From 5e03e322de5b43b69c8aad5c0cb92e82ce0f3d17 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sloane Hertel <19572925+s-hertel@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2020 11:23:23 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Pass the top level dictionaries to combine_vars (#72979)

* Pass the top level dictionaries to combine_vars

combine_vars uses dict.update() to replace keys
---
 .../fragments/72979-fix-inventory-merge-hash-replace.yaml       | 2 ++
 lib/ansible/inventory/group.py                                  | 2 +-
 lib/ansible/inventory/host.py                                   | 2 +-
 3 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 changelogs/fragments/72979-fix-inventory-merge-hash-replace.yaml

diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/72979-fix-inventory-merge-hash-replace.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/72979-fix-inventory-merge-hash-replace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4b7b24720af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/72979-fix-inventory-merge-hash-replace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - inventory - pass the vars dictionary to combine_vars instead of an individual key's value (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/72975).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/group.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/group.py
index d3efb1d8fa3..ed02fb4cca8 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/group.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/group.py
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ class Group:
             self.set_priority(int(value))
         else:
             if key in self.vars and isinstance(self.vars[key], MutableMapping) and isinstance(value, Mapping):
-                self.vars[key] = combine_vars(self.vars[key], value)
+                self.vars = combine_vars(self.vars, {key: value})
             else:
                 self.vars[key] = value
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/host.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/host.py
index 7ad300790d0..a3e41f53b65 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/host.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/host.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class Host:
 
     def set_variable(self, key, value):
         if key in self.vars and isinstance(self.vars[key], MutableMapping) and isinstance(value, Mapping):
-            self.vars[key] = combine_vars(self.vars[key], value)
+            self.vars = combine_vars(self.vars, {key: value})
         else:
             self.vars[key] = value