How to check if a file exists in Ansible?

Question

I have to check whether a file exists in /etc/. If the file exists then I have to skip the task. Here is the code I am using:

- name: checking the file exists
  command: touch file.txt
  when: $(! -s /etc/file.txt)

Answer 1

You can first check that the destination file exists or not and then make a decision based on the output of its result:

    tasks:
      - name: Check that the somefile.conf exists
        stat:
          path: /etc/file.txt
        register: stat_result

      - name: Create the file, if it doesnt exist already
        file:
          path: /etc/file.txt
          state: touch
        when: not stat_result.stat.exists

Answer 2

The stat module will do this as well as obtain a lot of other information for files. From the example documentation:

- stat: path=/path/to/something
  register: p

- debug: msg="Path exists and is a directory"
  when: p.stat.isdir is defined and p.stat.isdir

Answer 3

This can be achieved with the stat module to skip the task when file exists.

- hosts: servers
  tasks:
  - name: Ansible check file exists.
    stat:
      path: /etc/issue
    register: p
  - debug:
      msg: "File exists..."
    when: p.stat.exists
  - debug:
      msg: "File not found"
    when: p.stat.exists == False

Answer 4

In general you would do this with the stat module. But the command module has the creates option which makes this very simple:

- name: touch file
  command: touch /etc/file.txt
  args:
    creates: /etc/file.txt

I guess your touch command is just an example? Best practice would be to not check anything at all and let ansible do its job - with the correct module. So if you want to ensure the file exists you would use the file module:

- name: make sure file exists
  file:
    path: /etc/file.txt
    state: touch

Answer 5

Discovered that calling stat is slow and collects a lot of info that is not required for file existence check.
After spending some time searching for solution, i discovered following solution, which works much faster:

- raw: test -e /path/to/something && echo -n true || echo -n false
  register: file_exists

- debug: msg="Path exists"
  when: file_exists.stdout == "true"

Answer 6

You can use Ansible stat module to register the file, and when module to apply the condition.

- name: Register file
      stat:
        path: "/tmp/test_file"
      register: file_path

- name: Create file if it doesn't exists
      file: 
        path: "/tmp/test_file"
        state: touch
      when: file_path.stat.exists == False

Answer 7

I find it can be annoying and error prone to do a lot of these .stat.exists type checks. For example they require extra care to get check mode (--check) working.

Many answers here suggest

• get and register
• apply when register expression is true

However, sometimes this is a code smell so always look for better ways to use Ansible, specifically there are many advantages to using the correct module. e.g.

- name: install ntpdate
  package:
    name: ntpdate

or

- file:
    path: /etc/file.txt
    owner: root
    group: root
    mode: 0644

But when it is not possible use one module, also investigate if you can register and check the result of a previous task. e.g.

# jmeter_version: 4.0 
- name: Download Jmeter archive
  get_url:
    url: "http://archive.apache.org/dist/jmeter/binaries/apache-jmeter-{{ jmeter_version }}.tgz"
    dest: "/opt/jmeter/apache-jmeter-{{ jmeter_version }}.tgz"
    checksum: sha512:eee7d68bd1f7e7b269fabaf8f09821697165518b112a979a25c5f128c4de8ca6ad12d3b20cd9380a2b53ca52762b4c4979e564a8c2ff37196692fbd217f1e343
  register: download_result

- name: Extract apache-jmeter
  unarchive:
    src: "/opt/jmeter/apache-jmeter-{{ jmeter_version }}.tgz"
    dest: "/opt/jmeter/"
    remote_src: yes
    creates: "/opt/jmeter/apache-jmeter-{{ jmeter_version }}"
  when: download_result.state == 'file'

Note the when: but also the creates: so --check doesn't error out

I mention this because often these less-than-ideal practices come in pairs i.e. no apt/yum package so we have to 1) download and 2) unzip

Hope this helps

Answer 8

Below is the ansible play which i used to remove the file if the file exists on OS end.

 - name: find out /etc/init.d/splunk file exists or not'
      stat:
        path: /etc/init.d/splunk
      register: splunkresult
      tags:
        - always

    - name: 'Remove splunk from init.d file if splunk already running'
      file:
        path: /etc/init.d/splunk
        state: absent
      when: splunkresult.stat.exists == true
      ignore_errors: yes
      tags:
        - always

I have used play condition as like below

when: splunkresult.stat.exists == true --> Remove the file

you can give true/false based on your requirement

when: splunkresult.stat.exists == false
when: splunkresult.stat.exists == true