The below code fails due to the \\" in the ternary. Escaping the backslash results in too many backslashes being added to the path.
- name: Copy files to required directory
ansible.windows.win_copy:
src: '{{ hotfix_backout |
ternary(hotfix_temp_dir ~ "\hotfix\backup\" ~ item,
hotfix_temp_dir ~ "\hotfix\" ~ item) }}'
dest: C:\Program Files\app\
remote_src: true
loop:
- One.dll
- Two.dll
This code works.
- name: Copy files to required directory
ansible.windows.win_copy:
src: '{{ hotfix_backout |
ternary(hotfix_temp_dir ~ "\hotfix\backup" ~ sep ~ item,
hotfix_temp_dir ~ "\hotfix" ~ sep ~ item) }}'
dest: C:\Program Files\app\
remote_src: true
loop:
- One.dll
- Two.dll
vars:
sep: \
My question is why is the backslash only causing issues when in front of the ", and what are my options other than using the sep var above?
A way around this issue, is using the format filter of Jinja.
So, instead of having
hotfix_temp_dir ~ "\hotfix\backup\" ~ item
You could write
"%s\hotfix\backup\%s" | format(hotfix_temp_dir, item)
Where the %s would be replaced but the content of the variables provided to the format filter, in order of their apparence.
Also note that, having a double backslash, is not always a bad thing when speaking about Windows path, the Ansible manual does actually have a section related to it: Path Formatting for Windows.
Here is an extract of this chapter:
Here are some examples on how to write Windows paths:
GOOD tempdir: C:\Windows\Temp WORKS tempdir: 'C:\Windows\Temp' tempdir: "C:\\Windows\\Temp" BAD, BUT SOMETIMES WORKS tempdir: C:\\Windows\\Temp tempdir: 'C:\\Windows\\Temp' tempdir: C:/Windows/Temp
For exemple, the task:
- debug:
msg: '{{ "%s\hotfix\backup\%s" | format(hotfix_temp_dir, item) }}'
loop:
- One.dll
- Two.dll
vars:
hotfix_temp_dir: C:\Windows\Temp
Would yield, as expected:
ok: [localhost] => (item=One.dll) =>
msg: C:\Windows\Temp\hotfix\backup\One.dll
ok: [localhost] => (item=Two.dll) =>
msg: C:\Windows\Temp\hotfix\backup\Two.dll