getent¶

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 1.8.

Synopsis¶

Runs getent against one of its various databases and returns information into the host's facts, in a C(getent_) prefixed variable.

Parameters¶

Parameter	Defaults / Choices	Comments
database str required		The name of a getent database supported by the target system (passwd, group, hosts, etc).
fail_key bool	Default: yes	If a supplied key is missing this will make the task fail if V(true).
key str		Key from which to return values from the specified database, otherwise the full contents are returned.
service str		Override all databases with the specified service The underlying system must support the service flag which is not always available. Version Added: 2.9
split str		Character used to split the database values into lists/arrays such as V(:) or V(\\t), otherwise it will try to pick one depending on the database.

Notes¶

Note

Not all databases support enumeration, check system documentation for details.

Examples¶

- name: Get root user info
  ansible.builtin.getent:
    database: passwd
    key: root
- ansible.builtin.debug:
    var: ansible_facts.getent_passwd

- name: Get all groups
  ansible.builtin.getent:
    database: group
    split: ':'
- ansible.builtin.debug:
    var: ansible_facts.getent_group

- name: Get all hosts, split by tab
  ansible.builtin.getent:
    database: hosts
- ansible.builtin.debug:
    var: ansible_facts.getent_hosts

- name: Get http service info, no error if missing
  ansible.builtin.getent:
    database: services
    key: http
    fail_key: False
- ansible.builtin.debug:
    var: ansible_facts.getent_services

- name: Get user password hash (requires sudo/root)
  ansible.builtin.getent:
    database: shadow
    key: www-data
    split: ':'
- ansible.builtin.debug:
    var: ansible_facts.getent_shadow

Return Values¶

Key	Data Type	Description	Returned
ansible_facts	dict	Facts to add to ansible_facts.	always

Authors¶

Brian Coca (@bcoca)