Ansible Core version requirements and RHEL 9

[nikatbu]

COMPONENT NAME

F5Networks / f5-ansible

Environment

ANSIBLE VERSION

# ansible --version
ansible [core 2.14.14]
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.9.18 (main, Aug 23 2024, 00:00:00) [GCC 11.4.1 20231218 (Red Hat 11.4.1-3)] (/usr/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.2
  libyaml = True

BIGIP VERSION

[version TBD]

CONFIGURATION

N/A

OS / ENVIRONMENT

Running Ansible from RHEL 9.4

SUMMARY

F5Networks / f5-ansible latest (1.31.0) requires Ansible Core 2.15.0, but RHEL 9.4 only supports up to Ansible Core 2.14.0

https://galaxy.ansible.com/ui/repo/published/f5networks/f5_modules/?version=1.31.0
https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/updates-using-ansible-core-in-rhel

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Install ansible core on RHEL 9.4, then do a galaxy install of the latest:
ansible-galaxy collection install f5networks.f5_modules

Then try running the playbook (for example):

    - name: "Upload SSL certificate {{ ssl_certificate_file }} to {{ ssl_certificate }} on the {{ f5_host }} F5"
      f5networks.f5_modules.bigip_ssl_certificate:
        server: "{{ f5_host }}"
        user: "{{ f5_user }}"
        password: "{{ f5_password}} "
        validate_certs: "no"
        name: "{{ ssl_certificate }}"
        content: "{{ lookup('file', ssl_certificate_file) }}"
        state: present

EXPECTED RESULTS

I expected the playbook to run.

ACTUAL RESULTS

I received a warning saying:
[WARNING]: Collection f5networks.f5_modules does not support Ansible version 2.14.14

[pgouband]

Hi,

Thanks for reporting. Added to the backlog and internal tracking ID for this request is: INFRAANO-1683.

[nikatbu]

Thanks very much. Wasn't sure if it was a bug per se, but it does seem to be a bit out of sync with RHEL 9 stopping at the 2.14 level since you'd expect this module to work just fine with the standard Red Hat supplied Ansible core. What's interesting, (or maybe strange?) is that RHEL 8 goes to the 2.15 level, but not RHEL 9. I also have feelers out to our Red Hat TAM to see if 2.15 is in the works. Not very optimistic on that since the blog entry (above) implies that it's intentional that they stop at 2.14 in RHEL 9.

[pgouband]

Hi @nikatbu,

We will review it.
I'm not confirming it's a bug but we will do some research.

[urohit011]

Hi @nikatbu, is it possible for you to update the RHEL to the version that supports ansible >= 2.15, ansible 2.14 has reached end of life and using it might not be recommended.

[nikatbu]

Hi, @urohit011 thanks for the note. Unfortunately the latest RHEL 9 only goes up to Ansible Core 2.14, and they are saying they are back-porting fixes into that level.

RHEL 8 supports Ansible core up to 2.16. But that's an older version of RHEL.

Ultimately here the right answer may probably be to stop using the RHEL supplied Ansible core and go with the community version, but we are a bit reluctant to do that as it means we will not get support from Red Hat and it is important to our leadership to have a vendor providing support.

The challenge is why are vendors (recognized as partners by Red Hat) providing modules that require an ansible version that is newer than what Red Hat provides. That seems like a disconnect and really the vendors/partners should support at least the latest/greatest version as supplied by Red Hat.

See also https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/updates-using-ansible-core-in-rhel

[urohit011]

Hi @nikatbu , I understand from your comment that RHEL does not come with ansible core greater that 2.14, is there any way to manually upgrade the ansible core on the device?

[nikatbu]

Hi, thanks, yes, I was trying to stay within the RHEL supplied ecosystem, but I think I should be able to go with the community version of Ansible instead. I'm wondering if that is what the typical Rocky or Alma 9 system actually does, goes with the community version instead of the repackaged Rocky/Alma ansible-core

[nikatbu]

I guess my question really is, would the maintainers of the F5 Ansible modules consider updating the module so that it works with Ansible core 2.14 so that it matches the standard supplied RHEL 9 Ansible core? I understand if you don't or if there are features missing, but I was just trying to keep everything working with standard vendor supplied Ansible. Red Hat in their Ansible marketing documentation touts F5 support being a thing, but when I discovered that the module actually requires a version of ansible core that is newer than what Red Hat supplies, I wanted to open the question on behalf of Red Hat.

[urohit011]

I will discuss with the team and let you know soon, @nikatbu .