Is there an equivalent to Lookups but executing in target host instead of local?

Question

In Ansible, when I need to read properties from a Java properties file (.properties), I do something like:

- name: Read properties
  set_fact:
    myProp1: {{ lookup('ini', 'myProp1 type=properties file=/path/to/file.properties }} 
    myProp2: {{ lookup('ini', 'myProp2 type=properties file=/path/to/file.properties }}

But, as Ansible documentation says:

Lookups occur on the local computer, not on the remote computer.

How can I do it if the properties file is located in remote target host? I can't use include_vars, since my properties file has Java properties file format.

Answer 1

As you observed, lookup is local. One possible solution is I used which may not work in all situations is to fetch it locally and then call lookup. Make sure you read about fetch module before attempting this:

- fetch: 
    src: /path/to/file.properties
    dest: /tmp/file.properties
    flat: yes

- name: Read properties
  set_fact:
    myProp1: {{ lookup('ini', 'myProp1 type=properties file=/tmp/file.properties }} 
    myProp2: {{ lookup('ini', 'myProp2 type=properties file=/tmp/file.properties }}

CAUTION: This is just a workaround, not a solution.