Ansible troubleshooting — Error no-log-password

How to Solve the Ansible Error no-log-password Avoid Exposing Secrets

Introduction

In the world of IT automation and configuration management, security is paramount. One crucial aspect of security is safeguarding sensitive data, especially passwords. Ansible, a powerful automation tool, takes this concern seriously and provides a way to protect your secrets.

However, there’s a common pitfall that can potentially expose sensitive information in Ansible playbooks when using loops. This issue is addressed by Ansible Lint’s “no-log-password” rule, which checks if playbooks inadvertently write passwords to logs, potentially putting your system’s security at risk.

The Problem: Logging Passwords

Let’s explore why this rule exists. In Ansible, it’s common to use loops to perform repetitive tasks. For instance, you might need to create multiple user accounts, each with a unique password. The playbook might look like this:

---
- name: Example playbook
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Log user passwords
      ansible.builtin.user:
        name: john_doe
        comment: John Doe
        uid: 1040
        group: admin
        password: "{{ item }}"
      with_items…