", which seems to
> imply you have, probably in that "dirs" variable file, refined the
> variable "test" to a list of strings, as opposed to a list of hash elements.

FWIW it's Ansible 1.7.1 on Fedora 20 x86_64. If weird means bug, please
let me know if you'd like me to file a ticket on github.

Thanks,
Patrick

> ******************************__*

[Brian Coca]

short description, list (or array) is as it sounds, simple list of
items, a dict or a hash is a list that uses an 'name' to locate the
item

1, 2, 3 < = simiple list, in python/yaml/json (stuff ansible uses) it
is normally in brackets mylist= [1,2,3], lists can be referenced by a
number that describes the position (normally starting by 0) mylist[1]
would return 2

a dict, hash or associative array is a special list that uses names,
normally represented with {}
mydict = { 'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three', 3}, to access an item you use
the names: mydict['two'] returns 2.

in yaml starting with a '-' normally indicates a list item
mylist:
- 1
- 2
- 3

for dicts just ignore the - and add the name
mydict:
one: 1
two: 2
three: 3

On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 11:46 AM, Patrick Ansible-ML
<ans...@puzzled.xs4all.nl> wrote:
>
> Clearly I need to read more about lists, hashes and dicts. Not being a
> developer, please stand by while I try to wrap my head around them :)

--
Brian Coca
Stultorum infinitus est numerus
0110000101110010011001010110111000100111011101000010000001111001011011110111010100100000011100110110110101100001011100100111010000100001
Pedo mellon a minno

[Michael DeHaan]

I'd need to see how you defined test previously to know for sure, but it seems like it was a list of strings and that would have been normal I think.

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[Patrick Ansible-ML]

Hi Brian,

On 10-09-14 23:14, Brian Coca wrote:
> short description, list (or array) is as it sounds, simple list of
> items, a dict or a hash is a list that uses an 'name' to locate the
> item

Got it.

> 1, 2, 3 < = simiple list, in python/yaml/json (stuff ansible uses) it
> is normally in brackets mylist= [1,2,3], lists can be referenced by a
> number that describes the position (normally starting by 0) mylist[1]
> would return 2

Ok.

> a dict, hash or associative array is a special list that uses names,
> normally represented with {}
> mydict = { 'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three', 3}, to access an item you use
> the names: mydict['two'] returns 2.

Ok.

> in yaml starting with a '-' normally indicates a list item
> mylist:
> - 1
> - 2
> - 3

Ok.

> for dicts just ignore the - and add the name
> mydict:
> one: 1
> two: 2
> three: 3

Ok.

That wasn't too bad :) Small addition. In my first few hours with
Ansible I needed this one for file copying from src to dst:

mydict:
- src: file1.txt
dst: /some/where/file_1.txt

Thank you for your explanation. That was most helpful. For the archives,
the Ansible examples on github also provide a ton of enlightening info
on how to do things:

https://github.com/ansible/ansible-examples/tree/master/language_features

Cheers,
Patrick

[Michael DeHaan]

Yeah I am overdue to update the language_features dir, it should be all mostly accurate, but it should be a little better organized - we've been focusing on docs.ansible.com for a long time.

I don't think it will teach any bad habits though :)

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