Ansible mount Module: Mount Filesystems, NFS, SMB/CIFS Shares (Guide)
By Luca Berton · Published 2024-01-01 · Category: troubleshooting
How to mount filesystems with Ansible mount module (ansible.posix.mount). Mount NFS, SMB/CIFS, Windows shares, configure fstab.
How to mount a Windows share in Linux SMB/CIFS with Ansible? I'm going to show you a live Playbook with some simple Ansible code. I'm Luca Berton and welcome to today's episode of Ansible Pilot
Ansible mount an SMB/CIFS filesystem
• ansible.posix.mount • Control active and configured mount pointsToday we're talking about the Ansible module mount.
The full name is ansible.posix.mount, which means that is part of the collection of modules "ansible.posix" to interact with POSIX platforms.
The purpose of the module is to Control active and configured mount points.
For Windows, use the community.windows.win_mapped_drive module instead.
See also: Ansible Mount Module: Mount NFS, CIFS & ansible.posix.mount Guide
Parameters
• path string - mount point (e.g. /mnt) • state string - mounted / unmounted / present / absent / remounted • src string - device or network volume • fstype string - ext4, xfs, iso9660, nfs, cifs, etc. • opts string - mount optionsThis module has many parameters to perform any task.
The only required are "path" and "state".
The parameter "path" specifies the path to the mount point (e.g. /mnt/).
The parameter "state" allows us to verify a specific state of the mount point. The options "mounted", "unmounted" and "remounted" change the device status. The "present" and "absent" options only change the /etc/fstab file.
The src parameter specifies the device or network volume for NFS or SMB/CIFS.
The fstype parameter specifies the filesystem type. For example: ext4, xfs, iso9660, nfs, cifs, etc.
The opts parameter allows us to specify some mount options, that vary for each filesystem type.
## Playbook
Let's jump in a real-life Ansible Playbook to mount an SMB/CIFS filesystem.
code
• mount_cifs.yml---
- name: mount module Playbook
hosts: all
become: true
vars:
uri: "//windows-pc/share"
username: "example@domain"
password: "password"
mountpoint: "/share"
tasks:
- name: utility present
ansible.builtin.package:
name: cifs-utils
state: present
- name: check mountpoint exist
ansible.builtin.file:
path: "{{ mountpoint }}"
state: directory
mode: '0755'
owner: root
group: root
- name: Mount network share
ansible.posix.mount:
src: "{{ uri }}"
path: "{{ mountpoint }}"
fstype: cifs
opts: 'username={{ username }},password={{ password }}'
state: mounted
execution
$ ansible-playbook -i Playbook/inventory mount\ drive/cifs.yml
PLAY [mount module Playbook] *********************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ***********************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [utility present] ***********************************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
TASK [check mountpoint exist] ****************************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
TASK [Mount network share] *******************************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
PLAY RECAP ***********************************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=4 changed=3 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
before execution
$ ssh devops@demo.example.com
[devops@demo ~]$ sudo su
[root@demo devops]# mount
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,seclabel,size=395492k,nr_inodes=98873,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,seclabel,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel,mode=755)
tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,seclabel,mode=755)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,xattr,release_agent=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-cgroups-agent,name=systemd)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
bpf on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/rdma type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,rdma)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,perf_event)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls,net_prio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,net_cls,net_prio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,freezer)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,cpuset)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/pids type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,pids)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/hugetlb type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,hugetlb)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,blkio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/memory type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,memory)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,devices)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,cpu,cpuacct)
none on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,relatime,seclabel)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,relatime)
/dev/mapper/rhel_rhel8-root on / type xfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,attr2,inode64,logbufs=8,logbsize=32k,noquota)
selinuxfs on /sys/fs/selinux type selinuxfs (rw,relatime)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=31,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=18292)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,relatime,seclabel)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,relatime,seclabel)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,pagesize=2M)
/dev/sda1 on /boot type xfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,attr2,inode64,logbufs=8,logbsize=32k,noquota)
tmpfs on /run/user/1001 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,seclabel,size=82872k,mode=700,uid=1001,gid=10)
[root@demo devops]# mount | grep share
[root@demo devops]# cat /etc/fstab
#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Wed Sep 1 00:06:23 2021
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk/'.
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info.
#
# After editing this file, run 'systemctl daemon-reload' to update systemd
# units generated from this file.
#
/dev/mapper/rhel_rhel8-root / xfs defaults 0 0
UUID=ae6c1777-c1c9-42a1-8fcf-513077aac39b /boot xfs defaults 0 0
/dev/mapper/rhel_rhel8-swap none swap defaults 0 0
[root@demo devops]#
after execution
$ ssh devops@demo.example.com
[devops@demo ~]$ sudo su
[root@demo devops]# mount
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,seclabel,size=395492k,nr_inodes=98873,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,seclabel,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel,mode=755)
tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,seclabel,mode=755)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,xattr,release_agent=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-cgroups-agent,name=systemd)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
bpf on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/rdma type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,rdma)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,perf_event)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls,net_prio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,net_cls,net_prio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,freezer)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,cpuset)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/pids type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,pids)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/hugetlb type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,hugetlb)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,blkio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/memory type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,memory)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,devices)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,cpu,cpuacct)
none on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,relatime,seclabel)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,relatime)
/dev/mapper/rhel_rhel8-root on / type xfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,attr2,inode64,logbufs=8,logbsize=32k,noquota)
selinuxfs on /sys/fs/selinux type selinuxfs (rw,relatime)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=31,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=18292)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,relatime,seclabel)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,relatime,seclabel)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,pagesize=2M)
/dev/sda1 on /boot type xfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,attr2,inode64,logbufs=8,logbsize=32k,noquota)
tmpfs on /run/user/1001 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,seclabel,size=82872k,mode=700,uid=1001,gid=10)
//windows-pc/share on /share type cifs (rw,relatime,vers=default,cache=strict,username=username,uid=0,noforceuid,gid=0,noforcegid,addr=192.168.43.5,file_mode=0755,dir_mode=0755,soft,nounix,serverino,mapposix,rsize=4194304,wsize=4194304,bsize=1048576,echo_interval=60,actimeo=1)
[root@demo devops]# touch /share/test
[root@demo devops]# ls -al /share/test
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 0 Nov 11 17:32 /share/test
[root@demo devops]# ls -al /share/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 0 Nov 11 17:32 .
dr-xr-xr-x. 18 root root 237 Nov 11 17:31 ..
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 0 Nov 11 17:32 test
[root@demo devops]# cat /etc/fstab
#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Wed Sep 1 00:06:23 2021
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk/'.
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info.
#
# After editing this file, run 'systemctl daemon-reload' to update systemd
# units generated from this file.
#
/dev/mapper/rhel_rhel8-root / xfs defaults 0 0
UUID=ae6c1777-c1c9-42a1-8fcf-513077aac39b /boot xfs defaults 0 0
/dev/mapper/rhel_rhel8-swap none swap defaults 0 0
#VAGRANT-BEGIN
# The contents below are automatically generated by Vagrant. Do not modify.
#VAGRANT-END
//windows-pc/share /share cifs username=username,password=passowd 0 0
[root@demo devops]#
Conclusion
Now you know how to mount an SMB/CIFS filesystem with Ansible.
See also: Ansible for Windows: Complete Guide to Windows Automation (2026)
Related Articles
• managing Windows hosts with Ansible • the Ansible become reference • the Ansible inventory deep-dive • managing files with ansible.builtin.file • what Ansible roles are and how to use themCategory: troubleshooting
Watch the video: Ansible mount Module: Mount Filesystems, NFS, SMB/CIFS Shares (Guide) — Video Tutorial