Check if a file exists on Windows-like systems - Ansible module win_stat

How to automate the checking of the “example.txt” file on the Desktop of the user in the Windows system and display a message or execute a task accordingly with Ansible Playbook.

March 15, 2022

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How to Check if a file exists on Windows-like systems with Ansible?

I’m going to show you a live demo and some simple Ansible code. I’m Luca Berton and welcome to today’s episode of Ansible Pilot.

Ansible check file exists on Windows-like systems

ansible.windows.win_stat
Get information about Windows files

Today we’re talking about the Ansible module win_stat. The full name is ansible.windows.win_stat, which means that is part of the collection of modules specialized to interact with Windows target host. It’s a module pretty stable and out for years. It works in Windows and Windows Server operating systems. It gets information about Windows files. For Linux target use the ansible.builtin.stat module instead.

Parameters & Return Values

Mandatory Parameters

path string

Main Return Values

stat complex - exists

The only mandatory parameter is “path” which is the filesystem full path of the object to check. You could also retrieve the checksum of the file in the most popular hash algorithm, just in case. The module returns a complex object, the property that is interesting for us is “exists”. This attribute is “true” if the object exists.

demo

How to check if the file “example.txt” exists on the Desktop of the user on Windows-like systems with Ansible Playbook.

code

---
- name: check if a file exist
  hosts: all
  vars:
    myfile: 'C:\Users\vagrant\Desktop\example.txt'
  tasks:
    - name: check if a file exist
      ansible.windows.win_stat:
        path: "{{ myfile }}"
      register: file_data
    - name: report file exist
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "The file {{ myfile }} exist"
      when: file_data.stat.exists
    - name: report file not exist
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "The file {{ myfile }} doesn't exist"
      when: not file_data.stat.exists

file doesn’t exist execution

win_stat file doesn’t exist

ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/win/inventory check\ file\ exists/file_exist_windows.yml
PLAY [check if a file exist] **********************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [WindowsServer]
TASK [check if a file exist] **********************************************************************
ok: [WindowsServer]
TASK [report file exist] **************************************************************************
skipping: [WindowsServer]
TASK [report file not exist] **********************************************************************
ok: [WindowsServer] => {
    "msg": "The file C:\\Users\\vagrant\\Desktop\\example.txt doesn't exist"
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
WindowsServer              : ok=3    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=1    rescued=0    ignored=0
ansible-pilot $

file exist execution

win_stat file exist

ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/win/inventory check\ file\ exists/file_exist_windows.yml
PLAY [check if a file exist] **********************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [WindowsServer]
TASK [check if a file exist] **********************************************************************
ok: [WindowsServer]
TASK [report file exist] **************************************************************************
ok: [WindowsServer] => {
    "msg": "The file C:\\Users\\vagrant\\Desktop\\example.txt exist"
}
TASK [report file not exist] **********************************************************************
skipping: [WindowsServer]
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
WindowsServer              : ok=3    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=1    rescued=0    ignored=0
ansible-pilot $

code with ❤️ in GitHub

Recap

Now you know how to check if a file exists on Windows-like systems with Ansible. Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Medium, Website, Twitter, and Substack to not miss the next episode of the Ansible Pilot.