ansible access list of dictionaries

Question

I'm trying to create a bunch of groups and members for a custom module using an external var file. All I need to do is to access a list of dictionaries in a list. I have tried many things but the closest I might have for now is: vars.yml:

groups_and_members:
  FIRST_GROUP:
    "memberx":
      octet: 1
      action: add
    "nostandardy":
      octet: 3
      action: add
    "memberz":
      octet: 5
      action: add
  OTHER_GROUP:
    "member1":
      octet: 7
      action: delete
    "unexpected":
      octet: 1
      action: add

task.yml:

  - name: "add members"
    mymodule:
      cmd: "{{ item.value.action }}"
      parameters:
        name: "{{ item.key }}"
        octet: "{{ item.value.octet }}"
    with_items: "{{ groups_and_members }}"

So the idea is to take from the list (groups_and_members).value(FIRST_GROUP in the first iteration). and use its members attribute in cmd. But because I don't know the name of the group nor the name of the member, I'm not sure how to access them. I will not know the name of the groups or the members beforehand. The dicts should be in a list, to not have to make a new task in case there's a new dict. How can I access the group, member and member attributes? I have tried with_dict, with_subelements etc. but can't seem to figure it out.

Solution

I should have formatted the list of dictionaries differently. This is a duplicate question: Answer here: Ansible with_subelements

My vars should have looked like this:

groups_members:
  - groupname: FIRST_GROUP
    members:
      - name: memberx
        octet: "1"
        action: add
      - name: nostandardy
        octet: "3"
        action: add
      - name: memberz
        octet: "2"
        action: add
      - name: unexpected
        octet: "1"
        action: add
  - groupname: RHOST
    members:
      - member: other1
        octet: "1"
        action: add

Could then be accessed as item.1.action or item.0.value and task be with

    with_subelements:
  - "{{ groups_members }}"
  - members

Comments

[techraf]

groups_and_members is not a list. That said, the rest is also unclear. Please read how to ask a question and how to create an MCVE.