ini_file - Tweak settings in INI files

Synopsis

  • Manage (add, remove, change) individual settings in an INI-style file without having to manage the file as a whole with, say, template or assemble. Adds missing sections if they don’t exist.
  • Before version 2.0, comments are discarded when the source file is read, and therefore will not show up in the destination file.
  • Since version 2.3, this module adds missing ending newlines to files to keep in line with the POSIX standard, even when no other modifications need to be applied.

Options

parameter required default choices comments
attributes
(added in 2.3)
 no None
Attributes the file or directory should have. To get supported flags look at the man page for chattr on the target system. This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed by lsattr.
aliases: attr
backup
 no no
  • yes
  • no
Create a backup file including the timestamp information so you can get the original file back if you somehow clobbered it incorrectly.
create
(added in 2.2)
 no yes
  • yes
  • no
If set to 'no', the module will fail if the file does not already exist. By default it will create the file if it is missing.
group
 no
Name of the group that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
mode
 no
Mode the file or directory should be. For those used to /usr/bin/chmod remember that modes are actually octal numbers (like 0644). Leaving off the leading zero will likely have unexpected results. As of version 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, u+rwx or u=rw,g=r,o=r).
no_extra_spaces
(added in 2.1)
 no
Do not insert spaces before and after '=' symbol
option
 no
If set (required for changing a value), this is the name of the option.
May be omitted if adding/removing a whole section.
others
 no
All arguments accepted by the file module also work here
owner
 no
Name of the user that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
path
 yes
Path to the INI-style file; this file is created if required.
Before 2.3 this option was only usable as dest.
aliases: dest
section
 yes
Section name in INI file. This is added if state=present automatically when a single value is being set.
If left empty or set to `null`, the option will be placed before the first section. Using `null` is also required if the config format does not support sections.
selevel
 no s0
Level part of the SELinux file context. This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the range. _default feature works as for seuser.
serole
 no
Role part of SELinux file context, _default feature works as for seuser.
setype
 no
Type part of SELinux file context, _default feature works as for seuser.
seuser
 no
User part of SELinux file context. Will default to system policy, if applicable. If set to _default, it will use the user portion of the policy if available.
state
 no present
  • present
  • absent
If set to absent the option or section will be removed if present instead of created.
unsafe_writes
(added in 2.2)
 no
  • yes
  • no
Normally this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target files, sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example are docker mounted files, they cannot be updated atomically and can only be done in an unsafe manner.
This boolean option allows ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating files for those cases in which you do not have any other choice. Be aware that this is subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.
value
 no
The string value to be associated with an option. May be omitted when removing an option.

Examples

# Before 2.3, option 'dest' was used instead of 'path'
- name: Ensure "fav=lemonade is in section "[drinks]" in specified file
  ini_file:
    path: /etc/conf
    section: drinks
    option: fav
    value: lemonade
    mode: 0600
    backup: yes

- ini_file:
    path: /etc/anotherconf
    section: drinks
    option: temperature
    value: cold
    backup: yes

Notes

Note

  • While it is possible to add an option without specifying a value, this makes no sense.
  • As of Ansible 2.3, the dest option has been changed to path as default, but dest still works as well.

Status

This module is flagged as preview which means that it is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface.

For help in developing on modules, should you be so inclined, please read Community Information & Contributing, Testing Ansible and Developing Modules.

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2019 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.4/ini_file_module.html