Incorrectly formatted config.json is being generated #621
Description
SUMMARY
Using fresh Ansible core, when piping template config to to_nice_json produces invalid json:
cat /etc/consul/config.json
"{\n \n \"datacenter\": \"dc1\",\n \"domain\": \"consul\",\n \"performance\": {\"raft_multiplier\": 1, \"leave_drain_time\": \"5s\", \"rpc_hold_timeout\": \"7s\"},\n\n \"bind_addr\":
[...]
On older Ansible releases this works fine.
ISSUE TYPE
- Bug Report
COMPONENT NAME
Task
ANSIBLE VERSION
ansible --version
ansible [core 2.19.2]
config file = None
configured module search path = ['/Users/ordo/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
ansible python module location = /opt/homebrew/Cellar/ansible/12.0.0/libexec/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ansible
ansible collection location = /Users/ordo/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
executable location = /opt/homebrew/bin/ansible
python version = 3.13.7 (main, Aug 14 2025, 11:12:11) [Clang 17.0.0 (clang-1700.3.19.1)] (/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ansible/12.0.0/libexec/bin/python)
jinja version = 3.1.6
pyyaml version = 6.0.2 (with libyaml v0.2.5)
COLLECTION VERSION
Master branch, d5d5a0286bd45a2e3c68119e269c946176500f3a.
CONFIGURATION
OS / ENVIRONMENT
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
Install latest ansible and generate minimal Consul configuration.
EXPECTED RESULTS
A valid json file
ACTUAL RESULTS
Misformated config file:
head -n 1 /etc/consul/config.json
"{\n \n \"datacenter\": \"dc1\",\n \"domain\": \"consul\",\n \"performance\":