Return Values

• Common

  • backup_file
  • changed
  • diff
  • failed
  • invocation
  • msg
  • rc
  • results
  • skipped
  • stderr
  • stderr_lines
  • stdout
  • stdout_lines

• Internal use

  • ansible_facts
  • exception
  • warnings
  • deprecations

Ansible modules normally return a data structure that can be registered into a variable, or seen directly when output by the ansible program. Each module can optionally document its own unique return values (visible through ansible-doc and on the main docsite).

This document covers return values common to all modules.

Common

backup_file

For those modules that implement backup=no|yes when manipulating files, a path to the backup file created.

"backup_file": "./foo.txt.32729.2020-07-30@06:24:19~"

changed

A boolean indicating if the task had to make changes to the target or delegated host.

"changed": true

diff

Information on differences between the previous and current state. Often a dictionary with entries before and after, which will then be formatted by the callback plugin to a diff view.

"diff": [
        {
            "after": "",
            "after_header": "foo.txt (content)",
            "before": "",
            "before_header": "foo.txt (content)"
        },
        {
            "after_header": "foo.txt (file attributes)",
            "before_header": "foo.txt (file attributes)"
        }

failed

A boolean that indicates if the task was failed or not.

"failed": false

invocation

Information on how the module was invoked.

"invocation": {
        "module_args": {
            "_original_basename": "foo.txt",
            "attributes": null,
            "backup": true,
            "checksum": "da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709",
            "content": null,
            "delimiter": null,
            "dest": "./foo.txt",
            "directory_mode": null,
            "follow": false,
            "force": true,
            "group": null,
            "local_follow": null,
            "mode": "666",
            "owner": null,
            "regexp": null,
            "remote_src": null,
            "selevel": null,
            "serole": null,
            "setype": null,
            "seuser": null,
            "src": "/Users/foo/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1596115458.110205-105717464505158/source",
            "unsafe_writes": null,
            "validate": null
        }

msg

A string with a generic message relayed to the user.

"msg": "line added"

rc

Some modules execute command line utilities or are geared for executing commands directly (raw, shell, command, and so on), this field contains ‘return code’ of these utilities.

"rc": 257

results

If this key exists, it indicates that a loop was present for the task and that it contains a list of the normal module ‘result’ per item.

"results": [
    {
        "ansible_loop_var": "item",
        "backup": "foo.txt.83170.2020-07-30@07:03:05~",
        "changed": true,
        "diff": [
            {
                "after": "",
                "after_header": "foo.txt (content)",
                "before": "",
                "before_header": "foo.txt (content)"
            },
            {
                "after_header": "foo.txt (file attributes)",
                "before_header": "foo.txt (file attributes)"
            }
        ],
        "failed": false,
        "invocation": {
            "module_args": {
                "attributes": null,
                "backrefs": false,
                "backup": true
            }
        },
        "item": "foo",
        "msg": "line added"
    },
    {
        "ansible_loop_var": "item",
        "backup": "foo.txt.83187.2020-07-30@07:03:05~",
        "changed": true,
        "diff": [
            {
                "after": "",
                "after_header": "foo.txt (content)",
                "before": "",
                "before_header": "foo.txt (content)"
            },
            {
                "after_header": "foo.txt (file attributes)",
                "before_header": "foo.txt (file attributes)"
            }
        ],
        "failed": false,
        "invocation": {
            "module_args": {
                "attributes": null,
                "backrefs": false,
                "backup": true
            }
        },
        "item": "bar",
        "msg": "line added"
    }
    ]

skipped

A boolean that indicates if the task was skipped or not

"skipped": true

stderr

Some modules execute command line utilities or are geared for executing commands directly (raw, shell, command, and so on), this field contains the error output of these utilities.

"stderr": "ls: foo: No such file or directory"

stderr_lines

When stderr is returned we also always provide this field which is a list of strings, one item per line from the original.

"stderr_lines": [
        "ls: doesntexist: No such file or directory"
        ]

stdout

Some modules execute command line utilities or are geared for executing commands directly (raw, shell, command, and so on). This field contains the normal output of these utilities.

"stdout": "foo!"

stdout_lines

When stdout is returned, Ansible always provides a list of strings, each containing one item per line from the original output.

"stdout_lines": [
"foo!"
]

Internal use

These keys can be added by modules but will be removed from registered variables; they are ‘consumed’ by Ansible itself.

ansible_facts

This key should contain a dictionary which will be appended to the facts assigned to the host. These will be directly accessible and don’t require using a registered variable.

exception

This key can contain traceback information caused by an exception in a module. It will only be displayed on high verbosity (-vvv).

warnings

This key contains a list of strings that will be presented to the user.

deprecations

This key contains a list of dictionaries that will be presented to the user. Keys of the dictionaries are msg and version, values are string, value for the version key can be an empty string.