Module utils ansiballz integration

[rsmekala]

From Ansible 2.1, Ansible uses Ansiballz framework for assembling modules,
But custom module_utils directory is supported from Ansible 2.3 .
Please find the reference for the issue here

Ansiballz packages modules_utils under ansible.module_utils, so juniper_junos_common can be imported by using -
from ansible.module_utils import juniper_junos_common

[stacywsmith]

What problem are you trying to solve? Other than the supports_check_mode issue, which has already been resolved, is there another issue that needs fixing?

I readily admit the import_juniper_junos_common() function is a hack, but it was a purposeful and intentional hack because we wanted to maintain backwards compatibility with the oldest version of Ansible possible in order to maximize utility for users. I understand versions < 2.4 are not supported by Ansible, but my experience is that a significant number of users are still using these older versions.

If removing this hack and only supporting Ansible >= 2.3 actually provides some benefit, I'm supportive of the change. Otherwise, I'd recommend waiting to remove this hack until there's a real need/benefit.

[stacywsmith]

Can you explain why this import is necessary? It doesn't appear to be used.

[rsmekala]

@stacywsmith , As you said Ansible < 2.3 are not officially supported by Ansible. We had asked in the ATT forum for any users currently running Ansible < 2.3, but we didn't get any reply. So we assumed that not many users use Ansible < 2.3. It was also recommended by Ansible group to drop support for
Ansible < 2.3. Please find the reference to the issue here.

If some user prefers Ansible < 2.3 , we will suggest them to use upto 2.0.2 version hosted on ansible-galaxy.

Ansible was designed for a remote-tier architecture i.e playbooks can be executed on remote machines. Using import_juniper_junos_common function to find juniper_junos_common module would not be possible on the remote machine. Using Ansiballz framework will help us package the module_utils into the .tar file sent to remote machine via scp. This feature will be useful for upcoming Junos flex.