ansible - How to conditionally check the state of an openstack instance -

i trying conditionally check state of openstack cloud instance in playbook.

the playbook takes name of cloud instance parameter , deletes setting state absent using nova compute. want check if state absent (say name of non-existent instance has been entered) skip statement. how write that?

- nova_compute      name: "{{item}}"      state: absent   with_items: "{{instance_name}}"   when: ??? 

i'm not familiar openstack tasks, looks shouldn't terribly difficult do. first off, if want terminate instances , you're getting error because don't exist ignoring errors might suffice:

- nova_compute      name: "{{item}}"      state: absent   with_items: "{{instance_name}}"   ignore_errors: yes 

if don't want you'd need split out multiple tasks, 1 check state of instance(s) , 1 terminate them.

the ansible documentation looks it's been updated ansible 2.0, i'm not sure if module names have changed sufficiently or not, given what's documented i'd suggest using task gather facts instance in question. if task returns error instance doesn't exist, you're after, should work:

- os_server_facts       name: "{{instance_name}}"       register: instance_state       ignore_errors: yes 

and can this:

- nova_compute       name: "{{instance_name}}"       state: absent       when: instance_state not defined  

depending on first task returns instance_state might want when clause bit more structured. i'd suggest running few tests , outputting instance_state via debug module see if need beyond provided here.

if need list of instances should able expand tasks bit well. along these lines (obviously haven't tested these may not 100% correct):

- os_server_facts       name: "{{item}}"       register: instance_state       ignore_errors: yes       with_items: "{{instance_list}}"  - nova_compute       name: "{{item}}"       state: absent       when: instance_state[item] not defined        with_items: "{{instance_list}}"