ansible.builtin.template (v2.16.5) — module

Template a file out to a target host

| "added in version" historical of ansible.builtin"

Authors: Ansible Core Team, Michael DeHaan

This plugin has a corresponding action plugin.

Install Ansible via pip

Install with pip install ansible-core==2.16.5

Description

Templates are processed by the L(Jinja2 templating language,http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/).

Documentation on the template formatting can be found in the L(Template Designer Documentation,http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/templates/).

Additional variables listed below can be used in templates.

C(ansible_managed) (configurable via the C(defaults) section of C(ansible.cfg)) contains a string which can be used to describe the template name, host, modification time of the template file and the owner uid.

C(template_host) contains the node name of the template's machine.

C(template_uid) is the numeric user id of the owner.

C(template_path) is the path of the template.

C(template_fullpath) is the absolute path of the template.

C(template_destpath) is the path of the template on the remote system (added in 2.8).

C(template_run_date) is the date that the template was rendered.

Usage examples

  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Template a file to /etc/file.conf
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: /mytemplates/foo.j2
    dest: /etc/file.conf
    owner: bin
    group: wheel
    mode: '0644'
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Template a file, using symbolic modes (equivalent to 0644)
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: /mytemplates/foo.j2
    dest: /etc/file.conf
    owner: bin
    group: wheel
    mode: u=rw,g=r,o=r
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Copy a version of named.conf that is dependent on the OS. setype obtained by doing ls -Z /etc/named.conf on original file
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: named.conf_{{ ansible_os_family }}.j2
    dest: /etc/named.conf
    group: named
    setype: named_conf_t
    mode: 0640
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Create a DOS-style text file from a template
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: config.ini.j2
    dest: /share/windows/config.ini
    newline_sequence: '\r\n'
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Copy a new sudoers file into place, after passing validation with visudo
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: /mine/sudoers
    dest: /etc/sudoers
    validate: /usr/sbin/visudo -cf %s
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Update sshd configuration safely, avoid locking yourself out
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: etc/ssh/sshd_config.j2
    dest: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    owner: root
    group: root
    mode: '0600'
    validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
    backup: yes

Inputs

    
src:
    description:
    - Path of a Jinja2 formatted template on the Ansible controller.
    - This can be a relative or an absolute path.
    - The file must be encoded with C(utf-8) but O(output_encoding) can be used to control
      the encoding of the output template.
    required: true
    type: path

dest:
    description:
    - Location to render the template to on the remote machine.
    required: true
    type: path

mode:
    description:
    - The permissions the resulting filesystem object should have.
    - For those used to I(/usr/bin/chmod) remember that modes are actually octal numbers.
      You must give Ansible enough information to parse them correctly. For consistent
      results, quote octal numbers (for example, V('644') or V('1777')) so Ansible receives
      a string and can do its own conversion from string into number. Adding a leading
      zero (for example, V(0755)) works sometimes, but can fail in loops and some other
      circumstances.
    - Giving Ansible a number without following either of these rules will end up with
      a decimal number which will have unexpected results.
    - As of Ansible 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, V(u+rwx)
      or V(u=rw,g=r,o=r)).
    - If O(mode) is not specified and the destination filesystem object B(does not) exist,
      the default C(umask) on the system will be used when setting the mode for the newly
      created filesystem object.
    - If O(mode) is not specified and the destination filesystem object B(does) exist,
      the mode of the existing filesystem object will be used.
    - Specifying O(mode) is the best way to ensure filesystem objects are created with
      the correct permissions. See CVE-2020-1736 for further details.
    type: raw

force:
    default: true
    description:
    - Determine when the file is being transferred if the destination already exists.
    - When set to C(yes), replace the remote file when contents are different than the
      source.
    - When set to C(no), the file will only be transferred if the destination does not
      exist.
    type: bool

group:
    description:
    - Name of the group that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to I(chown).
    - When left unspecified, it uses the current group of the current user unless you
      are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership.
    type: str

owner:
    description:
    - Name of the user that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to I(chown).
    - When left unspecified, it uses the current user unless you are root, in which case
      it can preserve the previous ownership.
    - Specifying a numeric username will be assumed to be a user ID and not a username.
      Avoid numeric usernames to avoid this confusion.
    type: str

backup:
    default: false
    description:
    - Create a backup file including the timestamp information so you can get the original
      file back if you somehow clobbered it incorrectly.
    type: bool

follow:
    default: false
    description:
    - Determine whether symbolic links should be followed.
    - When set to V(true) symbolic links will be followed, if they exist.
    - When set to V(false) symbolic links will not be followed.
    - Previous to Ansible 2.4, this was hardcoded as V(true).
    type: bool
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

serole:
    description:
    - The role part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
    - When set to V(_default), it will use the C(role) portion of the policy if available.
    type: str

setype:
    description:
    - The type part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
    - When set to V(_default), it will use the C(type) portion of the policy if available.
    type: str

seuser:
    description:
    - The user part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
    - By default it uses the V(system) policy, where applicable.
    - When set to V(_default), it will use the C(user) portion of the policy if available.
    type: str

selevel:
    description:
    - The level part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
    - This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the C(range).
    - When set to V(_default), it will use the C(level) portion of the policy if available.
    type: str

validate:
    description:
    - The validation command to run before copying the updated file into the final destination.
    - A temporary file path is used to validate, passed in through '%s' which must be
      present as in the examples below.
    - Also, the command is passed securely so shell features such as expansion and pipes
      will not work.
    - For an example on how to handle more complex validation than what this option provides,
      see R(handling complex validation,complex_configuration_validation).
    type: str

attributes:
    aliases:
    - attr
    description:
    - The attributes the resulting filesystem object should have.
    - To get supported flags look at the man page for I(chattr) on the target system.
    - This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed
      by I(lsattr).
    - The C(=) operator is assumed as default, otherwise C(+) or C(-) operators need to
      be included in the string.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.3'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

trim_blocks:
    default: true
    description:
    - Determine when newlines should be removed from blocks.
    - When set to V(yes) the first newline after a block is removed (block, not variable
      tag!).
    type: bool
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

lstrip_blocks:
    default: false
    description:
    - Determine when leading spaces and tabs should be stripped.
    - When set to V(yes) leading spaces and tabs are stripped from the start of a line
      to a block.
    type: bool
    version_added: '2.6'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

unsafe_writes:
    default: false
    description:
    - Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent
      reads from the target filesystem object.
    - By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent
      reads from the target filesystem objects, but sometimes systems are configured or
      just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted filesystem
      objects, which cannot be updated atomically from inside the container and can only
      be written in an unsafe manner.
    - This option allows Ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating filesystem
      objects when atomic operations fail (however, it doesn't force Ansible to perform
      unsafe writes).
    - IMPORTANT! Unsafe writes are subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.
    type: bool
    version_added: '2.2'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

output_encoding:
    default: utf-8
    description:
    - Overrides the encoding used to write the template file defined by O(dest).
    - It defaults to C(utf-8), but any encoding supported by python can be used.
    - The source template file must always be encoded using C(utf-8), for homogeneity.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.7'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

block_end_string:
    default: '%}'
    description:
    - The string marking the end of a block.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

newline_sequence:
    choices:
    - \n
    - \r
    - \r\n
    default: \n
    description:
    - Specify the newline sequence to use for templating files.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

block_start_string:
    default: '{%'
    description:
    - The string marking the beginning of a block.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

comment_end_string:
    description:
    - The string marking the end of a comment statement.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.12'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

variable_end_string:
    default: '}}'
    description:
    - The string marking the end of a print statement.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

comment_start_string:
    description:
    - The string marking the beginning of a comment statement.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.12'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

variable_start_string:
    default: '{{'
    description:
    - The string marking the beginning of a print statement.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.4'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

Outputs

checksum:
  description: SHA1 checksum of the rendered file
  returned: always
  sample: 373296322247ab85d26d5d1257772757e7afd172
  type: str
dest:
  description: Destination file/path, equal to the value passed to I(dest).
  returned: success
  sample: /path/to/file.txt
  type: str
gid:
  description: Numeric id representing the group of the owner
  returned: success
  sample: 1003
  type: int
group:
  description: Group name of owner
  returned: success
  sample: www-data
  type: str
md5sum:
  description: MD5 checksum of the rendered file
  returned: changed
  sample: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e
  type: str
mode:
  description: Unix permissions of the file in octal representation as a string
  returned: success
  sample: 1755
  type: str
owner:
  description: User name of owner
  returned: success
  sample: httpd
  type: str
size:
  description: Size of the rendered file in bytes
  returned: success
  sample: 42
  type: int
src:
  description: Source file used for the copy on the target machine.
  returned: changed
  sample: /home/httpd/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1423796390.97-147729857856000/source
  type: str
uid:
  description: Numeric id representing the file owner
  returned: success
  sample: 1003
  type: int

See also