[Feature]: Supports connection information environment variables for modules

[akira6592]

NetBox version

v3.20.0

Feature type

Change to existing Module

Proposed functionality

I want to use NETBOX_API, NETBOX_TOKEN, NETBOX_API_KEY environment variables in modules. Like the nb_inventory inventory plugin.

Use case

The netbox_url and netbox_token options for each module will be no longer needed.

Example:

- name: "Test NetBox modules"
  connection: local
  hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: false
  environment:  # or export command or custom credential
    NETBOX_API: http://netbox.local
    NETBOX_TOKEN: thisIsMyToken

  tasks:
    - name: Create ASN within NetBox with only required information
      netbox.netbox.netbox_asn:
        data:
          asn: 1111111111
          rir: RFC1111
          description: test ASN
        state: present

    - name: Delete ASN within netbox
      netbox.netbox.netbox_asn:
        data:
          asn: 1111111111
        state: absent

I want to avoid duplicate settings it using a method other than module defaults.

External dependencies

N/A

[akira6592]

It can probably be achieved using env_fallback in NETBOX_ARG_SPEC.

    netbox_url=dict(type="str", required=True, fallback=(env_fallback, ["NETBOX_API"])),

If there is no problem with the method, I will submit a PR.

[rodvand]

Why don't you use module defaults? https://netbox-ansible-collection.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting_started/how-to-use/advanced.html#using-module-defaults-groups

[sc68cal]

I think perhaps the module defaults should always consult the existing NETBOX_API environment variable instead of having users have to manually define it via something like:

- hosts: all
  module_defaults:
    group/netbox.netbox.netbox:
      netbox_url: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.env', 'NETBOX_API') }}"
      netbox_token: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.env', 'NETBOX_TOKEN') }}"

Alternatively, we could update the documentation for module defaults to have this.

[akira6592]

I want to separate connection options from playbooks and roles.

For example, the amazon.aws.ec2_vpc_net module allows you to specify the secret key not only in access_key option but also as an environment variable. I want to do something similar to this.