Ansible troubleshooting — Error 602: empty-string-compare

How to Solve the Ansible Error 602 empty-string-compare

Introduction

In the world of automation, clarity and consistency are paramount. Ansible, the popular automation tool, allows you to define tasks and conditions to be executed on various systems. To ensure that your playbooks are easy to read and maintain, adhering to best practices and avoiding code patterns that might lead to confusion is essential. Ansible Rule 602, “empty-string-compare,” specifically targets the comparison of empty strings within playbooks. Let’s dive into why this rule exists and how you can adhere to it effectively.

The Significance of Conditional Statements

Conditional statements are at the heart of any Ansible playbook. They enable you to control when specific tasks are executed based on certain conditions. This provides the flexibility to create playbooks that adapt to various scenarios.

Within these conditional statements, it’s common to compare variables with values, including empty strings. An empty string comparison is typically used to check if a variable has been defined or has a value. However, this approach can introduce code that is less clear and might lead to ambiguity.