Collection Release Announcements

Checkmk Dev&Exchange Checkmk and Ansible
41

Just a quick bug fix release with no major changes today: 4.4.1. :hammer_and_wrench:

With version 4.4.0 we introduced a bug in the hosts module that would always create hosts in the main directory under certain conditions. This is fixed with this release. :adhesive_bandage:

2 Likes
42

So this one took a while. :hourglass_flowing_sand:
Announcing the Ansible Collection version 5.0.0! :partying_face:
As you can tell from the version number: This is a breaking release, so let me start by outlining the breaking changes:

  • The lookup_folder plugin now returns the full folder object, including the title and not only the attributes. To keep the current behavior in your playbooks, you want to use {{ my_lookup_result.extensions }} instead of {{ my_lookup_result }}. :mag:
  • The agent role had an internal variable checkmk_agent_server_ip which is now checkmk_agent_server_ips and is used differently. It just came to my attention, that users might consider this breaking, so I am mentioning it here.
  • Additionally, some changes listed below are quite significant, and although we could not detect any issues, we want to be safe and make you aware to pay hightened attention when rolling out this release. :safety_vest:

Not less important, but less annoying are the following changes:

  • The collection now supports Checkmk 2.3.0 completely. While a lot of content worked with the new Checkmk release already, this Collection release closes the gap. :checkered_flag:
  • The rule module got a rewrite based on the new collection API. This rewrite also features a new rule_id parameter, which makes the module so more powerful and improves the possible idempotence considerably. :muscle:
  • The discovery module now completely supports Checkmk 2.3.0, especially, when it comes to new option. It got two new options, which are available starting with Checkmk 2.3.0. And we fixed a bug when calling the tabula_rasa state.
  • We added some firewall management capabilities to the agent role by popular demand to enable more diverse setups. :fire:

A considerable amount of housekeeping did also take place. I am mentioning it here for transparency, but also to show off a little. :wink:

  • We added Ubuntu 24 to the tests for our roles, to ensure, they work properly on the new distribution release. In turn we removed CentOS 8 due to it not beim compatible with the latest Ansible versions and Ubuntu 20 as it is quite dated. :older_adult: As well as below, removal from the tests does not mean the distribution is not supported anymore, we just do not test against it anymore. :gear:
  • All tests now cover Checkmk 2.3.0, while 2.0.0 was removed from them. The removal does not mean, that the collection will not work with Checkmk 2.0.0 anymore, just that we do not test against it anymore.
  • We added Ansible 2.17 and removed 2.14 from the tests, as the latter is end of life. Be advised, that Ansible 2.17 drops support for Python 2.7 and 3.6. :snake:

Instead of mentioning the contributors on this massive release in all the places they worked on, I want to instead thank them here: @lars.getwan, @Max and @sekania thank you so much for your untiring and relentless efforts to make this release happen! :heart:
It was a long road, but we finally landed it! :flight_arrival:

6 Likes
Ansible Modul fĆ¼r Clusterbetriebene Umgebung
43

This release is all about the agent role. :man_detective:
Announcing the Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.1.0. :partying_face:
As you can tell, we did not even need to do a bug fix release for the breaking release some days ago, we directly went on to new features. Way to go! :muscle:

This release features the following notable changes:

  • All internal variables for both the agent and server roles are now prefixed with a double underscore (__) per Ansible good practices. In case you hooked into any of them, please make sure to double-check your playbooks and avoid using role-internal variables moving forward. If you think the role is not flexible enough for your use-case, do let us know in form of an issue or pull request! :v:
  • The agent role now features improved idempotency by checking for the necessity of actually running any of the registrations beforehand. This feature might not be perfect yet, so please do report issues in case you find them! :warning:
  • We fixed a bug in the agent role, that would prevent Windows hosts from downloading their host-specific agent, even if it existed. Thanks to the finder of this issue, who prefers to stay anonymous. :man_detective::wink:
  • Little bonus: The release object on GitHub now contains the changelog for the version. It is a little hacky, but we love it and we hope you do too. Check out the link below. :mag:

As always, if you find any issue with this release, do let us know here in the forum or on GitHub. :eyes:

5 Likes
44

Itā€™s time for a Checkmk Collection release, donā€™t yā€™all think?! :wink:
Announcing another release with some cool fixes and updates! :tada:

First-off, I want to give a shout-out to our new first-time contributors: maroessler (Michael_on_Github) Ā· GitHub, gfokkema (Gerlof Fokkema) Ā· GitHub and krsche (Fabian Kirschner) Ā· GitHub, thank you for your contributions! :pray: I have not done this before, not intentionally, but because I never thought of it. Sorry if I did not mention you here, but I did mention you at our last yearā€™s CMKConf #9. :video_camera:

Now to the notable changes:

  • @Max rewrote the tag_group module to use our new Collection API and made it support the next major Checkmk version 2.4.0, which will be released next year. :muscle:
  • gfokkema enabled usage of mixed protocols on Checkmk sites for the agent role. This means you can now register the agent e.g., against an HTTP remote site, where the central site is HTTPS-protected or vice versa. This was not possible before. :lock:
  • The improved idempotency of the agent came with a bug, where registration for agent updates was not possible after a failed former attempt. This is fixed now. :adhesive_bandage:
  • maroessler fixed an issue where downtimes would not be removed properly, when targeting a single service. :wrench:
  • krsche added a missing mention of a dependency in the main README.md. :scroll:

As always, if you find any issue with this release, do let us know here in the forum or on GitHub. :eyes:

3 Likes
45

Just a quick bug fix release today. :bug:

Thanks Mik3yZ and Dennis-Q for staying vigilant and seeing this through to the eventual fix! :pray:

Without further ado, I give you: 5.2.1:

  • @lgetwan fixed a bug, where update_attributes failed on a folder with the Network Scan enabled. :hammer_and_wrench:
2 Likes
46

Long time in the making, but I promise: It was worth the wait. :blush:

Proudly presenting: The Checkmk Ansible Collection version 5.3.0! :tada:

This release contains not one, not two, but three new modules! :exploding_head:
To be fair, two of them are lookup modules, but nevertheless.

And as if that wasnā€™t enough already, I got one more treat for you: The first version of a dynamic inventory source! :scroll:

Most notable changes:

  • @lars.getwan added the site module to manage distributed monitoring connection alongside with two matching lookup plugins: lookup_site and lookup_sites. Nice one! :muscle:
  • @Max created the first version of a dynamic inventory source for Checkmk! :partying_face: Of course that is not the end of the journey, quite contrary is it off to a strong start. :checkered_flag:
  • Last but not least we have two bug fixes from @sekania, one for the rule module and one for the folder module (the latter being implemented by yours truly :wink: ). Thanks for helping out continuously, man! :handshake:

As always, if you find issues or have feedback, head over to GitHub, or open a dedicated discussion in this forum. :speaking_head:

And now without further ado, I hope you enjoy this release as much as we do! Cheers! :piƱata:

6 Likes
47

A quick bugfix release, courtesy of @sekania, who was on a bug squashing spree. :beetle:

Fixes included:

  • contact_groups, host_groups and service_groups now properly pass the customer attribute, when using the groups parameter. :adhesive_bandage:
  • The rule module now properly moves an existing rule to a new folder. :file_folder:
1 Like
48

Happy holidays everyone! :hugs:

I would not want to let you go for some well deserved downtime (monitoring pun intended), without a little holiday present: The Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.3.2. :gift:

As you can see from the version, this is a bugfix release and does not really change much.
Please refer to the release pull request for the build- and documentation-related changes.

Again, happy holidays, have a good time off, or at least a quiet time with a monitoring, which is more on the green side of the Christmas tree. :christmas_tree::wink:

See yā€™all on the other side in 2025! :fireworks:

2 Likes
49

Happy new year everyone! :sparkler:
(Yeah, I said it. Again. Two weeks into the year. But now it is out of my system. Pinky promise. :wink:)

We have a little treat for you: The Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.4.0 :tada:

There are two changes worth mentioning:

  • HarisDotParis clarified the docs, where it was not obvious, how the parameters server_url and site are related and what it means for the userā€™s configuration. Thanks! :scroll:
  • ra2xfael Introduced the possibility to use proxy registration with the agent role. This enables elaborate use-cases, where network connectivity is limited between a monitored host and the Checkmk server. Neat! :muscle:

Both are first-time contributors, so a big shout-put for stepping up! :hugs:

4 Likes
50

And just like that, sneakily as a snail did we release 5.5.0! :snail:

This release features mostly maintenance related changes, but one thing I want to highlight:
ra2xfael struck again and landed the possibility to configure the /tmp directory for the server role, as well as fixing an issue with file permissions in the agent role. Two times in a row making a release, nice job! :muscle:

And with that, Iā€™ll leave you to it. Have a wonderful night everyone. :hugs:

5 Likes
51

Another week, another release. Announcing the Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.6.0. :tada:

ra2xfael just scored a hat trick, with their third contribution in a row. :muscle:

This release features MKP management for the server role. :package:
Refer to the roleā€™s README for details on how to use this new feature. :open_book:

2 Likes
52

Some love for the agent role! :robot: Announcing the Ansible Collection 5.7.0. :tada:

This release contains one feature and one bug fix:

  • LennertMertens made the time to download an agent from the Checkmk server configurable. Apparently this can be necessary, when the role runs on Windows. Thanks! :window:
    • Note from the editor: This setting should rarely be necessary, as the default timeouts are already rather high. So only tweak this setting if you are positive, that the start of the download itself takes awfully long. Not the download itself, but the idle time before the download actually starts.
  • schnoddelbotz found an issue with special characters in the password or secret used for agent registrations and directly fixed it. Thanks! :lock:

Both people are first-time contributors, so letā€™s welcome them to the realms of collection code contributors. Way to go guys! :metal:

2 Likes
53

This one is a big one! :metal: Announcing the Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.8.0! :tada:

With the start of the public beta of Checkmk 2.4.0 a while back it is about time, that the collection features full support for this version. And with this release, it finally does. Most features of course just continued to work, but a few aspects needed some love. :hammer_and_wrench:

A big shout out to @lars.getwan, who made most of the fixes necessary for Checkmk 2.4.0 possible! :pray:

Additionally, ra2xfael made the URL for the GPG key download of the server role configurable, so it can be fetched from a custom location and not only from the official Checkmk repository. Neat! :key:

3 Likes
54

It is spring-cleaning time! :broom:
Well, it has been, but we wanted to make sure we tidy everything up nicely. :star2:
Announcing the Checkmk Ansible collection 5.9.0!

This release features primarily clean-ups and minor bug fixes. :hammer_and_wrench:

But let me not end without announcing two relevant changes:

  • @meni2029 added functionality to the tag_group module to configure ā€œaux_tagsā€. :gear:
    A little warning: There is no aux_tags module (yet), so the tag_group module can only use existing ā€œaux_tagsā€. If you feel up for the task, head over to GitHub and start implementing the module! :muscle: *
  • We (yours truly actually) migrated our Vagrant box supporting development to Debian, Podman and uv. Most things seem to still run smoothly, but if you find anything weird, do let us know. :v:

And now without further ado:

2 Likes
55

Right after an awesome CMKConf 11 are we back with a collection release. :dancing_women:
Announcing the Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.10.0! :tada:

This release has it all again: New features, code improvements and the occasional bugfix.
Here are the most notable changes:

  • Rene Koch added the ability to use the IPv4 address of a host for the dynamic inventory plugin in order to avoid issues with non-resolvable host names. Thanks man! :muscle:
  • rrinco fixed several issues with the MKP management of the server role. Thanks a lot! :adhesive_bandage::pray:
  • We moved all possible package-related tasks to the ansible.builtin.package module across the collection. This mitigates some issues on older platforms, makes the whole approach more stable and generic, while still retaining the possibility to pass module-specific options where necessary. :package:

And without further ado, here is the release:

3 Likes
56

Today I give a minor bug fix release. :adhesive_bandage: The Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.10.1. :blush:

This one has again mainly build-related changes and improvements, but I want to mention two significant things:

  • Bbo80 (a first time contributor! :partying_face:) fixed an issue, where the server role would leak the admin password to the Ansible output, even if no_log was specified. Thanks! :pray:
  • Valued community member and long-time Checkmk user @BH2005 created a repository to collect and maintain how to articles and practical guides for Checkmk. :open_book: He already has some pretty cool articles, and we hope to see him and the community add to it over time. :muscle: Oh, did I mention that while the articles are first and foremost in German, there also English translations and experimental workflows to automatically translate the articles to other languages? :exploding_head: Pretty impressive work so far and we are looking forward to seeing this repository grow. :v:

Now, without further ado, I give you the Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.10.1:

1 Like
57

I got something cool during these hot days. :ice_cube:
The Checkmk Ansible Collection 5.11.0. :ice_cream:

And this release actually has a couple cool features, next to the usual build-related changes:

As always, refer to the changelog for details. :scroll:

2 Likes
58

It is summer, and some are taking a well-deserved summer break. So I thought, giving you a breaking change would be most fitting. :wink:

Seriously though: In order to keep the Checkmk Ansible Collection focussed and not too convoluted, we decided to remove some formerly introduced functionality. This namely was a certain level of firewall management, which primarily the agent role did. It was introduced by a contributor back in the day and at the time we did not really consider the long-term effects. But the contributor is not around anymore and maintaining the functionality can become cumbersome quickly. We did realize soon - thanks to an issue on GitHub - that it actually makes little sense for us to try to build and maintain elaborate firewall management for the roles of our collection, while there are plenty or awesome dedicated roles out there for this very task.

That is why we reduced the firewall management to a simple ā€œopen the bare minimum ports for the agent and a standalone server to work out of the boxā€. This is what you get now, when enabling checkmk_agent_configure_firewall or checkmk_server_configure_firewall (which is the default still).
Please refer to the roles READMEs for more details.

To drive the message home thoroughly: If you use the agent or server role, double-check how you do firewall management! :fire_extinguisher:

Thank you for your understanding, we hope this change is not too inconvenient for you.
Let us know, if there is anything we might have overlooked.

And now, I give you, the Checkmk Ansible Collection 6.0.0:

2 Likes
59

Just a minor release with primarily build-related changes: The Checkmk Ansible Collection 6.0.1.

The most notable changes:

  • We finally removed Docker completely from our build processes and use Podman exclusively. :whale2:
  • wuetz added information to the agentrole README on how to add host tags during host creation. Thanks! :pray:
  • We updated the READMEs for the agent and server roles, so they are more accessible. :eyeglasses:
60

Releasing on a Friday, what could possibly go wrong? :wink:

Announcing the Checkmk Ansible Collection 6.1.0! :partying_face:

Amongst housekeeping, this release includes two significant changes:

  • The general timeout for API calls was bumped to 60 seconds, while the retry count was reduced to 1. This is due to the fact, that the original back-off mechanism actually makes things worse in the current state of the REST API. We therefore disabled it, until the REST API handles this scenario better. As a user you should experience less API timeouts, if any. The tradeoff is, that in case of e.g., dropping firewalls, you have to wait longer for the timeout than before. But we are positive, that this is an acceptable trade-off. :hourglass_flowing_sand:
  • The agent roles capability of adding hosts to your Checkmk server had a design flaw: If the host was already present in your Checkmk, but the Ansible configuration wanted it to be in a different folder and at the same time manage attributes of said host, the task would fail. This is due to a sensible behavior of the host module, but it had this unwanted side effect for the role. This release fixes that. From now on, hosts will both be moved to the designated folder and their attributes will be managed during the same run. As a user, you should not notice the change, but if you worked around the aforementioned error somehow, now is the time to get rid of those workarounds. :adhesive_bandage:

And thatā€™s it. Two minor changes, with significant background and hopefully making your experience just a little better. :slight_smile:

3 Likes