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Introduction
Infrastructure as code is made possible by the Ansible toolkit. The open-source Suite contains Software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment features. The copy module transfers a file from one computer to another. These computers can either be local or distant. Fetch is a built-in module in Ansible. It copies files from remote places to a local box. Use the ansible if you require variable interpolation in copied files.
Let's dive into the article for more information about the Ansible copy module.
Ansible Copy
With the copy and fetch modules, Ansible offers the ability to copy files and directories. The copy module has many uses. The copy module sends files and directories from a local computer to distant servers. Moreover, the fetch module transfers data from a remote machine to a local machine.
You can also try the template module if you want to duplicate files. These files can have variables substituted, like configuration files with IP changes. With the help of this module, many challenging jobs are possible.
Synopsis
The copy module sends a file between local and distant computers or from one computer to another.
Use the fetch module to copy files from distant places to the local box.
Use the template module if you require variable interpolation in duplicate files. Unpredictable results will be produced if a variable is used in the content field.
Use the win copy module for Windows targets instead.
Parameters
Copying Files from Local to Remote
The file specified in the src parameter is verified on the local machine using the copy module. The data will then be copied to the distant machine path indicated by the destpath.
The following example will copy the "sample.txt" file from the local machine's home directory to the remote server's "/tmp" directory as the destination. The remote file's default permission is set to -rw-rw-r- as long as we don't specify any further options (0664).
- hosts: blocks
tasks:
- name: Ansible copy file to a remote server
copy:
src: ~/sample.txt
dest: /tmp
Case 1: The destination file will be updated if the source file's content differs from the destination file and the file is already available on the remote server. By adjusting the force parameter, you may manage this. Yes is the default setting. Thus, by default, it updates the file.
If the source file is different and you don't want the file edited, then select No. If the file is missing from the remote server, the following operation will copy the missing file.
- hosts: blocks
tasks:
- name: Ansible copy file force
copy:
src: ~/sample.txt
dest: /tmp
force: no
Case 2: Ansible will throw an error if it can not locate the file on the local system.
Copying Directories from Local to Remote
The Ansible copy module also allows you to copy directories or folders. If the 'src' path is a directory, it will be copied recursively. Or the directory will be copied in its entirety. For this task, there are two distinct variants. Whether or not the '/' character is present at the 'src' path's conclusion.
The first approach will create a directory with the name specified in the src parameter. The creation happens on the remote server. The content of the source folder will then be copied and pasted into that directory. If you desire this behavior, leave off the src parameter '/' after the path.
In the following example, it will initially create a directory called copy dir ex in the remote server computer's /tmp directory.
- hosts: blocks
tasks:
- name: Ansible copy the directory to the remote server
copy:
src:/Users/mdtutorials2/Documents/Ansible/copy_dir_ex
dest:/Users/mdtutorials2/Documents/Ansible/tmp
Copying Files between Directories on Remote Machine
You can use Ansible copy to move files within the same remote computer from one directory to another. But directories are not included in this; only files are. You can use the remote src parameter to communicate your goals to Ansible. The code below will move the file /tmp/test.txt to the user's home directory (/home/[username]/).
---
-hosts: webservers
tasks:
-name: copy the file between directories on a remote server
copy:
src: /tmp/test.txt
dest: ~/test.txt
remote_src: yes
The copy (scp) module would work just fine if you wanted to copy a file from an Ansible Control Master to distant hosts.
How does copy ansible work?
The copy module sends a file between local and distant computers or from one computer to another. Fetch is a built-in module in Ansible. It copies files from remote places to a local box. Use the ansible if you require variable interpolation in copied files.
Does Ansible copy overwrite?
The default behavior of the Ansible copy module is to overwrite any existing files. Then it performs a forced copy to the destination.
Is Ansible copy idempotent?
The contents of files will be copied continuously. It indicates that Ansible is not working idempotently.
Conclusion
In this article, we have extensively discussed the Ansible Copy module. We have also explained the parameters, how to copy files from local to remote, how to copy directories from local to remote, and more in detail.
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