How to loop over this dictionary in Ansible?

Question

Say I have this dictionary

war_files:
  server1:
  - file1.war
  - file2.war
  server2:
  - file1.war
  - file2.war
  - file3.war

and for n

Answer 1

Here is my preferred way to loop over dictionaries:

input_data.yml contains the following:

----
input_data:
  item_1:
    id: 1
    info: "Info field number 1"
  item_2:
    id: 2
    info: "Info field number 2"

I then use a data structure like the above in a play using the keys() function and iterate over the data using with_items:

---
- hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: false
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Include dictionary data
      include_vars:
        file: data.yml

    - name: Show info field from data.yml
      debug:
        msg: "Id: {{ input_data[item]['id'] }} - info: {{ input_data[item]['info'] }}"
      with_items: "{{ input_data.keys() | list }}"

The above playbook produces the following output:

PLAY [localhost] ***********************************************************

TASK [Include dictionary data] *********************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Show info field from data.yml] ***************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item=item_2) => {
    "msg": "Id: 2 - info: Info field item 2"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=item_3) => {
    "msg": "Id: 3 - info: Info field item 3"
}
ok: [localhost] => (item=item_1) => {
    "msg": "Id: 1 - info: Info field item 1"
}

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0