Resolving "session-manager-plugin" executable not found error in Ansible stacks

If you're encountering the error Failed to find required executable "session-manager-plugin" in paths when running Ansible stacks, this is likely due to recent updates to the default Ansible runner image.

Root Cause

The default Ansible runner Docker image was recently updated to bump the Ansible version from 7.7 to 10.7 as part of ongoing security maintenance. This update removed some AWS-specific tools including the session-manager-plugin.

Solution

To resolve this issue, you need to use the AWS-specific Ansible runner image instead of the default one. Update your stack configuration to use:

public.ecr.aws/spacelift/runner-ansible-aws:latest

Instead of the default:

public.ecr.aws/spacelift/runner-ansible:latest

Alternative Options

If you need to maintain compatibility with the previous Ansible version, you can also use the legacy image:

public.ecr.aws/spacelift/runner-ansible:legacy

However, the AWS-specific image (runner-ansible-aws:latest) is the recommended solution as it includes the necessary AWS tools while maintaining the latest Ansible version.

Additional Resources

For more information about available runner images, visit the Spacelift Ansible Runner Gallery.