Ansible, prevent unneccessary log output

Question

I'm currently using a conditional "when" statement to call roles from my playbook.

My playbook:

---
- hosts: all
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no
  
  tasks:
  roles:
    - role: my_role_one
      when: deviceType == "roleOneDevice"
    - role: my_role_two
      when: deviceType == "roleTwoDevice"

Each role has the same tasks associated with it.

Role 1:

$ tree my_role_one/
my_role_one/
├── defaults
│   └── main.yml
├── files
├── handlers
│   └── main.yml
├── meta
│   └── main.yml
├── README.md
├── tasks
│   ├── install_certs.yml
│   ├── main.yml
│   ├── renew_certs.yml
│   └── revoke_certs.yml
├── templates
└── vars
    └── main.yml

Role 2:

tree my_role_two/
my_role_two/
├── defaults
│   └── main.yml
├── files
├── handlers
│   └── main.yml
├── meta
│   └── main.yml
├── README.md
├── tasks
│   ├── install_certs.yml
│   ├── main.yml
│   ├── renew_certs.yml
│   └── revoke_certs.yml
├── templates
└── vars
    └── main.yml

This is main.yml from the my_role_one role:

---
# main tasks to execute

- name: Renew SSL Certs
  import_tasks: renew_certs.yml
  tags:
    - renew
  when: deviceType == "roleOneDevice"

- name: Revoke SSL Certs
  import_tasks: revoke_certs.yml
  tags:
    - revoke
  when: deviceType == "roleOneDevice"

- name: Install SSL Certs
  import_tasks: install_certs.yml
  tags:
    - install
  when: deviceType == "roleOneDevice"

When I run the playbook I pass in an inline variable deviceType which the when conditional acts upon. However, when the playbook runs I see the log output of both roles. I only want the output of the tasks associated with the appropriate role to print to the screen.

Current output:

ansible-playbook lemur-staging-ssl-certs.yml -i hosts --limit "lab-hub[0]" -e deviceType=roleOneDevice -t "renew"

PLAY [all] 
TASK [my_role_one : fail] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Delete newDevices.txt file.] 
changed: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Log in to Lemur Stage Env.] 
ok: [device_one.mgt.net -> 127.0.0.1]

TASK [my_role_one : Getting current certificate data.] 
ok: [device_one.mgt.net -> 127.0.0.1]

TASK [my_role_one : Set currentCertSN and currentCertID vars.] 
ok: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Writing devices with no certs to newDevices.txt.] 
changed: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Set newDevices var.] 
ok: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Creating new certificates.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net] => (item=device_one.mgt.net) 

TASK [my_role_one : Set newCertData var for newly created cert (CER, ID, SN).] skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Reissuing certificates.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Set newCertData var with reissued cert data (CER, ID, SN).] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_one : Revoking old certificates.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : fail] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Delete newDevices.txt file.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Log in to Lemur Stage Env.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Getting current certificate data.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Set currentCertSN and currentCertID vars.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Writing devices with no certs to newDevices.txt.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Set newDevices var.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Creating new certificates.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net] => (item=device_one.mgt.net) 

TASK [my_role_two : Set newCertData var for newly created cert (CER, ID, SN).] skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Reissuing certificates.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Set newCertData var with reissued cert data (CER, ID, SN).] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

TASK [my_role_two : Revoking old certificates.] 
skipping: [device_one.mgt.net]

PLAY RECAP device_one.mgt.net     : ok=6    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=18   rescued=0    ignored=0

You can see I passed "roleOneDevice" as the deviceType so I'm expecting to see log output for only my_role_one but in the output, you see logs from the my_role_two role.

Answer 1

You have different options for complexity, but basically I would use the include_role module.

With both variants you can remove the conditions when: deviceType == "roleOneDevice" inside your roles.

Variant 1 (less complex)

Instead of two roles you define two tasks with the include_role module.

---
- hosts: all
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no
  
  tasks:
    - name: Run role my_role_one
      include_role:
        name: my_role_one
      when: deviceType == "roleOneDevice"

    - name: Run role my_role_two
      include_role:
        name: my_role_two
      when: deviceType == "roleTwoDevice"

For the not executed task of the include_role you will see a single skipped, but not for every single task of the role.

TASK [Run role my_role_two] ********************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

Variant 2 (more complex)

You can define a variable depending on your device type, with the name of the role to be executed (run_role). Then you define only one task that includes the role with the name defined in the run_role variable. To be on the safe side there is a condition that the variable run_role is really defined.

---
- hosts: all
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no
  
  vars:
    role_for_device:
      "roleOneDevice": my_role_one
      "roleTwoDevice": my_role_two

  pre_tasks:
    - name: Set run_role.
      set_fact:
        run_role: "{{ role_for_device[deviceType] }}"
      when: deviceType in role_for_device

  tasks:
    - name: Run device specific role
      include_role:
        name: "{{ run_role }}"
      when: run_role is defined

With this variant you don't see a skipped task anymore, because no task exists that needs to be skipped. Only if deviceType contains a value for which no key exists in the variable role_for_device, the two tasks are displayed as skipped.

The task Set run_role. does not necessarily have to be defined as pre_task, this can also be at tasks. Only the order must be correct, first set_fact, then include_role.