Ascender Run Job Template with Host(Multiple)

dracarys-dev

Hello team,
I have a feature request for Ascender. I’m actually requesting this because we currently can’t create dynamic surveys on the survey side.
The ability to run a template by selecting multiple hosts or groups from the Inventory > Hosts screen, the Hosts screen directly, or the Inventory > Groups screen. Currently, only the “Run Command” button is available. If a “Run Template” option were added here, we could run a job by directly specifying the hosts in the limit field.
Is it possible to add this feature? Thank you
Br.

cigamit

Seems like an easy enough idea. Can you create an Issue for this on the Ascender repo? Then I will get to work on it once I have time (unless someone else manages to first)

cigamit

So digging into this a bit deeper. Its very doable and most everything is already there, we just need to create a Job Template / Workflow picker, the rest would be handled by the existing Launch Wizard system.

There are 2 caveats though, the templates themselves would have to have "Prompt On Launch" for both the "Limit" and the "Inventory" fields. We can't just override them, the job will ignore anything we send against them. With them being Prompt On Launch, the Wizard should show the fields, and they would be pre-populated with the Inventory and the Hosts / Groups you selected.

dracarys-dev

I created a issue. Thanks a lot.

ctrliq/ascender782

dracarys-dev

cigamit

Yes, perhaps only the templates where these settings are enabled should be displayed (in the template/workflow picker). And we could include a note here stating that only templates with these settings enabled are listed.

Is this possible? Or could we consider another idea? Thank you

fernandorocagonzalez

@blaipr

fernandorocagonzalez

funny to read that today I had a conversation with @blaipr about implementing some kind (we would need to really think about that) of dynamic surveys/forms into ascender, I know aap already has something, right now we covered that gap with ansibleforms, but its something Ive been thinking for at least 4 years

cigamit

Yes, I have thought dynamic surveys a lot too, and have gone back and forth whether to allow a yaml type config for questions, or whether to build a full GUI form (which would be harder for us, but easier for the users).

We may start with a yaml config, and expand that into a form that can build the config for you later.

blaipr

I'm good with a yaml type config, improving the current survey keys.

It can only go so far without using javascript expressions, but I think it would be easy to make dropdowns that show hosts from inventories hosts lists, dependencies between fields to show a certain value depending on the chosen host, etc.

When I have some time I'll do a proposal here or in a PR about these 2 questions, which are the most expected, I think.

dracarys-dev

Hi @blaipr and @cigamit,

Have there been any updates on this matter? What exactly is the plan? Will the development focus on dynamic surveys, or will the “run template” option be considered?

ctrliq/ascender782

Br.

blaipr

dracarys-dev I'm currently making major changes on Ascender.

On one hand, I'm changing all the plumbing behind the controller, updating both the architecture and the dependencies to the latest versions. I'm done with that for now.

On another topic, I'm changing all mentions of awx all through the codebase from awx to ascender, keeping symlinks, etc. I'm done with that for now.

Last, I'm fixing some AWX era bugs and PatternFly 6 migration bugs on the UI. Together with this, I'm implementing some changes on the UI, including your button/functionality. I should be done with this by the end of this week.

These are lots of changes and I wanted to have the first 2 done before implementing that and other buttons. If @cigamit tests next week, v25.7.0 could be out by first days of october, with your request in it.

cigamit

I forgot to mention, I already looked at the Run Template button, and the only real thing stopping it is that you currently can't override the limit (without a bit of re-plumbing) on Templates that don't have "Prompt on Launch" set on the limit of the template. Otherwise, everything needed is already there. So the question is whether we allow to force the override, as that may have other consequences.

Dynamic surveys is a larger feature, and I am thinking it should at least wait until after the 2.27.0 release, as there are enough new things going in that are going to take a few days of full testing.

dracarys-dev

Hi @cigamit

Have you been able to make a decision on this matter? Could you provide an estimated date for the release of the new version and the addition of the relevant feature? Thank you

Br.