There are 20+ ways to create variables in Ansible, such as on the command line, in a playbook, or from a file, just to name a few. Refer to Ansible - Getting Started with Variables.

The following terms are synomymous, and can be used interchangeably. Each term refers to a collection of values.

• array
• dictionary
• list

Here is how you would create an empty array that contains no values using the vars plugin. The bracket characters [ ] are used to create an array.

vars:
  fruit: []

The debug module can be used to output the entire array.

- name: output the contents of the 'fruit' array
  debug: 
    var: fruit

Which should return the following. Notice "null" is returned since the array is empty.

TASK [output the contents of the 'fruit' array]
ok: [server1.example.com] => {
    "fruit": null
}

Here is how you would create an array of fruit. In this scenario, the values are strings.

vars:
  fruit: 
    - apple
    - banana
    - orange
    - grapes

Or like this.

vars:
  fruit: [ apple, banana, orange, grapes ]

The debug module can be used to output the entire array, like this.

- name: output the contents of the 'fruit' array
  debug: 
    var: fruit

Which should return the following. Notice the values are wrapped in double quotes, meaning the values are strings.

TASK [output the contents of the 'fruit' array]
ok: [server1.example.com] => {
    "fruit": [
        "apple",
        "banana",
        "orange",
        "grapes"
    ]
}

Booleans

Here is how you would create an array of booleans.

• boolean = true, false, yes, no, 1, 0

vars:
  valid_values: [ true, false ]

Which should return the following. Notice the values are not wrapped in double quotes, meaning the values are booleans or integers.

TASK [output the contents of the 'valid_values' array]
ok: [server1.example.com] => {
    "msg": [
        true,
        false
    ]
}

register out

Let's say you have captured output using the register parameter.

- name: ps command
  shell: "ps -ef | grep foo | awk '{print $2}'"
  register: out

The debug module can be used to display the values registered to stdout_lines.

- name: print stdout_lines
  debug:
    var: out.stdout_lines

Which could return something like this.

TASK[print stdout_lines]
ok: [localhost] => "{
    "out.stdout_lines" => [
        "847",
        "1044",
        "3399"
    ]
}

Here is how you could create an array that contains the values in out.stdout_lines.

- name: create the 'pids' array
  set_fact:
    pids: "{{ items }}"
  vars:
    items: "{{ out.stdout_lines }}"

Or sometimes, the values you want to append to the array are already in some other array. In this example, the "path" variable is inside of the out.files array.

ok: [server1.example.com] => {
    "out": {
        "files": [
            {
              "path": "/tmp/foo.txt",
           }
        ]
    }
}

In this scenario, here is how you would append the "path" values to the "files" array.

- name: create the 'files' array
  set_fact:
    files: "{{ items }}"
  vars:
    items: "{{ out.files | map(attribute='stdout_lines') | list }}"

Or to append multiple lists to the pids array.

- name: create the 'files' array
  set_fact:
    files: "{{ items }}"
  vars:
    items: "{{ foo.files | map(attribute='stdout_lines') | list }} + {{ bar.files | map(attribute='stdout_lines') | list }}"

index elements

Each element in the array is assigned an index number, like this.

• 0 = apple
• 1 = banana
• 2 = orange
• 3 = grapes

Here is how to output a specific element in the array.

- name: output item 2 in the 'fruit' array
  debug: 
    var: fruit[2]

Which should return the following.

TASK [output item 2 in the 'fruit' array]
ok: [server1.example.com] => {
    "msg": [
        "orange"
    ]
}

Looping through a list

The following parameters can be used to loop through each item in the array.

• loop (preferred)
• with_items
• with_list

In this example, the loop parameter is used to loop over an array of fruit.

- name: loop through the 'fruit' array
  debug: 
    msg: "{{ item }}"
  loop:
    - apple
    - banana
    - orange
    - grapes

Which should return the following.

TASK [loop through the 'fruit' array] 
ok: [server1.example.com] => (item=apple) => {
    "msg": "apple"
}
ok: [server1.example.com] => (item=banana) => {
    "msg": "banana"
}
ok: [server1.example.com] => (item=orange) => {
    "msg": "orange"
}
ok: [server1.example.com] => (item=grapes) => {
    "msg": "grapes"
}