"[Errno 36] File name too long" on a task creating a directory (ansible-core 2.19)

[Byh0ki]

Summary

Hello, since a recent update (not sure which 😕), I get a

WARNING  Ignored exception from ArgsRule.matchtasks while processing tasks/install.yml (tasks): [Errno 36] File name too long: '{"ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS": {"path": "{{ service_subdir.path }}", "mode": "{{ service_subdir.mode | d(\'0644\') }}", "owner": "{{ service_subdir.owner | d(\'root\') }}", "group": "{{ service_subdir.group | d(\'root\') }}", "state": "{{ service_subdir.enabled | d(true) | ternary(\'directory\', \'absent\') }}"}}'

For this kind of tasks:

- name: Create needed directories for the service
  ansible.builtin.file:
    path: "{{ service_subdir.path }}"
    mode: "{{ service_subdir.mode | d('0644') }}"
    owner: "{{ service_subdir.owner | d('root') }}"
    group: "{{ service_subdir.group | d('root') }}"
    state: "{{ service_subdir.enabled | d(true) | ternary('directory', 'absent') }}"
  loop:
    - {path: "{{ service_dir }}"}
    - {path: "{{ service_files_dir }}"}
    - path: "{{ service_files_dir }}/{{ service_files_extra_dir_name }}"
      enabled: "{{ service_settings.extra_files | d({}) }}"
    - {path: "{{ service_data_dir }}"}
    - {path: "{{ service_logs_dir }}"}
  loop_control:
    loop_var: service_subdir

All the variables are properly defined and I have no issue during execution of the ansible role. The variables are not particularly special either:

service_dir: "/srv/service"
service_files_dir: "{{ service_dir }}/files"
service_data_dir: "{{ service_dir }}/data"

Issue Type

• Bug Report

OS / ENVIRONMENT

ansible-lint --version
ansible-lint 25.7.1.dev0 using ansible-core:2.19.0 ansible-compat:25.6.0 ruamel-yaml:0.18.10 ruamel-yaml-clib:0.2.12

• ansible installation method: OS package
• ansible-lint installation method: OS package

OS: Arch Linux

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

ansible-lint config:

---

exclude_paths:
  - .cache

offline: false

skip_list:
  - name[template]
  - jinja
  - yaml

warn_list:
  - key-order[task]

use_default_rules: true

Test playbook:

---

- name: Test playbook
  hosts: localhost

  vars:
    service_dir: "/srv/service"
    service_files_dir: "{{ service_dir }}/files"
    service_data_dir: "{{ service_dir }}/data"
    service_logs_dir: "{{ service_dir }}/logs"

  tasks:
    - name: Create needed directories for the service
      ansible.builtin.file:
        path: "{{ service_subdir.path }}"
        mode: "{{ service_subdir.mode | d('0644') }}"
        owner: "{{ service_subdir.owner | d('root') }}"
        group: "{{ service_subdir.group | d('root') }}"
        state: "{{ service_subdir.enabled | d(true) | ternary('directory', 'absent') }}"
      loop:
        - {path: "{{ service_dir }}"}
        - {path: "{{ service_files_dir }}"}
        - path: "{{ service_files_dir }}/{{ service_files_extra_dir_name }}"
          enabled: "{{ service_settings.extra_files | d({}) }}"
        - {path: "{{ service_data_dir }}"}
        - {path: "{{ service_logs_dir }}"}
      loop_control:
        loop_var: service_subdir

Running ansible-lint test.yml will trigger the console / binary warning but output no actual test warning for some reason

WARNING  Project directory /.ansible cannot be used for caching as it is not writable.
WARNING  Using unique temporary directory /tmp/.ansible-0aaa for caching.
WARNING  Ignored exception from ArgsRule.matchtasks while processing test.yml (playbook): [Errno 36] File name too long: '{"ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS": {"path": "{{ service_subdir.path }}", "mode": "{{ service_subdir.mode | d(\'0644\') }}", "owner": "{{ service_subdir.owner | d(\'root\') }}", "group": "{{ service_subdir.group | d(\'root\') }}", "state": "{{ service_subdir.enabled | d(true) | ternary(\'directory\', \'absent\') }}"}}'

Passed: 0 failure(s), 0 warning(s) on 1 files. Last profile that met the validation criteria was 'production'.

Desired Behavior

No warning or at least an actionable message.

Actual Behavior

A warning is returned by ansible-lint.

[alisonlhart]

I am able to reproduce this bug, only with ansible-core 2.19. This occurs with ansible-core 2.19 and all versions of ansible-lint that support it.

However, the loop does not appear to be part of this issue. It is related to the length of argument(s) passed to ansible.builtin.file, as removing arguments or replacing content from the example with shorter arguments can resolve this failure.

Unsure whether this is an ansible-core issue or ansible-lint, though likely it is lint. Thanks for reporting!

[Synchro]

I'm getting a very similar problem, but with an error 63 instead of 36:

WARNING  Ignored exception from ArgsRule.matchtasks while processing provision.yml (playbook): [Errno 63] File name too long: '{"ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS": {"key_name": "User ed25519", "instance_type": "{{ instance_type }}", "image_id": "{{ ami_id }}", "wait": true, "network": {"assign_public_ip": true}, "exact_count": "{{ server_count }}", "tags": {"Tutorial": "{{ tutorial_name }}"}, "security_groups": ["SSH", "Web"]}}'

This just started happening after I updated to ansible from 11.9.0_1 to 12.0.0. ansible-lint (which updated from 25.8.2 to 25.8.2_1, which I assume is a homebrew packaging update, not a package update) did not produce this error when running on the older ansible version. From what the error says, it sounds like it's trying to use a JSON string as a filename?

[vbotka]

likely it is lint.

I see the warning in the modules that extend file. For example

    - name: "Smartd: Configure smartd.conf"
      ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
        dest: "{{ fp_smartd_conf_file }}"
        regexp: ^\s*DEVICESCAN(.*)$
        state: absent
        owner: "{{ fp_smartd_conf_owner }}"
        group: "{{ fp_smartd_conf_group }}"
        mode: "{{ fp_smartd_conf_mode }}"
        backup: "{{ fp_backup }}"

ansible-lint reports

WARNING Ignored exception from ArgsRule.matchtasks while processing tasks/smartd.yml (tasks): [Errno 36] File name too long: '{"ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS": {"dest": "{{ fp_smartd_conf_file }}", "regexp": "^\\sDEVICESCAN(.)$", "state": "absent", "owner": "{{ fp_smartd_conf_owner }}", "group": "{{ fp_smartd_conf_group }}", "mode": "{{ fp_smartd_conf_mode }}", "backup": "{{ fp_backup }}"}}'

However, ansible-lint reports no warnings:

Passed: 0 failure(s), 0 warning(s) in 218 files processed of 270 encountered. Last profile that met the validation criteria was 'production'.

Removing the file options owner, group, mode makes the warning disappear.

[LoicGombeaud]

I can confirm the same issue is present with the latest version of ansible-lint:

$ ansible-lint --version
ansible-lint 25.9.0 using ansible-core:2.19.0 ansible-compat:25.8.1 ruamel-yaml:0.18.14 ruamel-yaml-clib:0.2.12

I'm getting an Errno 36.

[apollo13]

More details here ansible/ansible#86016 with a potential fix for ansible-core which is probably getting rejected and a possible fix for ansible-lint: ansible/ansible#86016 (comment)