Master 8 Essential Ansible Modules for Efficient Automation

Introduction

With the rise of cloud computing and container technology, automation in operations has become increasingly important. Ansible, a agent‑less configuration management tool, is popular for its simplicity and efficiency.

File‑related modules

file module

The

file

module creates files or directories on the target host.

path (required) : path of the managed file or directory

state : absent, directory, file, link, touch

owner : owner of the file/directory

group : group owner

mode : permissions

src : source path for links

<code># create /tmp/test file
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m file -a "path=/tmp/test state=touch"
# set permissions
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m file -a "path=/tmp/test state=file mode=0600"
# create directory with owner
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m file -a "path=/tmp/test state=directory owner=ops group=ops"
# create symbolic link
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m file -a "state=link src=/tmp/test path=/tmp/link_test"</code>

copy module

The

copy

module copies files or directories to the target host.

src : local path of the file/directory to copy

dest (required) : remote absolute path

owner/group/mode : same as file module

backup : create timestamped backup before overwriting

remote_src : whether the source is on the remote host (default no)

<code># copy directory
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m copy -a "src=/tmp/testDir dest=/tmp"
# copy with ownership and mode
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m copy -a "src=/tmp/testDir dest=/tmp owner=ceph group=ceph mode=777"
# copy with backup
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m copy -a "src=/tmp/testDir dest=/tmp backup=yes"</code>

template module

The

template

module renders a Jinja2 template on the control node and copies the result to the target host.

src (required) : path to the Jinja2 template on the control node

dest (required) : destination path on the remote host

owner/group/mode : same as file module

backup : create timestamped backup of the destination file

<code># using extra variables
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -e db_host=127.0.0.1 -e db_port=5432 -e db_password=123456 -m template -a "src=/tmp/config.j2 dest=/tmp/config backup=yes"
# using inventory variables
ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m template -a "src=/tmp/config.j2 dest=/tmp/config backup=yes"</code>

Download modules

fetch module

The

fetch

module copies a file from the remote host back to the Ansible control machine.

src (required) : file on the remote host

dest (required) : directory on the control machine where the file will be saved

<code>ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.121 -m fetch -a "src=/tmp/config dest=/tmp"</code>

get_url module

The

get_url

module downloads a file from an HTTP/HTTPS/FTP URL to the target node.

url (required) : source URL

dest (required) : absolute path on the remote host

owner/group/mode/backup: same as file module

client_cert, client_key, url_username, url_password: optional authentication parameters

<code>ansible -i hosts 172.139.20.75 -m get_url -a "url=https://core.jiaxzeng.com/api/v2.0/systeminfo/getcert dest=/etc/docker/certs.d/core.jiaxzeng.com/ca.crt"
ansible -i hosts local -m get_url -a "url=https://mirrors.aliyun.com/centos/7/os/x86_64/Packages/vim-common-7.4.629-7.el7.x86_64.rpm dest=/tmp/"</code>

Reference documentation

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/file_module.html

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/copy_module.html

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/template_module.html

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/fetch_module.html

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/get_url_module.html

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/list_of_all_modules.html

Conclusion

After reviewing these modules, you should have a deeper understanding of basic Ansible operations. They can be used individually or combined to tackle complex automation tasks, making daily maintenance and large‑scale deployments more efficient and reliable.