ansible: Is there something like with_fileglobs for files on remote machine?

Question

I'm trying to turn these lines into something I can put in an ansible playbook:

# Install Prezto files
shopt -s extglob
shopt -s nullglob
files=( "${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}"/.zprezto/runcoms/!(README.md) )
for rcfile in "${files[@]}"; do
    [[ -f $rcfile ]] && ln -s "$rcfile" "${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.${rcfile##*/}"
done

So far I've got the following:

- name: Link Prezto files
  file: src={{ item }} dest=~ state=link
  with_fileglob:
    - ~/.zprezto/runcoms/z*

I know it isn't the same, but it would select the same files: except with_fileglob looks on the host machine, and I want it to look on the remote machine.

Is there any way to do this, or should I just use a shell script?

score 25 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 14 '16 at 23:24

25

A clean Ansible way of purging unwanted files matching a glob is:

- name: List all tmp files
  find:
    paths: /tmp/foo
    patterns: "*.tmp"
  register: tmp_glob

- name: Cleanup tmp files
  file:
    path: "{{ item.path }}"
    state: absent
  with_items:
    - "{{ tmp_glob.files }}"

answered Nov 14 '16 at 23:24

Doru C.

850
9
7

Just what I needed to get me in the right direction for a chmod on a glob pattern! – Travis Griggs Sep 12 '21 at 02:48
This should be The Answer – Travis Griggs Sep 12 '21 at 02:49
In Ansible 4, you'll need to use `with_items: "{{ tmp_glob.files | map(attribute='path') }}"` (as well as FQCNs) – antivirtel Apr 13 '23 at 11:50

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 02 '16 at 22:04

Bruce P's solution works, but it requires an addition file and gets a little messy. Below is a pure ansible solution.

The first task grabs a list of filenames and stores it in files_to_copy. The second task appends each filename to the path you provide and creates symlinks.

- name: grab file list
  shell: ls /path/to/src
  register: files_to_copy
- name: create symbolic links
  file:
    src: "/path/to/src/{{ item }}"
    dest: "path/to/dest/{{ item }}"
    state: link
  with_items: files_to_copy.stdout_lines

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 11 '14 at 14:17

The file module does indeed look on the server where ansible is running for files when using with_fileglob, etc. Since you want to work with files that exist solely on the remote machine then you could do a couple things. One approach would be to copy over a shell script in one task then invoke it in the next task. You could even use the fact that the file was copied as a way to only run the script if it didn't already exist:

- name: Copy link script
  copy: src=/path/to/foo.sh
        dest=/target/path/to/foo.sh
        mode=0755
  register: copied_script

- name: Invoke link script
  command: /target/path/to/foo.sh
  when: copied_script.changed

Another approach would be to create an entire command line that does what you want and invoke it using the shell module:

- name: Generate links
  shell: find ~/.zprezto/runcoms/z* -exec ln -s {} ~ \;

score -3 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 13 '15 at 23:21

-3

You can use with_lines to accomplish this:

- name: Link Prezto files
  file: src={{ item }} dest=~ state=link
  with_lines: ls ~/.zprezto/runcoms/z*

answered Jul 13 '15 at 23:21

kejadlen

1,519
1
10
10

In my case, I ran it and it still picked the pattern files from the SOURCE machine and not from the target (inventory host machine). – AKS Dec 09 '15 at 00:42
Oops, I didn't catch that this was for the remote machine. – kejadlen Dec 09 '15 at 19:53

ansible: Is there something like with_fileglobs for files on remote machine?

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