Problem with `Disable systemd-timesyncd` Task on systems without systemd-timesyncd

[kadecole]

While running this role on Freebsd I get the below error.

TASK [geerlingguy.ansible-role-ntp : Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************
fatal: [testserver]: FAILED! => {"msg": "The conditional check '\"systemd-timesyncd.service\" in services' failed. The error was: error while evaluating conditional (\"systemd-timesyncd.service\" in services): Unable to look up a name or access an attribute in template string ({% if \"systemd-timesyncd.service\" in services %} True {% else %} False {% endif %}).\nMake sure your variable name does not contain invalid characters like '-': argument of type 'AnsibleUndefined' is not iterable\n\nThe error appears to be in '/usr/home/manager/ansible/roles/geerlingguy.ansible-role-ntp/tasks/main.yml': line 55, column 3, but may\nbe elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.\n\nThe offending line appears to be:\n\n\n- name: Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.\n  ^ here\n"}

The Disable systemd-timesyncd task should not be run on systems that don't have systemd-timesyncd installed.

I have a fix by excluding FreeBSD in a conditional check. Example here: https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-ntp/compare/master...kadecole:fix-systemd-timesyncd-for-freebsd

Please let me know if you would like this PR or if you have a different way you would like to deal with excluding this Task on certain systems.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been marked 'stale' due to lack of recent activity. If there is no further activity, the issue will be closed in another 30 days. Thank you for your contribution!

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[kadecole]

Still would like some help or guidance on this issue. Thanks.

[stale[bot]]

This issue is no longer marked for closure.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been marked 'stale' due to lack of recent activity. If there is no further activity, the issue will be closed in another 30 days. Thank you for your contribution!

Please read this blog post to see the reasons why I mark issues as stale.

[kadecole]

Would still like to get this resolved.

[stale[bot]]

This issue is no longer marked for closure.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been marked 'stale' due to lack of recent activity. If there is no further activity, the issue will be closed in another 30 days. Thank you for your contribution!

Please read this blog post to see the reasons why I mark issues as stale.

[kadecole]

Would still like to get this resolved.

[stale[bot]]

This issue is no longer marked for closure.

[jeremypoulter]

I am getting this error too on Ubuntu 20.04, have not had a chance to look in to it yet.

[plemelin]

Getting this error on Centos 7, running systemd 219-78.

[plemelin]

My system info:

ansible 4.8.0-1
ansible-core 2.12.0-1

I read the code and here's what's happening when running the following:

- hosts: somehost
  pre_tasks:
    - name: list services
      service_facts:
    - name: print
      debug:
        var: ansible_facts.services

Output:

TASK [print] ************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [somehost] => {
    "ansible_facts.services": {
        "NetworkManager-dispatcher.service": {
            "name": "NetworkManager-dispatcher.service",
            "source": "systemd",
            "state": "inactive",
            "status": "enabled"
        },
*snip*
        "systemd-timesyncd.service": {
            "name": "systemd-timesyncd.service",
            "source": "systemd",
            "state": "stopped",
            "status": "not-found"
        },
*snip*

So yeah.... systemd-timesyncd is indeed in the output from services, but not-found.

[Dd-Abraham]

I ran into this issue after updating ansible locally and fixed it by downgrading my ansible and ansible-core versions to:

ansible 4.6.x
ansible-core 2.11.x

This is not the only breaking change introduced by the new versions so I think I'll have to stick to the older versions for a while

[5ubstance]

pip install ansible-core==2.11.7

...worked for me.

[MrDienns]

Facing a similar issue;

TASK [geerlingguy.ntp : Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.] *************************************************************
Sunday 19 December 2021  23:49:06 +0100 (0:00:02.743)       0:00:20.342 ******* 
fatal: [redacted]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "msg": "Could not find the requested service systemd-timesyncd.service: host"}

Debian 11, (Linux s1-2-gra11 5.10.0-8-cloud-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.10.46-5 (2021-09-23) x86_64 GNU/Linux)

❯ ansible --version
ansible [core 2.12.1]
  config file = /Users/dennisvanderveeke/dyescape/infrastructure/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/Users/dennisvanderveeke/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /opt/homebrew/Cellar/ansible/5.0.1/libexec/lib/python3.10/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /Users/dennisvanderveeke/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /opt/homebrew/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.10.1 (main, Dec  6 2021, 22:18:13) [Clang 13.0.0 (clang-1300.0.29.3)]
  jinja version = 3.0.3
  libyaml = True

[forsel]

Encountered a similar issue on Red Hat 8 using Ansible version 5. In my case it turns out that the newer Ansible adds support for a 'not-found' status of systemd services in the service_facts module, which breaks the check done in this role. The check done is:

- name: Populate service facts.
  service_facts:

- name: Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.
  service:
    name: systemd-timesyncd.service
    enabled: false
    state: stopped
  when:
    - ntp_enabled | bool
    - '"systemd-timesyncd.service" in services'

In Ansible 5, service_facts returns systemd-timesyncd.service as an existing service with status 'not-found', exactly how the systemctl command also returns it. This means that the last conditional is true, whereas in older Ansible 2.x versions it wasn't. This, in turn, let's ansible try to stop the service, but then systemctl returns an errorthat this service isn't actually existing. One could ask why systemctl supports non-existing services with a not-found status, but I didn't go there, seems to be normal as this was on a fresh RHEL 8 install.

I fixed this by adding a third conditional to check on not-found, like so:

- name: Populate service facts.
  service_facts:

- name: Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.
  service:
    name: systemd-timesyncd.service
    enabled: false
    state: stopped
  when:
    - ntp_enabled | bool
    - '"systemd-timesyncd.service" in services'`
    - services['systemd-timesyncd.service'].status != 'not-found'

It would obviously be nice if this fix could be added to the official code.

[geerlingguy]

PR #10 was merged, so hopefully this should be fixed!

[jeremypoulter]

I am still getting the same issue, I think PR #110 only resolved the issue described by @forsel not the original reported issue:

TASK [Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.] ***********
fatal: [ansible-pr-489-5473ed6b]: FAILED! => {}

MSG:

The conditional check '"systemd-timesyncd.service" in services' failed. The error was: error while evaluating conditional ("systemd-timesyncd.service" in services): 'services' is undefined

The error appears to be in '/ansible/roles/ntp/tasks/main.yml': line 44, column 3, but may
be elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.

The offending line appears to be:

- name: Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.
  ^ here

This is the latest run on Ubuntu 20.04 with Ansible 2.9.15

[Pinny3]

Getting this error on Centos 8 Stream

[Sispheor]

Same on Rocky 8.5

TASK [geerlingguy.ntp : Disable systemd-timesyncd if it's running but ntp is enabled.] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
fatal: [squest.gre.hpecorp.net]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "msg": "Could not find the requested service systemd-timesyncd.service: host"}

[Sispheor]

Oups, sorry, it has been fixed actually. I was not on the last version. Thanks for this role !

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been marked 'stale' due to lack of recent activity. If there is no further activity, the issue will be closed in another 30 days. Thank you for your contribution!

Please read this blog post to see the reasons why I mark issues as stale.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been closed due to inactivity. If you feel this is in error, please reopen the issue or file a new issue with the relevant details.