count field is not supported on Metal device module

[displague]

SUMMARY

The metal device module does not support the count and count_offset features that were present in the Packet and Metal collections.

Is this going to be implemented in this collection? If not, what is the alternative way to accomplish this?

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

ANSIBLE VERSION

CONFIGURATION

OS / ENVIRONMENT

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

EXPECTED RESULTS

ACTUAL RESULTS

[ctreatma]

This feature is better accomplished using built-in loop or with_sequence features of Ansible. The following configs should be roughly equivalent, but we should test these out before putting them in a migration guide:

# ansible-collection-metal
equinix.metal.device:
  # ... omitting other properties to focus on the change in this issue
  hostnames: "{{ foo_var }}-{{ bar_var }}-%02d"
  count: "10"

# ansible-collection-equinix using loop
equinix.cloud.metal_device:
  # ... omitting other properties to focus on the change in this issue
  hostname: "{{ foo_var }}-{{ bar_var }}-{{ '%02d' | format(item) }}"
loop: "{{ range(1, 11, 1) | list }}"

# ansible-collection-equinix using with_sequence
equinix.cloud.metal_device:
  # ... omitting other properties to focus on the change in this issue
  hostname: "{{ foo_var }}-{{ bar_var }}-{{ item }}"
with_sequence: start=1 end=10 stride=1 format=%02d

Using loop, with_sequence, and other Ansible looping constructs leads to more idiomatic Ansible playbooks and brings in options that were not possible by only using count in ansible-collection-metal:

• using a format other than %02d for the index
• using an increment other than 1, e.g. "{{ count_range = range(4, 17, 4) }}" for 4, 8, 12, 16
• iterating over a custom list such as ["controlplane", "worker", "ssh_bastion"]

[displague]

Given the alternatives above, I think it is fair to close this issue. count and count_offset are not present in the Metal POST /projects/{id}/devices arguments and this collection takes the position of staying close to the API without adding magic to modules where there is a 1:1 relationship with API resources.

We have the following issues open which may find alternative ways to redress this:

• Docs: Provide a migration guide on how to convert from the Packet and Metal providers #122
• Implement a Batch Devices module #123

If you feel there are reasons to keep this issue open, please comment so.