command¶

Collection Note

This module is part of the ansible.builtin collection. To install the collection, use:

ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.builtin

Added in version historical.

Synopsis¶

The M(ansible.builtin.command) module takes the command name followed by a list of space-delimited arguments.
The given command will be executed on all selected nodes.
The command(s) will not be processed through the shell, so operations like C("*"), C("<"), C(">"), C("|"), C(";") and C("&") will not work. Also, environment variables are resolved via Python, not shell, see O(expand_argument_vars) and are left unchanged if not matched. Use the M(ansible.builtin.shell) module if you need these features.
To create C(command) tasks that are easier to read than the ones using space-delimited arguments, pass parameters using the C(args) L(task keyword,https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/playbooks_keywords.html#task) or use O(cmd) parameter.
Either a free form command or O(cmd) parameter is required, see the examples.
For Windows targets, use the M(ansible.windows.win_command) module instead.

Parameters¶

Parameter	Defaults / Choices	Comments
argv list / elements=str		Passes the command as a list rather than a string. Use O(argv) to avoid quoting values that would otherwise be interpreted incorrectly (for example "user name"). Only the string (free form) or the list (argv) form can be provided, not both. One or the other must be provided. Version Added: 2.6
chdir path		Change into this directory before running the command. Version Added: 0.6
cmd str		The command to run.
creates path		A filename or (since 2.0) glob pattern. If a matching file already exists, this step B(will not) be run. This is checked before O(removes) is checked.
expand_argument_vars bool	Default: True	Expands the arguments that are variables, for example C($HOME) will be expanded before being passed to the command to run. If a variable is not matched, it is left unchanged, unlike shell substitution which would remove it. Set to V(false) to disable expansion and treat the value as a literal argument. Version Added: 2.16
free_form		The command module takes a free form string as a command to run. There is no actual parameter named C(free_form).
removes path		A filename or (since 2.0) glob pattern. If a matching file exists, this step B(will) be run. This is checked after O(creates) is checked. Version Added: 0.8
stdin str		Set the stdin of the command directly to the specified value. Version Added: 2.4
stdin_add_newline bool	Default: True	If set to V(true), append a newline to stdin data. Version Added: 2.8
strip_empty_ends bool	Default: True	Strip empty lines from the end of stdout/stderr in result. Version Added: 2.8

Notes¶

Note

If you want to run a command through the shell (say you are using C(<), C(>), C(|), and so on), you actually want the M(ansible.builtin.shell) module instead. Parsing shell metacharacters can lead to unexpected commands being executed if quoting is not done correctly so it is more secure to use the M(ansible.builtin.command) module when possible.
O(creates), O(removes), and O(chdir) can be specified after the command. For instance, if you only want to run a command if a certain file does not exist, use this.
Check mode is supported when passing O(creates) or O(removes). If running in check mode and either of these are specified, the module will check for the existence of the file and report the correct changed status. If these are not supplied, the task will be skipped.
The O(ignore:executable) parameter is removed since version 2.4. If you have a need for this parameter, use the M(ansible.builtin.shell) module instead.
For Windows targets, use the M(ansible.windows.win_command) module instead.
For rebooting systems, use the M(ansible.builtin.reboot) or M(ansible.windows.win_reboot) module.
If the command returns non UTF-8 data, it must be encoded to avoid issues. This may necessitate using M(ansible.builtin.shell) so the output can be piped through C(base64).

Examples¶

- name: Return motd to registered var
  ansible.builtin.command: cat /etc/motd
  register: mymotd

# free-form (string) arguments, all arguments on one line
- name: Run command if /path/to/database does not exist (without 'args')
  ansible.builtin.command: /usr/bin/make_database.sh db_user db_name creates=/path/to/database

# free-form (string) arguments, some arguments on separate lines with the 'args' keyword
# 'args' is a task keyword, passed at the same level as the module
- name: Run command if /path/to/database does not exist (with 'args' keyword)
  ansible.builtin.command: /usr/bin/make_database.sh db_user db_name
  args:
    creates: /path/to/database

# 'cmd' is module parameter
- name: Run command if /path/to/database does not exist (with 'cmd' parameter)
  ansible.builtin.command:
    cmd: /usr/bin/make_database.sh db_user db_name
    creates: /path/to/database

- name: Change the working directory to somedir/ and run the command as db_owner if /path/to/database does not exist
  ansible.builtin.command: /usr/bin/make_database.sh db_user db_name
  become: yes
  become_user: db_owner
  args:
    chdir: somedir/
    creates: /path/to/database

# argv (list) arguments, each argument on a separate line, 'args' keyword not necessary
# 'argv' is a parameter, indented one level from the module
- name: Use 'argv' to send a command as a list - leave 'command' empty
  ansible.builtin.command:
    argv:
      - /usr/bin/make_database.sh
      - Username with whitespace
      - dbname with whitespace
    creates: /path/to/database

- name: Run command using argv with mixed argument formats
  ansible.builtin.command:
    argv:
      - /path/to/binary
      - -v
      - --debug
      - --longopt
      - value for longopt
      - --other-longopt=value for other longopt
      - positional

- name: Safely use templated variable to run command. Always use the quote filter to avoid injection issues
  ansible.builtin.command: cat {{ myfile|quote }}
  register: myoutput

Return Values¶

Key	Data Type	Description	Returned
cmd	list	The command executed by the task.	always
delta	str	The command execution delta time.	always
end	str	The command execution end time.	always
msg	bool	changed	always
rc	int	The command return code (0 means success).	always
start	str	The command execution start time.	always
stderr	str	The command standard error.	always
stderr_lines	list	The command standard error split in lines.	always
stdout	str	The command standard output.	always
stdout_lines	list	The command standard output split in lines.	always

Authors¶

Ansible Core Team
Michael Dehaan