Package module pass list of packages to apt_rpm that is converted to string as is and not supported

[amleshkov]

SUMMARY

apt_rpm does not support install packages provided as list, only as comma delimited string. So package module does not work with apt_rpm

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

apt_rpm

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible 2.8.8

CONFIGURATION

OS / ENVIRONMENT

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Use simple playbook that install list of packages on Altlinux

- name: install packages
  package:
    name:
        - nginx
        - vim

EXPECTED RESULTS

Packages succesfully installed by invoking apt_rpm

ACTUAL RESULTS

TASK [install_packages : install packages] *************************************
fatal: [host-1]: FAILED! => changed=false
  msg: |-
    'apt-get -y install  'vim']' failed: E: Regex compilation error - Unmatched [ or [^

It is because:

[WARNING]: The value ['nginx', 'vim'] (type list) in a string field was converted to u"['nginx', 'librdkafka']" (type string). If this does not look like what you expect, quote the entire value to ensure it does not change.

[felixfontein]

The module expects a string, not a list as its param. It's probably better to fix the param type from str to list and make sure lists are handled correctly.

[amleshkov]

The module expects a string, not a list as its param. It's probably better to fix the param type from str to list and make sure lists are handled correctly.

Changing type break behavior of existing playbooks with single package name provided in module

[ansibullbot]

cc @evgkrsk
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[felixfontein]

Changing type break behavior of existing playbooks with single package name provided in module

That's true in general, but not in this case: type: list also accepts strings, and splits them by commas to create a list. Since the module currently does this manually, the behavior does not change for existing correct use-cases. What does change is that now the module will also work when lists are passed.

[ansibullbot]

cc @bcoca @danowar2k @fishman @jasperla @jpdasma @mator @mavit @scathatheworm @troy2914 @xen0l
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