awx.awx.host overwrites and does not update existing inventory host variables

[dwaynebullock]

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• I agree to follow this project's code of conduct.
• I have checked the current issues for duplicates.
• I understand that AWX is open source software provided for free and that I might not receive a timely response.

Feature type

New Feature

Feature Summary

When using the module to add additional variables to an existing Inventory Host, the existing variables are overwritten an not appended to. Maybe it needs an update state to append/update existing hosts if this is the correct behavior.

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Steps to reproduce

This example playbook will demonstrate the issue

---

• name: Add host to AWX Inventory
  hosts: localhost
  vars:
  inventory_name:
  host_name:
  host_description:
  inv_username: "awx_username"
  inv_password: "awx_password"
  ansible_url: "https://ansible.home.local/"
  vm_name: "Alma9"
  tasks:

  • name: "Create host {{vm_name}}"
    awx.awx.host:
    name: "{{vm_name}}"
    inventory: "linux_build"
    state: present
    controller_host: "{{ ansible_url }}"
    controller_username: "{{ inv_username }}"
    controller_password: "{{ inv_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    variables:
    os_type: "linux"

  • name: "update vars for{{vm_name}}"
    awx.awx.host:
    name: "{{vm_name}}"
    inventory: "linux_build"
    state: present
    controller_host: "{{ ansible_url }}"
    controller_username: "{{ inv_username }}"
    controller_password: "{{ inv_password }}"
    validate_certs: no
    variables:
    os_ver: "9.6"

Current results

The last play in the playbook overwrites the exiting variables and leaves the following

{
"os_ver": "9.6"
}

Sugested feature result

the host should have 2 variables
{
"os_type": "linux"
"os_ver": "9.6"
}

Additional information

The module says it should "Create, update, or destroy Automation Platform Controller hosts". Does update mean to only overwrite existing variables and not update/append them? Maybe add an update state to append data to existing host variables.

[thedoubl3j]

Thanks for the context and the repro. We are investigating to see if this behavior is consistent across the project (aka don't append, just write the new vars). If it is, I would wager that we would not do this and I would suggest to send all vars when you are updating a host. If this is not consistent, I do see this as a valid enhancement.