Ansible Troubleshooting: Resolving the "Missing Module Parameter" Error

The best way of talking about Ansible troubleshooting is to jump in a live demo to show you practically the missing module parameter and how to solve it!

December 17, 2023

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Introduction

Welcome to another episode of Ansible Pilot! I’m Luca Berton, and today we’re delving into Ansible troubleshooting, focusing on the notorious “Missing Module Parameter” error. Join me as we explore this common issue, reproduce it in a live demo, and learn how to resolve it effectively.

The Demo

To illustrate the troubleshooting process, let’s dive straight into a live demo. In this example, we have a playbook (missingparam_error.yml) that attempts to restart the SSH daemon using the Ansible service module. However, a critical mistake is made with a missing module parameter.

Error Code

# missingparam_error.yml
---
- name: Service module demo
  hosts: all
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Sshd restart
      ansible.builtin.service:
        nme: sshd
        state: restarted
        enabled: true

Executing this playbook (ansible-playbook -i inventory missingparam_error.yml) results in an error due to the missing parameter:

TASK [Sshd restart] *****************************************************************
fatal: [example.com]: FAILED! => {"msg": "An unhandled exception occurred while templating '{{ nme }}'. Error was a <class 'ansible.errors.AnsibleError'>, original message: template error while templating string: unexpected 'n'. String: {{ nme }}"}

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Fix Code

To rectify the issue, we need to correct our playbook. The fixed version (missingparam_fix.yml) includes the correct module parameter:

# missingparam_fix.yml
---
- name: Service module demo
  hosts: all
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Sshd restart
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: sshd
        state: restarted
        enabled: true

Executing the fixed playbook (ansible-playbook -i inventory missingparam_fix.yml) should now complete without errors.

Recap

In this tutorial, we explored the common “Missing Module Parameter” error in Ansible. By demonstrating the issue in a live demo and providing a corrected playbook, we’ve learned how to troubleshoot and fix this type of error effectively.

I hope this guide helps you navigate and resolve similar issues in your Ansible automation journey. If you found this information valuable, consider subscribing for more Ansible insights.

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