ansible - example of handling list item default

output

PLAY [localhost] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [file] ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => (item={'key': 'default', 'value': '/tmp/foo/'})
ok: [localhost] => (item={'key': 'jane', 'value': '/tmp/bar'})

TASK [copy] ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost] => (item=abc)
changed: [localhost] => (item=efg)
changed: [localhost] => (item=jane)
changed: [localhost] => (item=john)

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0

$ ls -1 /tmp/foo
abc.txt
efg.txt
john.txt
$ ls -1 /tmp/bar
jane.txt

play.yml

---
- hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: True
  connection: local
  vars:
    mylist1:
      - abc
      - efg
    mylist2:
      - jane
      - john
    mylist: "{{ mylist1 + mylist2 }}"
    mydests:
      default: /tmp/foo/
      jane: /tmp/bar
  tasks:
    - file:
        path: "{{ item.value }}"
        state: directory
      loop: "{{ mydests | dict2items }}"

    - copy:
        content:  this is a test
        dest: "{{ mydests[item] | default(mydests['default']) }}/{{ item }}.txt"
      loop: "{{ mylist }}"