linuxansible

How do I preserve line breaks from a command output and write it to a file using ansible copy module

I am trying to copy the output from the linux find command to a flat file without losing the line-breaks and I can't seem to find a way to do it. the contents of the file are always without line breaks. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

My code:

- name: Play to run find command and capture its output to a file
  hosts: all

  tasks:

    - name: 'Run find command to fetch file rights {{inventory_hostname}}'
      command: 'find /var/log/rhsm -type f -printf "{{ inventory_hostname }},%m,%p;\n"' 
      register: find_results
      become: true
      become_user: root
      become_method: sudo

    - name: Print to verify it works
      debug: 
        msg: '{{find_results.stdout}}'

    - name: Use copy module to create the file using output from the previous command.
      copy: 
        dest: "/tmp/find_results.txt"
        content: >
            "{{ find_results.stdout_lines  | list }}"
      delegate_to: localhost

    ### This doesn't work either
    # - name: Use blockinfile to do the same
    #   blockinfile:
    #     path: "/tmp/find_results.txt"
    #     block: |
    #         "{{ find_results.stdout_lines }}"

My output:

$ cat /tmp/find_results.txt
"[u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210221;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210228;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210307;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210325;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210221;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210228;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210307;', u'svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210325;']"

expected output:

$ cat /tmp/find_results.txt
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210221;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210228;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210307;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210325;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210221;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210228;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsmcertd.log-20210307;
    svrt1,644,/var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log-20210325;
Solution 
  • - name: Play to run find command and capture its output to a file
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: 'Run find command to fetch file rights {{inventory_hostname}}'
      command: 'find /var/tmp/rhsm -type f -printf "{{ inventory_hostname }},%m,%p;\n"' 
      register: find_results
      become: true
      become_user: root
      become_method: sudo

    - name: Print to verify it works
      debug: 
        msg: '{{find_results.stdout}}'

    - name: Use copy module to create the file using output from the previous command.
      copy: 
        dest: "/tmp/find_results.txt"
        content: "{{ item }}"
      with_items: "{{ find_results.stdout }}"
      delegate_to: localhost
[rohtash@172 blockinfile]$ vi find.yml 
[rohtash@172 blockinfile]$ ansible-playbook find.yml 

PLAY [Play to run find command and capture its output to a file] ******************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Run find command to fetch file rights localhost] ****************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [Print to verify it works] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "msg": "localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc1;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc2;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc3;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc4;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc5;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc6;"
}

TASK [Use copy module to create the file using output from the previous command.] *************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost] => (item=localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc1;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc2;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc3;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc4;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc5;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc6;)

PLAY RECAP ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=4    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0  



[rohtash@172 blockinfile]$ cat /tmp/find_results.txt 
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc1;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc2;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc3;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc4;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc5;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc6;[rohtash@172 blockinfile]$

    OR

    dont use pipe after blockinfile. Use only find_results. stdout not stdout_lines like this.

    [rohtash@172 blockinfile]$ ansible-playbook find_withblock.yml 

PLAY [Play to run find command and capture its output to a file] ******************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Run find command to fetch file rights localhost] ****************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [Print to verify it works] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {
    "msg": "localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc1;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc2;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc3;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc4;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc5;\nlocalhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc6;"
}

TASK [Use blockinfile to do the same] *********************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

PLAY RECAP ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=4    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   

[rohtash@172 blockinfile]$ cat /tmp/find_results_usingblocks.txt
# BEGIN ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc1;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc2;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc3;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc4;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc5;
localhost,664,/var/tmp/rhsm/abc6;
# END ANSIBLE MANAGED BLOCK
[rohtash@172 blockinfile]$ cat find_withblock.yml 
- name: Play to run find command and capture its output to a file
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: 'Run find command to fetch file rights {{inventory_hostname}}'
      command: 'find /var/tmp/rhsm -type f -printf "{{ inventory_hostname }},%m,%p;\n"' 
      register: find_results
      become: true
      become_user: root
      become_method: sudo

- name: Print to verify it works
  debug: 
    msg: '{{find_results.stdout}}'

- name: Use blockinfile to do the same
  blockinfile:
      path: "/tmp/find_results_usingblocks.txt"
      block: "{{ find_results.stdout }}"
      state: present
  delegate_to: localhost

    use whichever suits u best.