Question

You are writing an Ansible playbook to configure interface descriptions on Cisco IOS-XE switches. A requirement states that only interfaces currently in an 'administratively down' state should have their description updated to 'RESERVED', while operational interfaces must remain untouched. You gather interface facts with the ios_facts module. Which approach correctly implements this conditional per-interface configuration in a single task loop?

Accepted Answer

Loop over ansible_net_interfaces.items() with the ios_config module, using a when clause that checks item.value.operstatus == 'administratively down' to filter interfaces before applying the description.

Answer

Use a single ios_config task with the lines parameter listing every interface description, relying on Ansible idempotency to skip interfaces that are already up.

Answer

Run the ios_command module to shut down all interfaces first, then apply the description to every interface unconditionally so state is normalized.

Answer

Apply the description to all interfaces with ios_config and add ignore_errors: yes so the task does not fail on operational interfaces.