Break a string over multiple lines - Ansible Literal and Folded Block Scalar operators
How to use multi-line YAML variables in Ansible using the "|", Literal Block Scalar, and the ">", Folded Block Scalar, operators. Plus how to elide the new line "\n" at the end of the line and print multi-line with debug module on a terminal.
How to Break a string over multiple lines with Ansible? And in general with YAML language.
I’m going to show you a live demo with some simple Ansible code. I’m Luca Berton and welcome to today’s episode of Ansible Pilot.
Ansible Break a string over multiple lines
- “|” - Literal Block Scalar operator
- “>” - Folded Block Scalar operator
Today we’re talking about Ansible Break a string over multiple lines: Basically, there are two different operators:
- the “|” - Literal Block Scalar"
- the “>” Folded Block Scalar"
It’s easy for me to show you the behavior by example.
Examples
variable1 code
variable1: |
exactly as you see
will appear these three
lines of poetry
variable1 output
exactly as you see
will appear these three
lines of poetry\n
variable2 code
variable2: >
this is really a
single line of text
despite appearances
variable2 output
variable2: this is really a single line of text despite appearances\n
Welcome to the examples sections. Let’s assume we have two multi-line variables “variable1” and “variable2”. These are both multi-line variable but variable1 use the “|” - Literal Block Scalar" operator and variable 2 use the “>” Folded Block Scalar" operator. The result of this is that variable1 remains multiline but variable2 has literally collapsed in a single line and substitutes newlines with spaces. Please note that both variables have a newline at the end of the string. Do you want to remove the newline at the end of the strings? Simply add a “-”, a minus, after the “|” or “>” operator!
demo
Break a string over multiple lines with Ansible by examples.
code1
---
- name: debug module demo
hosts: all
vars:
variable1: |
exactly as you see
will appear these three
lines of poetry
variable2: >
this is really a
single line of text
despite appearances
tasks:
- name: print variable1
ansible.builtin.debug:
var: variable1
- name: print variable2
ansible.builtin.debug:
var: variable2
execution1
$ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory print\ text\ variable\ during\ execution/multi-line.yml
PLAY [debug module demo] **************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [print variable1] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
"variable1": "exactly as you see\nwill appear these three\nlines of poetry\n"
}
TASK [print variable2] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
"variable2": "this is really a single line of text despite appearances\n"
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=3 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $
code2
---
- name: debug module demo
hosts: all
vars:
variable1: |-
exactly as you see
will appear these three
lines of poetry
variable2: >-
this is really a
single line of text
despite appearances
tasks:
- name: print variable1
ansible.builtin.debug:
var: variable1
- name: print variable2
ansible.builtin.debug:
var: variable2
execution2
$ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory print\ text\ variable\ during\ execution/multi-line.yml
PLAY [debug module demo] **************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [print variable1] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
"variable1": "exactly as you see\nwill appear these three\nlines of poetry"
}
TASK [print variable2] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
"variable2": "this is really a single line of text despite appearances"
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=3 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $
code3
---
- name: debug module demo
hosts: all
vars:
variable1: |-
exactly as you see
will appear these three
lines of poetry
variable2: >-
this is really a
single line of text
despite appearances
tasks:
- name: print variable1
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ variable1.split('\n') }}"
- name: print variable2
ansible.builtin.debug:
var: variable2
execution3
$ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory print\ text\ variable\ during\ execution/multi-line.yml
PLAY [debug module demo] **************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [print variable1] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
"msg": [
"exactly as you see",
"will appear these three",
"lines of poetry"
]
}
TASK [print variable2] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
"variable2": "this is really a single line of text despite appearances"
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=3 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
ansible-pilot $
Recap
Now you know how to use Ansible “>” and “|” operators to break a string over multiple lines. Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Medium, Website and Twitter to not miss the next episode of the Ansible Pilot.
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