Improvement on how crony.conf is built

defaults/main.yml

@@ -1,29 +1,38 @@
 ---
 ### Setting up the /etc/chrony.conf file.
-## This dictionary contains a standard set of values that build up the configuration file.
-## It is tied to the templates/chrony.conf.j2 template file.
-role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters:
-  server:
-    - server 0.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
-    - server 1.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
-    - server 2.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
-    - server 3.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
-  drift_file: driftfile /var/lib/chrony/drift
-  makestep: makestep 1.0 3
-  rtcsync: rtcsync
-  hwtimestamp: hwtimestamp *
-  minsources: minsources 2
-  # allow: allow 192.168.0.0/16
-  bindcmdaddress:
-    - 'bindcmdaddress 127.0.0.1'
-    - 'bindcmdaddress ::1'
-  # local: local stratum 10
-  keyfile: keyfile /etc/chrony.keys
-  logdir: logdir /var/log/chrony
-  log: log measurements statistics tracking
+## These variables together build up the configuration file.
+## It is primarily tied to the templates/chrony.conf.j2 template file.
+##
+## Some parameters may contain free text values. No specific parsing of values
+## takes place due to the fact that if it would increase the complexity of the
+## Ansible role as will it's maintainability. It is strongly advised to consult
+## the official and latest documentation in order to prevent unintended
+## misconfiguration. Make sure to test your setup and verify a correct working
+## set. The given defaults are part of a minimal, stable and recommended set
+## of configuration parameters.
+##
+## Man pages:
+## Enterprise Linux, Fedora: man chrony.conf
+##
+## The list of these variables require a naming convention to enable a pattern.
+## The pattern is rendered as a list to iterate over once the configuration
+## template gets deployed on the desired target destination.
+
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_server:
+  - server 0.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
+  - server 1.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
+  - server 2.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
+  - server 3.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst minpoll 4 maxpoll 6 polltarget 16
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_makestep: makestep 1.0 3
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_rtcsync: rtcsync
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_hwtimestamp: hwtimestamp *
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_minsources: minsources 2
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_drift_file: driftfile /var/lib/chrony/drift
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_keyfile: keyfile /etc/chrony.keys
+role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_logdir: logdir /var/log/chrony
 
 ### Define the required timezone.
 ## Run the command 'timedatectl list-timezones' to see all available timezones.
-role_chrony_time_zone: 'Europe/Amsterdam'
+role_chrony_time_zone: Europe/Amsterdam
 
 ...

templates/chrony.conf.j2

@@ -1,29 +1,12 @@
 # {{ ansible_managed }}
 
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.server is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.server|length %}{% for server in role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.server %}
-{{ server }}
-{% endfor %}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.drift_file is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.drift_file|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.drift_file }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.makestep is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.makestep|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.makestep }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.rtcsync is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.rtcsync|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.rtcsync }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.hwtimestamp is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.hwtimestamp|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.hwtimestamp }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.minsources is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.minsources|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.minsources }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.allow is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.allow|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.allow }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.bindcmdaddress is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.bindcmdaddress|length %}{% for source in role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.bindcmdaddress %}
-{{ source }}
-{% endfor %}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.local is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.local|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.local }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.keyfile is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.keyfile|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.keyfile }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.logdir is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.logdir|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.logdir }}{% endif %}
-
-{% if role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.log is defined and role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.log|length %}{{ role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters.log }}{% endif %}
+{% set chrony_conf_vars = vars.keys() | select('match', '^role_chrony_chrony_dot_conf_parameters_.*$') %}
+{% for key in chrony_conf_vars %}
+{% if vars[key] is iterable and vars[key] is not string  %}
+{% for item in vars[key] %}
+{{ item }}
+{% endfor %}
+{% else %}
+{{ vars[key] }}
+{% endif %}
+{% endfor %}