What is the easiest way to create an empty file using Ansible? I know I can save an empty file into the files directory and then copy it to the remote host, but I find that somewhat unsatisfactory.
Another way is to touch a file on the remote host:
- name: create fake 'nologin' shell
file: path=/etc/nologin state=touch owner=root group=sys mode=0555
But then the file gets touched every time, showing up as a yellow line in the log, which is also unsatisfactory...
Is there any better solution to this simple problem?
The documentation of the file module says:
If
state=file, the file will NOT be created if it does not exist, see the copy or template module if you want that behavior.
So we use the copy module, using force: false to create a new empty file only when the file does not yet exist (if the file exists, its content is preserved).
- name: ensure file exists
copy:
content: ""
dest: /etc/nologin
force: false
group: sys
owner: root
mode: 0555
This is a declarative and elegant solution.