in Ansible, How can I set log file name dynamilcally

Question

I'm currently developing ansible script to build and deploy java project.

so, I can set the log_path like below

log_path=/var/log/ansible.log

but, It is hard to look up build history. Is it possible to append datetime to log file name?

for example,

ansible.20150326145515.log

Answer 1

I don't believe there is a built-in way to generate the date on the fly like that but one option you have is to use a lookup which can shell out to date. Example:

log_path="/var/log/ansible.{{ lookup('pipe', 'date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S') }}.log"

Answer 2

Here is an option using ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH environment variable thanks to Bash shell alias:

alias ansible="ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=ansible-\`date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S\`.log ansible"

Feel free to use an absolute path if you prefer.