Scan group_vars/host_vars in sorted order

(cherry picked from commit a9b15ce881)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -180,6 +180,8 @@ Ansible Changes By Release
   (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/33100)
 * restore error on orphan group:vars delcaration for ini inventories
   https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/32866
+* restore host/group_vars merge order
+  https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/32963
 
 <a id="2.4.1"></a>
 

docs/docsite/rst/intro_inventory.rst

@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ the 'raleigh' group might look like::
 It is okay if these files do not exist, as this is an optional feature.
 
 As an advanced use case, you can create *directories* named after your groups or hosts, and
-Ansible will read all the files in these directories. An example with the 'raleigh' group::
+Ansible will read all the files in these directories in lexicographical order. An example with the 'raleigh' group::
 
     /etc/ansible/group_vars/raleigh/db_settings
     /etc/ansible/group_vars/raleigh/cluster_settings

lib/ansible/plugins/vars/host_group_vars.py

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class VarsModule(BaseVarsPlugin):
     def _get_dir_files(self, path):
 
         found = []
-        for spath in os.listdir(path):
+        for spath in sorted(os.listdir(path)):
             if not spath.startswith(u'.') and not spath.endswith(u'~'):  # skip hidden and backups
 
                 ext = os.path.splitext(spath)[-1]