Ansible Debug Module: Print Variables & Messages During Playbook Execution — Video Tutorial

How to print variables and debug messages during Ansible playbook execution with the debug module. Use msg, var, and verbosity parameters.

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What you'll learn

How to print a text or a variable during the execution with Ansible?
Ansible debug module — ansible.builtin.debug
Parameters
Ansible debug module Playbook
Debug Module Usage Patterns
Print a simple message
Print a variable
Print registered variable from command output
Conditional debug (only show on verbose)
Print multiple variables

How to print a text or a variable during the execution with Ansible? `ansible.builtin.debug` prints messages and variable values to stdout during playbook execution — the primary way to inspect registered task output, Ansible facts, and Jinja2 expressions without halting the play. Set the `verbosity` parameter to suppress debug output in normal runs and show it only when `-v` or higher is passed. Ansible debug module — ansible.builtin.debug Today we’re talking about Ansible module debug. It’s part of the `ansible.builtin` collection so it’s part of the collection of modules “builtin” with ansible and shipped with it. It’s a stable module and works with a variety of operating systems. The purpose is to print statements during execution. This means not only text but also all the possible Ansible variables and facts Parameters - msg _string_ - var _string_ - verbosity _integer_ This module has three parameters. If you launch without any parameter the default “Hello world!” (with exclamation mark) is printed. If we prefer to customize the message we need to specify the “msg” parameter. In the same way, the “var” parameter allows us to print a variable. We could combine text and variables in the “msg” field. Please note that you need to use always the double brackets when we want the variable value. The "verbosity" is for advanced users if you would like to hide our debug code in normal execution but keep it in the playbook if we need it in debug mode. The value could vary from 0 normal execution to 3. Ansible debug module Playbook Let’s jump in live Ansible debug module Playbook. In the following example we are going beyond the print of “Hello world!” text, printing a text, a variable, text and variable, and Playbooknstrate to you how to use the verbosity level. Are you ready? ```yaml --- - name: debug module Playbook hosts: all vars: fruit: "apple" tasks: - name: debug message ansible.builtin.debug: msg: "our fruit is {{ fruit }}" verbosity: 2 ``` [code with ❤️ in GitHub](https://github.com/lucab85/ansible-pilot/tree/master/print%20text%20variable%20during%20execution) Debug Module Usage Patterns Print a simple message ```yaml - name: Show deployment info ansible.builtin.debug: msg: "Deploying version {{ app_version }} to {{ inventory_hostname }}" ``` Print a variable ```yaml - name: Show all ansible facts ansible.builtin.debug: var: ansible_facts - name: Show specific fact ansible.builtin.debug: var: ansible_distribution ``` Print registered variable from command output ```yaml - name: Check disk space ansible.builtin.command: df -h / register: disk_result changed_when: false - name: Show disk space ansible.builtin.debug: var: disk_result.stdout_lines ``` Conditional debug (only show on verbose) ```yaml - name: Detailed debug info (only with -v) ansible.builtin.debug: msg: "Connection details: {{ hostvars[inventory_hostname] }}" verbosity: 1 # Onl

About this tutorial

Author: Luca Berton
Difficulty: Advanced
Read time: 5 min
Category: troubleshooting

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