Read a file into a variable on host - Ansible lookup plugin file

How to automate the reading of example.txt file on Ansible host, assign to a variable and use in your Ansible Playbook code.

#ansible #plugin #lookup #file #example #read

How to read a file into a variable on the host with Ansible?

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 read a file into a variable

ansible.builtin.file
read file contents

Let’s deep dive into the Ansible lookup plugin file. Plugins are a way to expand the Ansible functionality. With lookup plugins specifically, you can load variables or templates with information from external sources. The full name is ansible.builtin.file, it’s part of ansible-core and is included in all Ansible installations. The purpose of the file lookup plugin is to read file contents.

Parameters and Return Values

Parameters

_terms string - path(s) of files to read

Return Values

_raw list - content of file(s)

The parameters of the lookup plugin file. The only required parameter is the default “_terms”, with the path(s) of files to read. The normal usage is to assign the lookup plugin to a variable name that you could use in your playbook.

demo

Read a file into a variable on the host with Ansible Playbook.

code

---
- name: read file on host
  hosts: all
  vars:
   contents: "{{ lookup('file','example.txt') }}"
  tasks:
   - name: print file
     ansible.builtin.debug:
      msg: "the content of file is {{ contents }}"

execution

ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory variables/read-file.yml
PLAY [read file on host] **************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [print file] *********************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
    "msg": "the content of file is example contents"
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com           : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
ansible-pilot $

idempotency

ansible-pilot $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory variables/read-file.yml
PLAY [read file on host] **************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [print file] *********************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com] => {
    "msg": "the content of file is example contents"
}
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com           : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
ansible-pilot $

code with ❤️ in GitHub

Recap

Now you know how to read a file into a variable on host with Ansible. Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Medium, Website and Twitter to not miss the next episode of the Ansible Pilot.

Academy

Learn the Ansible automation technology with some real-life examples in my

My book Ansible By Examples: 100+ Automation Examples For Linux and Windows System Administrator and DevOps

Donate

Want to keep this project going? Please donate