ini_file unable to add / replace whole section

[amosyuen]

Summary

Documentation at https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/community/general/ini_file_module.html for option parameter says

If set (required for changing a value, this is the name of the option.

May be omitted if adding/removing a whole section

However, leaving option unset does not work for setting a whole section instead resulting in an error. Somebody else ran into a similar problem at https://serverfault.com/questions/969137/ansible-ini-file-module-replace-whole-section

Issue Type

Bug Report

Component Name

ini_file

Ansible Version

$ ansible --version
ansible [core 2.18.6]
  config file = /workspaces/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/workspaces/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /home/vscode/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/vscode/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /home/vscode/.local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.12.10 (main, May 22 2025, 01:29:12) [GCC 12.2.0] (/usr/local/bin/python3.12)
  jinja version = 3.1.6
  libyaml = True

Community.general Version

$ ansible-galaxy collection list community.general
# /home/vscode/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ansible_collections
Collection        Version
----------------- -------
community.general 10.7.0 

Configuration

$ ansible-config dump --only-changed

OS / Environment

No response

Steps to Reproduce

- community.general.ini_file:
    path: /etc/samba/smb.conf
    section: backup
    value: |
      path = /mnt/backup
      browseable = yes
      writeable = yes
      valid users = @user

Expected Results

Add backup section to /etc/samba/smb.conf that looks like

[backup]
path = /mnt/backup
browseable = yes
writeable = yes
valid users = @user

Actual Results

An exception occurred during task execution. To see the full traceback, use -vvv. The error was: TypeError: decoding to str: need a bytes-like object, NoneType found
failed: [samba2] (item={'section': 'backup', 'value': 'path = /mnt/backup\nbrowseable = yes\nwriteable = yes\nvalid users = @user\n'}) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "item": {"section": "backup", "value": "path = /mnt/backup\nbrowseable = yes\nwriteable = yes\nvalid users = @user\n"}, "module_stderr": "Shared connection to 10.60.1.1 closed.\r\n", "module_stdout": "Traceback (most recent call last):\r\n  File \"/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1750482471.8477345-253457-87713894490347/AnsiballZ_ini_file.py\", line 107, in <module>\r\n    _ansiballz_main()\r\n  File \"/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1750482471.8477345-253457-87713894490347/AnsiballZ_ini_file.py\", line 99, in _ansiballz_main\r\n    invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)\r\n  File \"/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1750482471.8477345-253457-87713894490347/AnsiballZ_ini_file.py\", line 47, in invoke_module\r\n    runpy.run_module(mod_name='ansible_collections.community.general.plugins.modules.ini_file', init_globals=dict(_module_fqn='ansible_collections.community.general.plugins.modules.ini_file', _modlib_path=modlib_path),\r\n  File \"<frozen runpy>\", line 226, in run_module\r\n  File \"<frozen runpy>\", line 98, in _run_module_code\r\n  File \"<frozen runpy>\", line 88, in _run_code\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_iistki4o/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 662, in <module>\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_iistki4o/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 640, in main\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_iistki4o/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 457, in do_ini\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_iistki4o/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 270, in match_opt\r\n  File \"/usr/lib/python3.11/re/__init__.py\", line 260, in escape\r\n    pattern = str(pattern, 'latin1')\r\n              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\r\nTypeError: decoding to str: need a bytes-like object, NoneType found\r\n", "msg": "MODULE FAILURE: No start of json char found\nSee stdout/stderr for the exact error", "rc": 1}
An exception occurred during task execution. To see the full traceback, use -vvv. The error was: TypeError: decoding to str: need a bytes-like object, NoneType found
failed: [samba2] (item={'section': 'iso', 'value': 'path = /mnt/iso\nbrowseable = yes\nwriteable = yes\nvalid users = @user\n'}) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "item": {"section": "iso", "value": "path = /mnt/iso\nbrowseable = yes\nwriteable = yes\nvalid users = @user\n"}, "module_stderr": "Shared connection to 10.60.1.1 closed.\r\n", "module_stdout": "Traceback (most recent call last):\r\n  File \"/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1750482472.126275-253457-14224654766412/AnsiballZ_ini_file.py\", line 107, in <module>\r\n    _ansiballz_main()\r\n  File \"/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1750482472.126275-253457-14224654766412/AnsiballZ_ini_file.py\", line 99, in _ansiballz_main\r\n    invoke_module(zipped_mod, temp_path, ANSIBALLZ_PARAMS)\r\n  File \"/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1750482472.126275-253457-14224654766412/AnsiballZ_ini_file.py\", line 47, in invoke_module\r\n    runpy.run_module(mod_name='ansible_collections.community.general.plugins.modules.ini_file', init_globals=dict(_module_fqn='ansible_collections.community.general.plugins.modules.ini_file', _modlib_path=modlib_path),\r\n  File \"<frozen runpy>\", line 226, in run_module\r\n  File \"<frozen runpy>\", line 98, in _run_module_code\r\n  File \"<frozen runpy>\", line 88, in _run_code\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_9kpvn8pz/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 662, in <module>\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_9kpvn8pz/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 640, in main\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_9kpvn8pz/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 457, in do_ini\r\n  File \"/tmp/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload_9kpvn8pz/ansible_community.general.ini_file_payload.zip/ansible_collections/community/general/plugins/modules/ini_file.py\", line 270, in match_opt\r\n  File \"/usr/lib/python3.11/re/__init__.py\", line 260, in escape\r\n    pattern = str(pattern, 'latin1')\r\n              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\r\nTypeError: decoding to str: need a bytes-like object, NoneType found\r\n", "msg": "MODULE FAILURE: No start of json char found\nSee stdout/stderr for the exact error", "rc": 1}

Code of Conduct

• [x] I agree to follow the Ansible Code of Conduct

[ansibullbot]

Files identified in the description:

• plugins/modules/ini_file.py

If these files are incorrect, please update the component name section of the description or use the !component bot command.

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[ansibullbot]

cc @jpmens @noseka1 click here for bot help

[felixfontein]

I think this is a documentation bug. Implementing this would be a new feature, not a bugfix, since the module never supported this as far as I can tell.