How do I exit Ansible play without error on a condition

Question

I want to exit without an error (I know about assert and fail modules) when I meet a certain condition. The following code exits but with a failure:

  tasks:

           


        

Answer 1

Just a little note: meta: end_play ends just the play, not a playbook. So this playbook:

---
- name: 1st play with end play
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - name: I'll always be printed
      debug:
        msg: next task terminates first play

    - name: Ending the 1st play now
      meta: end_play

    - name: I want to be printed!
      debug:
        msg: However I'm unreachable so this message won't appear in the output

- name: 2nd play
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - name: I will also be printed always
      debug:
        msg: "meta: end_play ended just the 1st play. This is 2nd one."

will produce this output:

$ ansible-playbook -i localhost, playbooks/end_play.yml 

PLAY [1st play with end play] **************************************************

TASK [I'll always be printed] **************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "msg": "next task terminates first play"
}

PLAY [2nd play] ****************************************************************

TASK [I will also be printed always] *******************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "msg": "meta: end_play ended just the 1st play. This is 2nd one."
}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0