In most cases, loops work best with the ``loop`` keyword instead of ``with_X`` style loops. The ``loop`` syntax is usually best expressed using filters instead of more complex use of ``query`` or ``lookup``.
These examples show how to convert many common ``with_`` style loops to ``loop`` and filters.
with_list
---------
``with_list`` is directly replaced by ``loop``.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_list
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
with_list:
- one
- two
- name: with_list -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
loop:
- one
- two
with_items
----------
``with_items`` is replaced by ``loop`` and the ``flatten`` filter.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_items
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
with_items: "{{ items }}"
- name: with_items -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
loop: "{{ items|flatten(levels=1) }}"
with_indexed_items
------------------
``with_indexed_items`` is replaced by ``loop``, the ``flatten`` filter and ``loop_control.index_var``.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_indexed_items
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }}"
with_indexed_items: "{{ items }}"
- name: with_indexed_items -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ index }} - {{ item }}"
loop: "{{ items|flatten(levels=1) }}"
loop_control:
index_var: index
with_flattened
--------------
``with_flattened`` is replaced by ``loop`` and the ``flatten`` filter.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_flattened
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
with_flattened: "{{ items }}"
- name: with_flattened -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
loop: "{{ items|flatten }}"
with_together
-------------
``with_together`` is replaced by ``loop`` and the ``zip`` filter.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_together
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }}"
with_together:
- "{{ list_one }}"
- "{{ list_two }}"
- name: with_together -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }}"
loop: "{{ list_one|zip(list_two)|list }}"
Another example with complex data
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_together -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }} - {{ item.2 }}"
loop: "{{ data[0]|zip(*data[1:])|list }}"
vars:
data:
- ['a', 'b', 'c']
- ['d', 'e', 'f']
- ['g', 'h', 'i']
with_dict
---------
``with_dict`` can be substituted by ``loop`` and either the ``dictsort`` or ``dict2items`` filters.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_dict
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.key }} - {{ item.value }}"
with_dict: "{{ dictionary }}"
- name: with_dict -> loop (option 1)
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.key }} - {{ item.value }}"
loop: "{{ dictionary|dict2items }}"
- name: with_dict -> loop (option 2)
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }}"
loop: "{{ dictionary|dictsort }}"
with_sequence
-------------
``with_sequence`` is replaced by ``loop`` and the ``range`` function, and potentially the ``format`` filter.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_sequence
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
with_sequence: start=0 end=4 stride=2 format=testuser%02x
- name: with_sequence -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ 'testuser%02x' | format(item) }}"
# range is exclusive of the end point
loop: "{{ range(0, 4 + 1, 2)|list }}"
with_subelements
----------------
``with_subelements`` is replaced by ``loop`` and the ``subelements`` filter.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_subelements
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0.name }} - {{ item.1 }}"
with_subelements:
- "{{ users }}"
- mysql.hosts
- name: with_subelements -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0.name }} - {{ item.1 }}"
loop: "{{ users|subelements('mysql.hosts') }}"
with_nested/with_cartesian
--------------------------
``with_nested`` and ``with_cartesian`` are replaced by loop and the ``product`` filter.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_nested
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }}"
with_nested:
- "{{ list_one }}"
- "{{ list_two }}"
- name: with_nested -> loop
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item.0 }} - {{ item.1 }}"
loop: "{{ list_one|product(list_two)|list }}"
with_random_choice
------------------
``with_random_choice`` is replaced by just use of the ``random`` filter, without need of ``loop``.
.. code-block:: yaml+jinja
- name: with_random_choice
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ item }}"
with_random_choice: "{{ my_list }}"
- name: with_random_choice -> loop (No loop is needed here)
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ my_list|random }}"
tags: random
