Ways To Provide Body Payload In Ansibles URI Module [Update]
Ways to provide body payload in Ansibles URI module [Update]
The Ansible URI module is a versatile tool that can be used to interact with web services and APIs. It supports various HTTP methods, headers, authentication mechanisms, and response formats. One of the most important aspects of using the URI module is how to provide the body payload for the request, especially when dealing with JSON or form data.
In this article, we will explore the different ways to provide the body payload in Ansibles URI module, and how to choose the best option for your use case. We will also cover some of the recent updates and enhancements that have been added to the module in Ansible 2.10 and 2.11.
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Using the body parameter
The simplest way to provide the body payload for the URI module is to use the body parameter. This parameter accepts any data type, such as a string, a dictionary, a list of tuples, or a JSON object. Depending on the value of the body_format parameter, the body parameter will be encoded and sent accordingly.
For example, if you want to send a JSON object as the body payload, you can use the following syntax:
```yaml - name: Send a JSON object as the body payload uri: url: method: POST body: name: John job: Developer body_format: json return_content: yes ``` This will encode the body parameter as a JSON string and set the Content-Type header to application/json. The response content will be returned as a JSON object in the json key of the result.
If you want to send a form-encoded string as the body payload, you can use the following syntax:
```yaml - name: Send a form-encoded string as the body payload uri: url: method: POST body: name=John&job=Developer body_format: form-urlencoded return_content: yes ``` This will encode the body parameter as a form-encoded string and set the Content-Type header to application/x-www-form-urlencoded. The response content will be returned as a plain text in the content key of the result.
If you want to send a dictionary or a list of tuples as the body payload, you can use either json or form-urlencoded as the body_format. For example:
```yaml - name: Send a dictionary as the body payload using json format uri: url: method: POST body: name: John job: Developer body_format: json return_content: yes - name: Send a list of tuples as the body payload using form-urlencoded format uri: url: method: POST body: - [name, John] - [job, Developer] body_format: form-urlencoded return_content: yes ``` The URI module will automatically convert the dictionary or list of tuples into the appropriate format and set the Content-Type header accordingly.
Using lookup plugins
Sometimes, you may want to provide the body payload from an external source, such as a file or a template. In this case, you can use lookup plugins to read and render the data before passing it to the URI module. Lookup plugins are Ansible features that allow you to access data from outside sources within your playbooks.
For example, if you have a JSON file that contains the body payload, you can use the file lookup plugin to read its contents and pass it to the URI module:
```yaml - name: Send a JSON file as the body payload uri: url: method: POST body: " lookup('file', 'payload.json') " body_format: json return_content: yes ``` This will read and send the contents of payload.json as a JSON string and set the Content-Type header to application/json.
If you have a Jinja2 template that generates the body payload, you can use the template lookup plugin to render it and pass it to the URI module:
```yaml - name: Send a Jinja2 template as the body payload uri: url: method: POST body: " lookup('template', 'payload.j2') " body_format: json return_content: yes ``` This will render and send the contents of payload.j2 as a JSON string and set the Content-Type header to application/json.
You can also use other lookup plugins, such as pipe, url, or ini, to provide the body payload from different sources. For more information on lookup plugins, see the [Ansible documentation].
Using multipart/form-data format [Update]
In Ansible 2.10, a new option was added to the URI module to support sending multipart/form-data requests. This is useful when you want to upload files or send complex data structures as the body payload. The multipart/form-data format allows you to send multiple parts of data in a single request, each with its own content type and disposition.
To use this option, you need to set the body_format parameter to form-multipart and provide the body parameter as a dictionary. The dictionary keys are the names of the parts, and the values are either strings or dictionaries with the following keys:
filename: The name of the file to upload.
mimetype: The MIME type of the file.
content: The content of the file.
content_type: The content type of the part. If not specified, it will be inferred from the mimetype or the value type.
content_disposition: The content disposition of the part. If not specified, it will be inferred from the filename or the value type.
For example, if you want to upload a file and send some metadata as a JSON object, you can use the following syntax:
```yaml - name: Upload a file and send metadata as multipart/form-data uri: url: method: POST body: file: filename: report.pdf mimetype: application/pdf content: " lookup('file', 'report.pdf', errors='ignore') " metadata: content_type: application/json content: " to_json " body_format: form-multipart return_content: yes vars: metadata: title: Monthly Report author: John Doe ``` This will send a multipart/form-data request with two parts: file and metadata. The file part will have a content type of application/pdf, a content disposition of form-data; name="file"; filename="report.pdf", and the contents of report.pdf. The metadata part will have a content type of application/json, a content disposition of form-data; name="metadata", and the JSON-encoded value of to_json .
Using headers parameter [Update]
In Ansible 2.11, an enhancement was made to the URI module to allow overriding the default headers that are set by the module based on the body_format. Previously, if you set the body_format to json, for example, you could not change the Content-Type header that was automatically set by the module. Now, you can use the headers parameter to specify any custom headers that you want to send with the request.
The headers parameter accepts a dictionary of header names and values. If a header is specified in both the headers parameter and by the module based on the body_format, then the value from the headers parameter will take precedence.
This feature is useful when you want to send requests with custom or non-standard content types or encodings. For example, if you want to send a request with a custom content type of application/vnd.api+json, you can use the following syntax:
```yaml - name: Send a request with a custom content type uri: url: method: POST body: " user_data " body_format: json headers: Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json return_content: yes vars: user_data: data: type: users attributes: name: John job: Developer ``` This will send a JSON request with a content type of application/vnd.api+json, which is a standard for building APIs in JSON. The headers parameter will override the default content type of application/json that is set by the module based on the body_format.
Conclusion
In this article, we have learned how to provide the body payload in Ansibles URI module using different methods and formats. We have also seen how to use lookup plugins to read and render data from external sources, how to use the new multipart/form-data option to upload files and send complex data structures, and how to use the new headers parameter to override the default headers set by the module. These features make the URI module a powerful and flexible tool for interacting with web services and APIs in Ansible.
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