ansible.builtin.blockinfile (v2.9.25) — module

Insert/update/remove a text block surrounded by marker lines

| "added in version" 2.0 of ansible.builtin"

Authors: Yaegashi Takeshi (@yaegashi)

preview | supported by core

Install Ansible via pip

Install with pip install ansible==2.9.25

Description

This module will insert/update/remove a block of multi-line text surrounded by customizable marker lines.

Usage examples

  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
# Before Ansible 2.3, option 'dest' or 'name' was used instead of 'path'
- name: Insert/Update "Match User" configuration block in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
  blockinfile:
    path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    block: |
      Match User ansible-agent
      PasswordAuthentication no
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Insert/Update eth0 configuration stanza in /etc/network/interfaces
        (it might be better to copy files into /etc/network/interfaces.d/)
  blockinfile:
    path: /etc/network/interfaces
    block: |
      iface eth0 inet static
          address 192.0.2.23
          netmask 255.255.255.0
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Insert/Update configuration using a local file and validate it
  blockinfile:
    block: "{{ lookup('file', './local/sshd_config') }}"
    dest: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    backup: yes
    validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -T -f %s
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Insert/Update HTML surrounded by custom markers after <body> line
  blockinfile:
    path: /var/www/html/index.html
    marker: "<!-- {mark} ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK -->"
    insertafter: "<body>"
    block: |
      <h1>Welcome to {{ ansible_hostname }}</h1>
      <p>Last updated on {{ ansible_date_time.iso8601 }}</p>
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Remove HTML as well as surrounding markers
  blockinfile:
    path: /var/www/html/index.html
    marker: "<!-- {mark} ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK -->"
    block: ""
  • Success
    Steampunk Spotter scan finished with no errors, warnings or hints.
- name: Add mappings to /etc/hosts
  blockinfile:
    path: /etc/hosts
    block: |
      {{ item.ip }} {{ item.name }}
    marker: "# {mark} ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK {{ item.name }}"
  loop:
    - { name: host1, ip: 10.10.1.10 }
    - { name: host2, ip: 10.10.1.11 }
    - { name: host3, ip: 10.10.1.12 }

Inputs

    
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

path:
    aliases:
    - dest
    - destfile
    - name
    description:
    - The file to modify.
    - Before Ansible 2.3 this option was only usable as I(dest), I(destfile) and I(name).
    required: true
    type: path

block:
    aliases:
    - content
    default: ''
    description:
    - The text to insert inside the marker lines.
    - If it is missing or an empty string, the block will be removed as if C(state) were
      specified to C(absent).
    type: str

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

state:
    choices:
    - absent
    - present
    default: present
    description:
    - Whether the block should be there or not.
    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

create:
    default: false
    description:
    - Create a new file if it does not exist.
    type: bool

marker:
    default: '# {mark} ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK'
    description:
    - The marker line template.
    - C({mark}) will be replaced with the values C(in marker_begin) (default="BEGIN")
      and C(marker_end) (default="END").
    - Using a custom marker without the C({mark}) variable may result in the block being
      repeatedly inserted on subsequent playbook runs.
    type: str

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

marker_end:
    default: END
    description:
    - This will be inserted at C({mark}) in the closing ansible block marker.
    required: false
    type: str
    version_added: '2.5'
    version_added_collection: ansible.builtin

insertafter:
    choices:
    - EOF
    - '*regex*'
    default: EOF
    description:
    - If specified, the block will be inserted after the last match of specified regular
      expression.
    - A special value is available; C(EOF) for inserting the block at the end of the file.
    - If specified regular expression has no matches, C(EOF) will be used instead.
    type: str

insertbefore:
    choices:
    - BOF
    - '*regex*'
    description:
    - If specified, the block will be inserted before the last match of specified regular
      expression.
    - A special value is available; C(BOF) for inserting the block at the beginning of
      the file.
    - If specified regular expression has no matches, the block will be inserted at the
      end of the file.
    type: str

marker_begin:
    default: BEGIN
    description:
    - This will be inserted at C({mark}) in the opening ansible block marker.
    type: str
    version_added: '2.5'
    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