PowerShell {% if %} {% endif %} syntax throws an error

Question

I wrote this PowerShell script:

- name: Some name
  win_shell: |
    [xml]$myFile = Get-Content "C:\MyFile.xml"
    $myFile.SelectSingleNode("//some-element").InnerText = "new text"
    {% if 1 -eq 1 %}
    $myFile.SelectSingleNode("//another-element").InnerText = "new text"
    {% endif %}
    $myFile.Save("C:\MyFile.xml")

and I am getting this error:

"template error while templating string: expected token 'end of statement block'"

Am I doing something wrong? Can someone please help?

Answer 1

The problem is in the "-eq" of the if statement I replace it by == and it works for me

Answer 2

The reason for the error is Jinja2 Templating. The compare statement need to be in Jinja2 syntax, {% if 1 == 1 %} instead of Shell syntax. This is because the templating will be done on the Control Node in Python and before sending over the Shell commands to the Windows Remote Node.

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Documentation

• Jinja2 Template Designer Documentation