#!/usr/bin/env python from subprocess import Popen, PIPE import json import sys def getpackages(role): result = {'role': role, 'addpkg': [], 'delpkg': []} try: db = Popen(['db', 'roles', 'getjson'], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0] for data in json.loads(db): if data['name'] == role: result['addpkg'] = data['props']['Addpkg'].split() result['delpkg'] = data['props']['Delpkg'].split() return result except: pass return result print getpackages(sys.argv[1])