Ansible troubleshooting - Failed to connect to the host via ssh host localhost port 22

How to solve the error connection failed fatal error when connecting via ssh host localhost port 22 when testing your code on your local machine using ansible_connection local parameter.

October 12, 2022

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#ansible #troubleshooting #error #connection #ssh #localhost #error #fatal

Introduction

In today’s episode of Ansible Pilot, I’m Luca Berton, and we’ll delve into Ansible troubleshooting, focusing on the common error “Failed to connect to the host via SSH: localhost port 22.” This error often occurs when testing your code on your local machine using the ansible_connection local parameter.

Understanding the Error

The exact error message you might encounter in the terminal is:

fatal: [localhost]: UNREACHABLE! => {"changed": false, "msg": "Failed to connect to the host via SSH: ssh: connect to host localhost port 22: Connection refused", "unreachable": true}

This error is a clear indication that Ansible failed to establish an SSH connection to the localhost on port 22.

Live Demo

Let’s jump into a live demo to reproduce the Ansible connection failed problem and fix it in the inventory file.

Error Code: `ping.yml`

---
- name: ping module demo
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: test connection
      ansible.builtin.ping:

Error Execution

Executing the playbook with the error:

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory ping.yml
PLAY [ping module demo] *****************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************
fatal: [localhost]: UNREACHABLE! => {"changed": false, "msg": "Failed to connect to the host via SSH: ssh: connect to host localhost port 22: Connection refused", "unreachable": true}
PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=0    changed=0    unreachable=1    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Fix Code: `ping.yml`

---
- name: ping module demo
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: test connection
      ansible.builtin.ping:

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Fix Execution

Executing the fixed playbook:

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory ping.yml
PLAY [ping module demo] *****************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************
[WARNING]: Platform darwin on host localhost is using the discovered Python interpreter
at /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.10, but future installation of another Python interpreter
could change the meaning of that path. See https://docs.ansible.com/ansible-
core/2.13/reference_appendices/interpreter_discovery.html for more information.
ok: [localhost]
TASK [test connection] ******************************************************************
ok: [localhost]
PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Recap

In conclusion, you now know how to troubleshoot the common Ansible error “Failed to connect to the host via SSH localhost port 22.” By modifying the inventory file and setting ansible_connection=local, you can resolve this issue when testing Ansible code on your local machine.

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