feature: add support for symbolic links when passing "dir" (ansible#8…

…0460)

* update the include_vars action plugin to always follow symbolic links when traversing directories

changelogs/fragments/80460-add-symbolic-links-with-dir.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+minor_changes:
+  - include_vars - os.walk now follows symbolic links when traversing directories (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/80460)

lib/ansible/plugins/action/include_vars.py

@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ def _traverse_dir_depth(self):
             The default depth is unlimited.
         """
         current_depth = 0
-        sorted_walk = list(walk(self.source_dir, onerror=self._log_walk))
+        sorted_walk = list(walk(self.source_dir, onerror=self._log_walk, followlinks=True))
         sorted_walk.sort(key=lambda x: x[0])
         for current_root, current_dir, current_files in sorted_walk:
             current_depth += 1

test/integration/targets/include_vars/tasks/main.yml

@@ -230,3 +230,28 @@
 - assert:
     that:
       - baz.ansible_facts.foo|type_debug != "AnsibleUnsafeText"
+
+- name: setup test following symlinks
+  delegate_to: localhost
+  block:
+    - name: create directory to test following symlinks
+      file:
+        path: "{{ role_path }}/test_symlink"
+        state: directory
+
+    - name: create symlink to the vars2 dir
+      file:
+        src: "{{ role_path }}/vars2"
+        dest: "{{ role_path }}/test_symlink/symlink"
+        state: link
+
+- name: include vars by following the symlink
+  include_vars:
+    dir: "{{ role_path }}/test_symlink"
+  register: follow_sym
+
+- assert:
+    that: follow_sym.ansible_included_var_files | sort == [hash1, hash2]
+  vars:
+    hash1: "{{ role_path }}/test_symlink/symlink/hashes/hash1.yml"
+    hash2: "{{ role_path }}/test_symlink/symlink/hashes/hash2.yml"