ansible.windows.win_shell – Execute shell commands on target hosts
Note
This plugin is part of the ansible.windows collection (version 1.3.0).
To install it use: ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.windows
.
To use it in a playbook, specify: ansible.windows.win_shell
.
Synopsis
- The ansible.windows.win_shell module takes the command name followed by a list of space-delimited arguments. It is similar to the ansible.windows.win_command module, but runs the command via a shell (defaults to PowerShell) on the target host.
- For non-Windows targets, use the ansible.builtin.shell module instead.
Parameters
Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments |
---|---|---|
chdir path | Set the specified path as the current working directory before executing a command | |
creates path | A path or path filter pattern; when the referenced path exists on the target host, the task will be skipped. | |
executable path | Change the shell used to execute the command (eg, cmd ).The target shell must accept a /c parameter followed by the raw command line to be executed. | |
free_form string / required | The ansible.windows.win_shell module takes a free form command to run. There is no parameter actually named 'free form'. See the examples! | |
no_profile boolean |
| Do not load the user profile before running a command. This is only valid when using PowerShell as the executable. |
output_encoding_override string | This option overrides the encoding of stdout/stderr output. You can use this option when you need to run a command which ignore the console's codepage. You should only need to use this option in very rare circumstances. This value can be any valid encoding Name based on the output of [System.Text.Encoding]::GetEncodings( ). See https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.text.encoding.getencodings. | |
removes path | A path or path filter pattern; when the referenced path does not exist on the target host, the task will be skipped. | |
stdin string | Set the stdin of the command directly to the specified value. |
Notes
Note
- If you want to run an executable securely and predictably, it may be better to use the ansible.windows.win_command module instead. Best practices when writing playbooks will follow the trend of using ansible.windows.win_command unless
win_shell
is explicitly required. When running ad-hoc commands, use your best judgement. - WinRM will not return from a command execution until all child processes created have exited. Thus, it is not possible to use ansible.windows.win_shell to spawn long-running child or background processes. Consider creating a Windows service for managing background processes.
See Also
See also
- community.windows.psexec
-
The official documentation on the community.windows.psexec module.
- ansible.builtin.raw
-
The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.raw module.
- ansible.builtin.script
-
The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.script module.
- ansible.builtin.shell
-
The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.shell module.
- ansible.windows.win_command
-
The official documentation on the ansible.windows.win_command module.
- community.windows.win_psexec
-
The official documentation on the community.windows.win_psexec module.
Examples
- name: Execute a comand in the remote shell, stdout goes to the specified file on the remote ansible.windows.win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt - name: Change the working directory to somedir/ before executing the command ansible.windows.win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt args: chdir: C:\somedir - name: Run a command with an idempotent check on what it creates, will only run when somedir/somelog.txt does not exist ansible.windows.win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt args: chdir: C:\somedir creates: C:\somelog.txt - name: Run a command under a non-Powershell interpreter (cmd in this case) ansible.windows.win_shell: echo %HOMEDIR% args: executable: cmd register: homedir_out - name: Run multi-lined shell commands ansible.windows.win_shell: | $value = Test-Path -Path C:\temp if ($value) { Remove-Item -Path C:\temp -Force } New-Item -Path C:\temp -ItemType Directory - name: Retrieve the input based on stdin ansible.windows.win_shell: '$string = [Console]::In.ReadToEnd(); Write-Output $string.Trim()' args: stdin: Input message
Return Values
Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:
Key | Returned | Description |
---|---|---|
cmd string | always | The command executed by the task. Sample: rabbitmqctl join_cluster rabbit@main |
delta string | always | The command execution delta time. Sample: 0:00:00.325771 |
end string | always | The command execution end time. Sample: 2016-02-25 09:18:26.755339 |
msg boolean | always | Changed. Sample: True |
rc integer | always | The command return code (0 means success). |
start string | always | The command execution start time. Sample: 2016-02-25 09:18:26.429568 |
stderr string | always | The command standard error. Sample: ls: cannot access foo: No such file or directory |
stdout string | always | The command standard output. Sample: Clustering node rabbit@slave1 with rabbit@main ... |
stdout_lines list / elements=string | always | The command standard output split in lines. Sample: ["u'Clustering node rabbit@slave1 with rabbit@main ...'"] |
Authors
- Matt Davis (@nitzmahone)
© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2021 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.11/collections/ansible/windows/win_shell_module.html