Template - chmod (Readme) failed: chmod: invalid mode 'False'

[marjancinober]

Basic template "{{ inventory_hostname }}" creates the file

root@testwrt:~# cat Readme 
testwrt.test.lan

but reports the error

TASK [Make Readme for testwrt.test.lan] ****************************************
fatal: [testwrt.test.lan]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "checksum": "adc83b19e793491b1c6ea0fd8b46cd9f32e592fc", "msg": "chmod (Readme) failed: chmod: invalid mode 'False'", "path": "Readme", "state": "file"}
        to retry, use: --limit @/home/user/ansible-bug/routers.retry

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
testwrt.test.lan           : ok=11   changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1

and stops the playbook.
I'm quite new at Ansible. No idea how to debug the shell script on remote router.
...
--------- To Replay the Bug Copy and Paste ---------

WD=`pwd`/ansible-bug
mkdir $WD

# Install ansible in virtualenv
cd $WD
sudo pip3 install -U virtualenv
virtualenv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
pip install ansible

# Clone gekmihesg/ansible
mkdir roles; cd roles/
git clone  https://github.com/gekmihesg/ansible-openwrt.git
mv ansible-openwrt/ openwrt/

# Configure bug demo
cd $WD
mkdir -p roles/openwrt/vars/
cat << EOF > roles/openwrt/vars/main.yml 
#// Reduce flash wear on target device
ansible_remote_tmp: /tmp/ansible
ansible_ssh_transfer_method: scp
EOF
cat << EOF > hosts
[openwrt]
testwrt.test.lan
EOF
cat << EOF > routers.yml
- hosts: openwrt
  roles:
    - openwrt
  gather_facts: no
  tasks: 
  - name: Make Readme for {{inventory_hostname}}
    template:
      src: roles/openwrt/templates/Readme.j2
      dest: Readme
      mode: '0644'
EOF
mkdir -p roles/openwrt/templates
cat << EOF > roles/openwrt/templates/Readme.j2
{{ inventory_hostname }}
EOF

ansible-playbook -v -i hosts routers.yml -l testwrt.test.lan 2>&1 | tee .buglog

Ok, AFTER loosing a day I stumbled across temporary solution shown as explicit "mode: '0644' " parameter above. Strange, as it requires both single quote and leading zero. According to Ansible documentation one should suffice, and should work without specifying the mode as well, as it actually works in other non-openwrt roles.

[marjancinober]

This seems to resolve my example issue, but it'a a blind guess. I am afraid there probably is a better place to place this correction at, right?

--- roles/openwrt/filter_plugins/monkeypatch.py.orig    2019-03-14 19:41:08.056362453 +0100
+++ roles/openwrt/filter_plugins/monkeypatch.py 2019-03-22 22:43:15.280304372 +0100
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@
 def _fix_module_args(module_args):
     for k, v in module_args.items():
         if v is None:
-            module_args[k] = False
+            if k == 'mode':
+                module_args[k] = ''
+            else:
+                module_args[k] = False
         elif isinstance(v, dict):
             _fix_module_args(v)
         elif isinstance(v, list):

Note, For this to work I had to run ... to recompile to pyc

python roles/openwrt/filter_plugins/monkeypatch.py

[gekmihesg]

Thanks, issue is fixed in 0866e5b