set_fact – Set host facts from a task

Synopsis

  • This module allows setting new variables. Variables are set on a host-by-host basis just like facts discovered by the setup module.
  • These variables will be available to subsequent plays during an ansible-playbook run, but will not be saved across executions even if you use a fact cache.
  • Per the standard Ansible variable precedence rules, many other types of variables have a higher priority, so this value may be overridden. See Variable Precedence Guide for more information.
  • This module is also supported for Windows targets.

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
cacheable
boolean
added in 2.4
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
This boolean indicates if the facts set will also be added to the fact cache, if fact caching is enabled.
key_value
- / required
The set_fact module takes key=value pairs as variables to set in the playbook scope. Or alternatively, accepts complex arguments using the args: statement.

Notes

Note

  • The var=value notation can only create strings or booleans. If you want to create lists/arrays or dictionary/hashes use var: [val1, val2]
  • This module is also supported for Windows targets.
  • Since ‘cacheable’ is now a module param, ‘cacheable’ is no longer a valid fact name as of 2.4.

Examples

# Example setting host facts using key=value pairs, note that this always creates strings or booleans
- set_fact: one_fact="something" other_fact="{{ local_var }}"

# Example setting host facts using complex arguments
- set_fact:
     one_fact: something
     other_fact: "{{ local_var * 2 }}"
     another_fact: "{{ some_registered_var.results | map(attribute='ansible_facts.some_fact') | list }}"

# Example setting facts so that they will be persisted in the fact cache
- set_fact:
    one_fact: something
    other_fact: "{{ local_var * 2 }}"
    cacheable: true

# As of 1.8, Ansible will convert boolean strings ('true', 'false', 'yes', 'no')
# to proper boolean values when using the key=value syntax, however it is still
# recommended that booleans be set using the complex argument style:
- set_fact:
    one_fact: true
    other_fact: false

Status

Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

Authors

  • Dag Wieers (@dagwieers)

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