Ansible troubleshooting - user module password_expiry_min bug and workaround
How to reproduce the password_expiry_min bug of the module user, triage, read the GitHub report, and workaround!


Today we’re going to talk about Ansible troubleshooting, specifically about the user module bug and possible workaround. I’m Luca Berton and welcome to today’s episode of Ansible Pilot
Demo
The best way of talking about Ansible troubleshooting is to jump in a live demo to show you practically the user module bug triage and possible workaround!
error code
- userbug_error.yml
---
- name: user module demo
hosts: all
become: true
vars:
myuser: "example"
tasks:
- name: password expiration
ansible.builtin.user:
name: "{{ myuser }}"
password_expire_min: 7
password_expire_max: 90
error execution
$ ansible-playbook -i demo/inventory troubleshooting/userbug_error.yml.yml
PLAY [user module demo] **********************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ***********************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [password expiration] *******************************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
PLAY RECAP ***********************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=2 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i demo/inventory user\ expiration/user.yml
PLAY [user module demo] **********************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ***********************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [password expiration] *******************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
PLAY RECAP ***********************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=2 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $ ssh [email protected]
Last login: Mon Nov 8 17:09:16 2021 from 192.168.43.5
[[email protected] ~]$ sudo su
[[email protected] devops]# chage -l example
Last password change : Nov 08, 2021
Password expires : Feb 06, 2022
Password inactive : never
Account expires : never
Minimum number of days between password change : 0
Maximum number of days between password change : 90
Number of days of warning before password expires : 7
We expected a 7
value for Minimum number of days between password change
but we obtain 0
.
Troubleshoot
workaround
- userbug_workaround.yml
---
- name: user module demo
hosts: all
become: true
vars:
myuser: "example"
tasks:
- name: password min expiration
ansible.builtin.user:
name: "{{ myuser }}"
password_expire_min: 7
- name: password max expiration
ansible.builtin.user:
name: "{{ myuser }}"
password_expire_max: 90
workaround execution
$ ansible-playbook -i demo/inventory troubleshooting/userbug_workaround.yml
PLAY [user module demo] **********************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ***********************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [password min expiration] ***************************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
TASK [password max expiration] ***************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
PLAY RECAP ***********************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=3 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $ ssh [email protected]
Last login: Wed Nov 10 10:38:59 2021 from 192.168.43.5
[[email protected] ~]$ sudo su
[[email protected] devops]# chage -l example
Last password change : Nov 08, 2021
Password expires : Feb 06, 2022
Password inactive : never
Account expires : never
Minimum number of days between password change : 7
Maximum number of days between password change : 90
Number of days of warning before password expires : 7
Recap
Now you know better how to troubleshoot the Ansible user module bug. Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Medium, Website, Twitter, and Substack to not miss the next episode of the Ansible Pilot.
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