Ansible troubleshooting - Permission denied Errno 13

How to troubleshoot the Permission denied Errno 13 Ansible fatal error and workaround the problem using the privilege escalation on Ansible Playbook.

December 17, 2023

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#ansible #troubleshooting #permission-denied #errno-13 #linux #error #fatal #automation #privilege-escalation #devops #ansible-playbook #system-administration #it #open-source #error-resolution #ansible-tutorial #error-handling #ansible-error-fix #ansible-privilege-escalation #ansible-automation-tips

Introduction

Welcome to another episode of Ansible Pilot! I’m Luca Berton, and today we’re delving into Ansible troubleshooting, focusing on the pesky “Permission Denied Errno 13” error. Join me as we explore the intricacies of this issue, reproduce it in a live demo, and learn how to effectively resolve it using privilege escalation in Ansible Playbooks.

The Demo

Let’s jump right into a live demo to understand how to troubleshoot the Ansible fatal error [Errno 13] Permission denied and fix it in an Ansible Playbook.

Error Code

# permissiondenied_error.yml
---
- name: set environment demo
  hosts: all
  gather_facts: false
  vars:
    os_environment:
      - key: EDITOR
        value: vi
  tasks:
    - name: customize /etc/environment
      ansible.builtin.lineinline:
        dest: "/etc/environment"
        state: present
        regexp: "^{{ item.key }}="
        line: "{{ item.key }}={{ item.value }}"
      with_items: "{{ os_environment }}"

Error Execution

ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory troubleshooting/permissiondenied_error.yml
PLAY [set environment demo] ***********************************************************************
TASK [customize /etc/environment] *****************************************************************
An exception occurred during task execution. To see the full traceback, use -vvv. The error was: PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: b'/home/devops/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1645543127.772594-89712-144540003805636/tmpvhoh4q83' -> b'/etc/environment'
failed: [demo.example.com] (item={'key': 'EDITOR', 'value': 'vi'}) => {"ansible_facts": {"discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"}, "ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "item": {"key": "EDITOR", "value": "vi"}, "msg": "The destination directory (/etc) is not writable by the current user. Error was: [Errno 13] Permission denied: b'/etc/.ansible_tmp_hwdwg3denvironment'"}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com           : ok=0    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
ansible-pilot $

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Fix Code

# permissiondenied_fix.yml
---
- name: set environment demo
  hosts: all
  gather_facts: false
  become: true
  vars:
    os_environment:
      - key: EDITOR
        value: vi
  tasks:
    - name: customize /etc/environment
      ansible.builtin.lineinline:
        dest: "/etc/environment"
        state: present
        regexp: "^{{ item.key }}="
        line: "{{ item.key }}={{ item.value }}"
      with_items: "{{ os_environment }}"

Fix Execution

ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory troubleshooting/permissiondenied_fix.yml
PLAY [set environment demo] ***********************************************************************
TASK [customize /etc/environment] *****************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com] => (item={'key': 'EDITOR', 'value': 'vi'})
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com           : ok=1    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
ansible-pilot $

Recap

In this tutorial, we’ve successfully troubleshooted the Ansible [Errno 13] Permission Denied error and implemented a fix in an Ansible Playbook. By leveraging privilege escalation, we overcame the Permission Denied hurdle and ensured seamless execution.

I hope this guide proves valuable in unraveling similar challenges during your Ansible automation endeavors. If you found this information helpful, consider subscribing for more Ansible insights.

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