AnsibleByExample

Ansible File Module Demo: Create Symlinks Easily

Beginneransiblefilemodulelink
2024-01-013By Luca Berton

Lesson 1 of 15 in Foundations

Ansible Foundations to Production — full curriculum
  1. 1. Introduction to Ansible and Automation
  2. 2. Installing and Configuring Ansible
  3. 3. Running Ad-Hoc Commands
  4. 4. Writing Your First Playbook
  5. 5. Understanding and Using Modules
  6. 6. Variables and Facts
  7. 7. Conditionals and Loops
  8. 8. Handlers and Idempotency
  9. 9. Structuring Projects with Roles
  10. 10. Inventory Management
  11. 11. Using Ansible Vault for Secrets
  12. 12. Debugging and Troubleshooting
  13. 13. Real-World Automation Examples
  14. 14. Final Project: Deploy a Web Server
  15. 15. Bonus - What's Next with Ansible?
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How to create a symbolic link with Ansible?

ansible.builtin.file Manage files and file properties

Today we're talking about the Ansible module file. The full name is ansible.builtin.file, which means that is part of the collection of modules "builtin" with ansible and shipped with it. It's a module pretty stable and out for years. It works in a different variety of operating systems. It manages files and file properties. For a hardlink use see the following parameters of Ansible file module. For Windows targets, use the ansible.windows.win_file module instead.

Parameters

  • src string - symlink path
  • dest string - destination file path
  • state string - file/absent/symbolic link/hard/link/touch
  • mode/owner/group - permission
  • setype/seuser/selevel - SELinux

This module has some parameters to perform any tasks. The two required fields are "src" and "dest" which specify the filesystem paths of the link and the target file. The state defines the type of object we are modifying, the default is "file" but for our use case, we need the "link" option. Let me highlight also the permission and SELinux parameters.

Playbook

Let's jump into a real-life playbook on how to create a symbolic link with Ansible.

code

  • create_symlink.yml
---
- name: file module demo
  hosts: all
  vars:
    mylink: "~/example"
    mysrc: "/proc/cpuinfo"
  tasks:
    - name: Creating a symlink
      ansible.builtin.file:
        src: "{{ mysrc }}"
        dest: "{{ mylink }}"
        state: link

execution


$ ansible-playbook -i Playbook/inventory create\ symlink/file.yml
PLAY [file module demo] *********************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] **********************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [Creating a symlink] *******************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
PLAY RECAP **********************************************************************************
demo.example.com           : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

before execution


$ ssh devops@demo.example.com
[devops@demo ~]$ ls -al
total 16
drwx------. 4 devops wheel  111 Nov 14 14:26 .
drwxr-xr-x. 5 root   root    50 Nov  8 17:07 ..
drwx------. 3 devops wheel   17 Sep  6 05:53 .ansible
-rw-------. 1 devops wheel 3055 Nov 14 14:26 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--. 1 devops wheel   18 Dec  4  2020 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--. 1 devops wheel  141 Dec  4  2020 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r--. 1 devops wheel  376 Dec  4  2020 .bashrc
drwx------. 2 devops wheel   94 Sep 16 10:09 .ssh
[devops@demo ~]$

after execution


$ ssh devops@demo.example.com
[devops@demo ~]$ ls -al
total 16
drwx------. 4 devops wheel  126 Nov 14 14:29 .
drwxr-xr-x. 5 root   root    50 Nov  8 17:07 ..
drwx------. 3 devops wheel   17 Sep  6 05:53 .ansible
-rw-------. 1 devops wheel 3067 Nov 14 14:28 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--. 1 devops wheel   18 Dec  4  2020 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--. 1 devops wheel  141 Dec  4  2020 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r--. 1 devops wheel  376 Dec  4  2020 .bashrc
drwx------. 2 devops wheel   94 Sep 16 10:09 .ssh
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 devops wheel   13 Nov 14 14:29 example -> /proc/cpuinfo
[devops@demo ~]$ cat example | less
[devops@demo ~]$

code with ❤️ in GitHub

Conclusion

Now you know how to create a symbolic link or soft link in Linux with Ansible.

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