Mastering Common Ansible Modules: File, Copy, Yum, Service, and More

Common Ansible Modules

These are the most frequently used Ansible modules, demonstrated with ad‑hoc commands; playbook usage will be covered later.

file

copy

yum_repository

yum

service

systemd

user

group

fetch

get_url

setup

1. File Module

Options

path (required): file or directory path

state : file, touch, absent, directory, link, hard

owner : file owner

group : file group

mode : permissions

src : source for link

dest : destination for link

Usage Examples

ansible all -m file -a 'path=/tmp/file1 state=touch owner=ansible group=root mode=666'
ansible all -m shell -a 'ls -l /tmp/file1'
ansible all -m file -a 'path=/tmp/dire1 state=directory'
ansible all -m file -a 'path=/tmp/dire1 state=absent'
ansible all -m file -a 'path=/tmp/file1 state=absent'

2. Copy Module

Options

src (required): local source file or directory

dest (required): remote destination path

force : overwrite if true (default yes)

backup : create backup before overwriting

content : inline file content

remote_src : treat src as remote path

Usage Examples

ansible all -m copy -a 'src=./ansible.cfg dest=/tmp/ansible.cfg'
ansible all -m copy -a "content='hello,world' dest=/tmp/hello"
ansible all -m shell -a 'cat /tmp/hello'

3. yum_repository Module

Options

file : repository file name (without .repo)

name : repository name

description : description text

baseurl : URL of the repo

enabled : 1 to enable, 0 to disable

gpgcheck : 1 to enable GPG check, 0 to disable

Usage Example

ansible all -m yum_repository -a "file=ansible name=AppStream baseurl=http://test.com enabled=1 gpgcheck=0 description='this is test repo file'"

4. Yum Module

Options

name : package name

state : present, latest, absent

Usage Examples

# Remove nginx
ansible all -m yum -a 'name=nginx state=absent'
# Install nginx
ansible all -m yum -a 'name=nginx state=present'

5. Service Module

Options

name (required): service name

state : started, stopped, restarted, reloaded

enabled : yes/no for boot‑time start

Usage Example

ansible all -m service -a 'name=nginx state=started enabled=yes'

6. systemd Module

Options

name : service name

state : started, stopped, restarted, reloaded

daemon_reload : reload daemon if config changed

enabled : yes/no for boot‑time start

Usage Example

ansible all -m systemd -a 'name=nginx state=stopped enabled=no'

7. User Module

Options

name : username

state : present or absent

uid : user ID

group : primary group

groups : supplementary groups

comment : description

create_home : yes/no

home : home directory path

shell : login shell

password : hashed password

remove : delete home when removing user

Usage Examples

# Create user (warning shown for plain password)
ansible all -m user -a "name=natasha uid=1234 groups=root shell=/sbin/nologin password=123"
# Delete user and its home directory
ansible all -m user -a 'name=natasha state=absent remove=yes'

8. Group Module

Options

gid : group ID

name : group name

state : present or absent

Usage Examples

# Create group
ansible all -m group -a 'name=test gid=2024 state=present'
# Delete group
ansible all -m group -a 'name=test gid=2024 state=absent'

9. Fetch Module

Options

src : remote file path (file only)

dest : local destination directory

flat : yes to omit host‑based subdirectory

Usage Examples

# Collect a file preserving host directory
ansible all -m fetch -a 'src=/tmp/hello dest=./'
# Collect a file without host subdirectory
ansible all -m fetch -a 'src=/tmp/hello dest=./ flat=yes'

10. get_url Module

Options

url : source URL

dest : remote destination path

mode : file permissions

owner : file owner

group : file group

url_username / url_password : for authenticated downloads

Usage Example

ansible all -m get_url -a "url=https://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/Centos-vault-8.5.2111.repo dest=/tmp"

11. Setup Module

The setup module gathers facts about the remote host; it requires no parameters and is useful for building dynamic playbooks. ansible all -m setup > host_info.yaml Sample output includes IP addresses, architecture, BIOS information, and more.

Link: https://www.cnblogs.com/fsdstudy/p/18258735 (© original author, removed if infringing)