What you'll learn
- Introduction
- The `destination does not exist` Error
- Reproducing and Fixing the Error
- Reproducing the Error
- Fixing the Error
- Verification
- Conclusion
- The Fix: Create Directory First
- Common Scenarios
- copy module
Introduction
Welcome to another episode of Ansible Pilot! I'm Luca Berton, and today we'll dive into troubleshooting Ansible, specifically focusing on the notorious "destination does not exist error." This error often occurs when attempting to download a file from a URL using Ansible, and it can be a stumbling block for many users. In this article, I'll walk you through the error, Playbooknstrate how to reproduce it, and provide a fix to ensure a smooth Ansible playbook execution.
The `destination does not exist` Error
Let's start by examining the error through a live Playbook. Below is a simplified Ansible playbook (`destinationdoesnotexist_error.yml`) that attempts to download a file using the `get_url` module:
```yaml
---
- name: Get_url module Playbook
hosts: all
become: false
vars:
myurl: "https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/ansible-2.9.25.tar.gz"
mycrc: "sha256:https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/ansible-2.9.25.tar.gz.sha"
mydest: "ansible-2.9.25.tar.gz"
tasks:
- name: Download file
ansible.builtin.get_url:
url: "{{ myurl }}"
dest: "{{ mydest }}"
checksum: "{{ mycrc }}"
mode: '0644'
```
Upon execution, you might encounter the following error:
```bash
$ ansible-playbook -i inventory destinationdoesnotexist_error.yml
PLAY [Get_url module Playbook] ******************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] **********************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [Download file] ************************************************************************
fatal: [demo.example.com]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "checksum_dest": null, "checksum_src": "574e24659f555fe370571167d3d44704671f1773", "dest": "ansible-2.9.25.tar.gz", "elapsed": 3, "msg": "Destination does not exist", "src": "/home/devops/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1640555219.326019-1431-267536126421544/tmpmx_ra0hd", "url": "https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/ansible-2.9.25.tar.gz"}
PLAY RECAP **********************************************************************************
demo.example.com : ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=1 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
```
The error message clearly indicates that the destination does not exist.
Reproducing and Fixing the Error
Reproducing the Error
To reproduce the error, we can use the provided playbook (`destinationdoesnotexist_error.yml`). This playbook attempts to download the Ansible archive into the home directory, resulting in the "destination does not exist" error.
Fixing the Error
Let's address the issue by modifying the playbook. In the fixed version (`destinationdoesnotexist_fix.yml`), we adjust the destination path to include the current directory:
```yaml
---
- name: Get_url module Playbook
hosts: all
become: false
vars:
myurl: "https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/ansible-2.9.25.tar.gz"
mycrc: "sha256:https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/