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