Add 'hash_behaviour' option to include_vars module (#72944)

3 files changed, 19 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/include_vars.py b/lib/ansible/modules/include_vars.py
index 019d74680a..b1df96413c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/include_vars.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/include_vars.py
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ options:
     type: bool
     default: no
     version_added: "2.7"
+  hash_behaviour:
+    description:
+      - If set to C(merge), merges existing hash variables instead of overwriting them.
+      - If omitted C(null), the behavior falls back to the global I(hash_behaviour) configuration.
+    default: null
+    type: str
+    choices: ["replace", "merge"]
+    version_added: "2.12"
   free-form:
     description:
       - This module allows you to specify the 'file' option directly without any other options.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/include_vars.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/include_vars.py
index 07234537ac..aec0f00443 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/include_vars.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/include_vars.py
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 from os import path, walk
 import re
 
+import ansible.constants as C
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
 from ansible.module_utils.six import string_types
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native, to_text
 from ansible.plugins.action import ActionBase
+from ansible.utils.vars import combine_vars
 
 
 class ActionModule(ActionBase):
@@ -20,7 +22,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
     VALID_FILE_EXTENSIONS = ['yaml', 'yml', 'json']
     VALID_DIR_ARGUMENTS = ['dir', 'depth', 'files_matching', 'ignore_files', 'extensions', 'ignore_unknown_extensions']
     VALID_FILE_ARGUMENTS = ['file', '_raw_params']
-    VALID_ALL = ['name']
+    VALID_ALL = ['name', 'hash_behaviour']
 
     def _set_dir_defaults(self):
         if not self.depth:
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
     def _set_args(self):
         """ Set instance variables based on the arguments that were passed """
 
+        self.hash_behaviour = self._task.args.get('hash_behaviour', None)
         self.return_results_as_name = self._task.args.get('name', None)
         self.source_dir = self._task.args.get('dir', None)
         self.source_file = self._task.args.get('file', None)
@@ -135,6 +138,11 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
         if failed:
             result['failed'] = failed
             result['message'] = err_msg
+        elif self.hash_behaviour is not None and self.hash_behaviour != C.DEFAULT_HASH_BEHAVIOUR:
+            merge_hashes = self.hash_behaviour == 'merge'
+            for key, value in results.items():
+                old_value = task_vars.get(key, None)
+                results[key] = combine_vars(old_value, value, merge=merge_hashes)
 
         result['ansible_included_var_files'] = self.included_files
         result['ansible_facts'] = results
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py b/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py
index 17ef2df9de..7545f1d435 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py
@@ -79,12 +79,12 @@ def _validate_mutable_mappings(a, b):
         )
 
 
-def combine_vars(a, b):
+def combine_vars(a, b, merge=None):
     """
     Return a copy of dictionaries of variables based on configured hash behavior
     """
 
-    if C.DEFAULT_HASH_BEHAVIOUR == "merge":
+    if merge or merge is None and C.DEFAULT_HASH_BEHAVIOUR == "merge":
         return merge_hash(a, b)
     else:
         # HASH_BEHAVIOUR == 'replace'