Use ansible to download packages while a repo is available and then install them when it is not available

Question

EDIT: I didn't include version information, my apologies- it's been a while.

Ansible 2.9.18 and as it stands we can't currently update this.

I've got a slightly complicated use case. I use ansible (via an AWX server) for managing a bunch of servers including one that hosts my own repository, which is what all my servers are configured to use when updating packages using dnf. The servers, including the repo, use podman for all their services

The workflow I need is:

• check if updates are available and set a variable based on this which is used moving forward
• if they are available, download them
• if they are available, stop pods
• if they are available, install them, and reboot if needed
• start all the pods again

As far as I can tell this is working as intended on all but one of my servers. When I try to do this on the server that hosts the repo, I keep getting errors on the install step that suggest the repo is unavailable. It is, because I've stopped the pods. So I need to skip anything that attempts to connect to the repo, and I thought having already downloaded the packages would do this, but it appears not.

This is the relevant part of my playbook (everything up to here and afterward is fine).

- hosts: all
  remote_user: "{{ remote_user }}"
  gather_facts: true
  tasks:

    - name: check for updates on AlmaLinux
      become: true
      command: dnf list updates --quiet
      register: update_check_output
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux'
      changed_when: false
      
    - name: set updates_available variable
      set_fact:
        updates_available: "{{ update_check_output.stdout_lines | length > 0 }}"
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux'
      
    - name: download updates for AlmaLinux
      become: true
      dnf:
        update_cache: yes
        download_only: true
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and updates_available
      
    - name: stop any pods to avoid conflicts
      become: true
      become_user: "{{ pod_user }}"
      shell:
        cmd: podman pod stop "{{ item }}"
      loop: "{{ pods }}"
      when: pods is defined and ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and updates_available
      
    - name: stop any systemd pods to avoid conflicts
      become: true
      become_user: "{{ pod_user }}"
      shell:
        cmd: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u) systemctl --user stop "{{ item }}"
      loop: "{{ systemd_stop_pods }}"
      when: systemd_stop_pods is defined and ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and updates_available
            
    - name: install updates to AlmaLinux servers
      become: true
      dnf:
        name: "*"
        state: latest
        disable_gpg_check: yes
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and updates_available
            
    - name: check if AlmaLinux servers require restarting
      shell: needs-restarting -r
      failed_when: false
      register: reboot_required
      changed_when: false
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux'
          
    - name: reboot AlmaLinux family servers if required
      become: yes
      reboot:
        reboot_timeout: 300
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and reboot_required.rc != 0 

I tried adding disable_gpg_check: yes to the play that install updates but I still get the same issue. So it appears this is working on other servers because it doesn't matter that they are still trying to hit the repo, but obviously doesn't work when I am doing it on this one.

For the record here is my error.

[MIRROR] bind-libs-9.16.23-11.el9_2.2.x86_64.rpm: Status code: 502 for https://myserver/yum-mirror/9/AppStream/x86_64/os/Packages/bind-libs-9.16.23-11.el9_2.2.x86_64.rpm (IP: 10.xx.xx.xx)
The downloaded packages were saved in cache until the next successful transaction.
You can remove cached packages by executing 'dnf clean packages'.
Error: Error downloading packages:
      bind-libs-32:9.16.23-11.el9_2.2.x86_64: Cannot download, all mirrors were already tried without success

Seems like I should be able to do this but I've been searching high and low for an answer and can't fine one.

Answer 1

Use cacheonly parameter, i.e.

    - name: install updates to AlmaLinux servers
      become: true
      dnf:
        name: "*"
        state: latest
        disable_gpg_check: yes
        cacheonly: true
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and updates_available

If this parameter is unavailable in your ansible version - you can use command module, i.e.

    - name: install updates to AlmaLinux servers
      become: true
      command: dnf upgrade --cacheonly -y
      when: ansible_distribution == 'AlmaLinux' and updates_available