Question:
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:
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- 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?
Answer:
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=no to create a new empty file only when the file does not yet exist (if the file exists, its content is preserved).
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- name: ensure file exists copy: content: "" dest: /etc/nologin force: no group: sys owner: root mode: 0555 |
This is a declarative and elegant solution.