ansible.utils.fact_diff – Find the difference between currently set facts

Note

This plugin is part of the ansible.utils collection (version 2.4.2).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.utils.

To use it in a playbook, specify: ansible.utils.fact_diff.

New in version 1.0.0: of ansible.utils

Synopsis
Parameters
Examples
Return Values

Synopsis

Compare two facts or variables and get a diff.

Note

This module has a corresponding action plugin.

Parameters

Parameter			Choices/Defaults	Comments
after raw / required				The second fact to be used in the comparison.
before raw / required				The first fact to be used in the comparison.
plugin dictionary			Default: {}	Configure and specify the diff plugin to use
	name string		Default: "ansible.utils.native"	The diff plugin to use, in fully qualified collection name format.
	vars dictionary		Default: {}	Parameters passed to the diff plugin.
		skip_lines list / elements=string		Skip lines matching these regular expressions. Matches will be removed prior to the diff. If the provided before and after are a string, they will be split. Each entry in each list will be cast to a string for the comparison

Examples

- ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    before:
      a:
        b:
          c:
            d:
            - 0
            - 1
    after:
      a:
        b:
          c:
            d:
            - 2
            - 3

- name: Show the difference in json format
  ansible.utils.fact_diff:
    before: "{{ before }}"
    after: "{{ after }}"

# TASK [ansible.utils.fact_diff] **************************************
# --- before
# +++ after
# @@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
#          "b": {
#              "c": {
#                  "d": [
# -                    0,
# -                    1
# +                    2,
# +                    3
#                  ]
#              }
#          }
#
# changed: [localhost]

- name: Show the difference in path format
  ansible.utils.fact_diff:
    before: "{{ before|ansible.utils.to_paths }}"
    after: "{{ after|ansible.utils.to_paths }}"

# TASK [ansible.utils.fact_diff] **************************************
# --- before
# +++ after
# @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
#  {
# -    "a.b.c.d[0]": 0,
# -    "a.b.c.d[1]": 1
# +    "a.b.c.d[0]": 2,
# +    "a.b.c.d[1]": 3
#  }
#
# changed: [localhost]

- name: Show the difference in yaml format
  ansible.utils.fact_diff:
    before: "{{ before|to_nice_yaml }}"
    after: "{{ after|to_nice_yaml }}"

# TASK [ansible.utils.fact_diff] **************************************
# --- before
# +++ after
# @@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
#      b:
#          c:
#              d:
# -            - 0
# -            - 1
# +            - 2
# +            - 3

# changed: [localhost]


#### Show the difference between complex object using restconf
#  ansible_connection: ansible.netcommon.httpapi
#  ansible_httpapi_use_ssl: True
#  ansible_httpapi_validate_certs: False
#  ansible_network_os: ansible.netcommon.restconf

- name: Get the current interface config prior to changes
  ansible.netcommon.restconf_get:
    content: config
    path: /data/Cisco-NX-OS-device:System/intf-items/phys-items
  register: pre

- name: Update the description of eth1/100
  ansible.utils.update_fact:
    updates:
    - path: "pre['response']['phys-items']['PhysIf-list'][{{ index }}]['descr']"
      value: "Configured by ansible {{ 100 | random }}"
  vars:
    index: "{{ pre['response']['phys-items']['PhysIf-list']|ansible.utils.index_of('eq', 'eth1/100', 'id') }}"
  register: updated

- name: Apply the configuration
  ansible.netcommon.restconf_config:
    path: 'data/Cisco-NX-OS-device:System/intf-items/'
    content: "{{ updated.pre.response}}"
    method: patch

- name: Get the current interface config after changes
  ansible.netcommon.restconf_get:
    content: config
    path: /data/Cisco-NX-OS-device:System/intf-items/phys-items
  register: post

- name: Show the difference
  ansible.utils.fact_diff:
    before: "{{ pre.response|ansible.utils.to_paths }}"
    after: "{{ post.response|ansible.utils.to_paths }}"

# TASK [ansible.utils.fact_diff] *********************************************
# --- before
# +++ after
# @@ -3604,7 +3604,7 @@
#      "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].bw": "0",
#      "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].controllerId": "",
#      "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].delay": "1",
# -    "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].descr": "Configured by ansible 95",
# +    "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].descr": "Configured by ansible 20",
#      "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].dot1qEtherType": "0x8100",
#      "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].duplex": "auto",
#      "phys-items['PhysIf-list'][37].id": "eth1/100",

# changed: [nxos101]

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key	Returned	Description
diff_lines list / elements=string	always	The diff_text split into lines.
diff_text string	always	The diff in text format.

Authors

Bradley Thornton (@cidrblock)

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2021 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/utils/fact_diff_module.html