'Copy multiple files with Ansible
How can I copy more than a single file into remote nodes by Ansible in a task?
I've tried to duplicate the copy module line in my task to define files but it only copies the first file.
Solution 1:[1]
You can use the with_fileglob
loop for this:
- copy:
src: "{{ item }}"
dest: /etc/fooapp/
owner: root
mode: 600
with_fileglob:
- /playbooks/files/fooapp/*
Solution 2:[2]
- name: Your copy task
copy: src={{ item.src }} dest={{ item.dest }}
with_items:
- { src: 'containerizers', dest: '/etc/mesos/containerizers' }
- { src: 'another_file', dest: '/etc/somewhere' }
- { src: 'dynamic', dest: '{{ var_path }}' }
# more files here
Solution 3:[3]
Since Ansible 2.5 the with_*
constructs are not recommended, and loop
syntax should be used. A simple practical example:
- name: Copy CA files
copy:
src: '{{item}}'
dest: '/etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors'
owner: root
group: root
mode: 0644
loop:
- symantec-private.crt
- verisignclass3g2.crt
Solution 4:[4]
You can use with_together for this purpose:
- name: Copy multiple files to multiple directories
copy: src={{ item.0 }} dest={{ item.1 }}
with_together:
- [ 'file1', 'file2', 'file3' ]
- [ '/dir1/', '/dir2/', '/dir3/' ]
Solution 5:[5]
If you need more than one location, you need more than one task. One copy task can copy only from one location (including multiple files) to another one on the node.
- copy: src=/file1 dest=/destination/file1
- copy: src=/file2 dest=/destination/file2
# copy each file over that matches the given pattern
- copy: src={{ item }} dest=/destination/
with_fileglob:
- /files/*
Solution 6:[6]
- hosts: lnx
tasks:
- find: paths="/appl/scripts/inq" recurse=yes patterns="inq.Linux*"
register: file_to_copy
- copy: src={{ item.path }} dest=/usr/local/sbin/
owner: root
mode: 0775
with_items: "{{ files_to_copy.files }}"
Solution 7:[7]
Or you can use with_items:
- copy:
src: "{{ item }}"
dest: /etc/fooapp/
owner: root
mode: 600
with_items:
- dest_dir
Solution 8:[8]
- name: find inq.Linux*
find: paths="/appl/scripts/inq" recurse=yes patterns="inq.Linux*"
register: find_files
- name: set fact
set_fact:
all_files:
- "{{ find_files.files | map(attribute='path') | list }}"
when: find_files > 0
- name: copy files
copy:
src: "{{ item }}"
dest: /destination/
with_items: "{{ all_files }}"
when: find_files > 0
Solution 9:[9]
copy
module is a wrong tool for copying many files and/or directory structure, use synchronize
module instead which uses rsync
as backend. Mind you, it requires rsync
installed on both controller and target host. It's really powerful, check ansible documentation.
Example - copy files from build
directory (with subdirectories) of controller to /var/www/html
directory on target host:
synchronize:
src: ./my-static-web-page/build/
dest: /var/www/html
rsync_opts:
- "--chmod=D2755,F644" # copy from windows - force permissions
Solution 10:[10]
You can loop through variable with list of directories:
- name: Copy files from several directories
copy:
src: "{{ item }}"
dest: "/etc/fooapp/"
owner: root
mode: "0600"
loop: "{{ files }}"
vars:
files:
- "dir1/"
- "dir2/"
Solution 11:[11]
Use the following source code for copy multiple files on your client machine.
- name: Copy data to the client machine
hosts: hostname
become_method: sudo
become_user: root
become: true
tasks:
# Copy twice as sometimes files get skipped (mostly only one file skipped from a folder if the folder does not exist)
- name: Copy UFO-Server
copy:
src: "source files path"
dest: "destination file path"
owner: root
group: root
mode: 0644
backup: yes
ignore_errors: true
Note:
If you are passing multiple paths by using variable then
src: "/root/{{ item }}"
If you are passing path by using a variable for different items then
src: "/root/{{ item.source_path }}"
Solution 12:[12]
Here is a sample Ansible Script to copy multiple Files on remote Hosts
- name: Copy Multiple Files on remote Hosts
ansible.windows.win_copy:
src: "{{ srcPath }}/{{ item }}" # Remeber to us {{item}}
# as a postfix to source path
dest: "{{ destPath }}"
remote_src: yes # if source path is available on remote Host
with_items:
- abc.txt
- abc.properties
Solution 13:[13]
Here is a generic solution for copying files:
...
- name: Find files you want to move
ansible.builtin.find:
paths: /path/to/files/
file_type: file
excludes: "*.txt" # Whatever pattern you want to exclude
register: files_output
- name: Copy the files
ansible.builtin.copy:
src: "{{ item.path }}"
dest: /destination/directory/
loop: "{{ files_output.files }}"
...
This is more powerful than using with_fileglob
as you can match using regexes. Here is this play in action:
$ ls /path/to/files
demo.yaml test.sh ignore.txt
$ ls /destination/directory
file.h
$ ansible-playbook playbook.yaml
...[some output]...
$ ls /destination/directory
file.h demo.yaml test.sh
As you can see from the above example, ignore.txt
was not copied over to the destination directory because of the excludes
regex in the playbook. Ignoring files like this is not possible as simply using with_fileglob
.
Additionally, you can move files from multiple directories with relative ease:
...
- name: Find files you want to move
ansible.builtin.find:
paths: /path/to/files/
# ... the rest of the task
register: list1
- name: Find more files you want to move
ansible.builtin.find:
paths: /different/path/
# ... the rest of the task
register: list2
- name: Copy the files
ansible.builtin.copy:
src: "{{ item.path }}"
dest: /destination/directory/
loop: "{{ list1.files + list2.files }}"
...
Solution 14:[14]
- hosts: test
gather_facts: false
become: true
vars:
path: '/home/ansibm/playbooks'
remote_path: '/home/{{ansible_ssh_user}}'
dir: 'yml_files'
tasks:
- name: "creating directory for backup file" file: path: '{{ remote_path }}/{{ dir }}' state: directory owner: '{{ansible_ssh_user}}' group: '{{ansible_ssh_user}}' mode: 0700
- name: "copying yml files" copy: src: '{{item}}' dest: '{{ remote_path }}/{{ dir }}' owner: '{{ansible_ssh_user}}' group: '{{ansible_ssh_user}}' mode: 0644 loop: - '{{ path }}/ab.html' - '{{ path }}/cp.yml'
Solution 15:[15]
Copy files from multiple directories to multiple directories with Ansible
I found the guenhter answer helpful but needed to change also the remote files' mode. I don't have enough reputation to put this as a comment, which would be a more appropriate place for this. In the example, I copy two files from two directories into /tmp and /tmp/bin, which I create first and modify remote files mode.
- name: cpldupd
hosts: test
remote_user: root
become: true
vars:
- rpth: /tmp
tasks:
- name: Create '{{rpth}}/bin'
file:
path: '{{rpth}}/bin'
state: directory
- name: Transfer
copy: src={{ item.src }} dest={{ item.dest }} mode=0775
with_items:
- { src: '../utils/cpldupd', dest: '{{rpth}}/cpldupd' }
- { src: '../utils/bin/cpldupd', dest: '{{rpth}}/bin/cpldupd' }
Sources
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Source: Stack Overflow