Ansible troubleshooting — Error: no-jinja-when

How to Solve the Ansible Error no-jinja-when

Introduction

Ansible is a powerful tool for automating IT tasks, including configuration management, application deployment, and task automation. When writing Ansible playbooks, it’s essential to be aware of various rules and best practices to ensure your automation runs smoothly and avoids common errors. One such rule is no-jinja-when, which checks conditional statements for Jinja expressions in curly brackets {{ }}.

The Role of Conditional Statements in Ansible

Conditional statements are vital in Ansible playbooks. They allow you to define when a particular task should run based on certain conditions. Ansible processes conditional statements primarily in the context of the when, failed_when, and changed_when clauses. These statements help determine whether a task should be executed or not.

The no-jinja-when Rule

The no-jinja-when rule aims to ensure that conditional statements are correctly structured. It advises against using Jinja expressions in curly brackets {{ }} within when clauses. Instead, the rule recommends using facts or variables directly in these statements.