Use copy module in playbook with variables - variables

Question

I am trying to write a playbook that will let me copy any file on my local machine to any location on the destination machine. Permissions aren't an issue because the copy source and destination are within the permissions of the user.
In all examples I see for the copy module, the source, and destination are hard-coded into the playbook as such:
tasks:
- name: stuff
copy:
src: /my/path/file.name
dest: /my/remote/path/file.name
That is all well and good, except it hardcodes things that I want to set on the command line with --extra-vars. My need is to be able to define the source file and destination on the command line so I can copy any file to any destination with the same playbook and without modifications to the playbook.
How do I set up the playbook to accept variables for both src and dest, so I can use this sort of command line to call it?
shell> ansible-playbook -e "host_list=myhosts srcvar=/my/path/file.name destvar=/my/remote/path/file.name" playbook.yml
I've tried using the Jinja2 notation src: "{{ srcvar }}" and dest: "{{ destvar }}" in the playbook and then calling it on the command line with
-e "srcvar=/my/path/file.name destvar=/my/remote/path/file.name"
, but it gives this error under TASK [Copy files]:
fatal: [test_server]: FAILED! => {"msg": "'str object' has no attribute 'files'"}

Answer 1

The project below works as expected
shell> tree .
.
├── ansible.cfg
├── hosts
└── playbook.yml
0 directories, 3 files
shell> cat ansible.cfg
[defaults]
gathering = explicit
collections_path = $HOME/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/
inventory = $PWD/hosts
roles_path = $PWD/roles
remote_tmp = ~/.ansible/tmp
retry_files_enabled = false
stdout_callback = yaml
shell> cat hosts
[myhosts]
test_11
test_13
[myhosts:vars]
ansible_connection=ssh
ansible_user=admin
ansible_become=yes
ansible_become_user=root
ansible_become_method=sudo
ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/local/bin/python3.8
ansible_perl_interpreter=/usr/local/bin/perl
The playbook
shell> cat playbook.yml
- hosts: "{{ host_list }}"
tasks:
- copy:
src: "{{ srcvar }}"
dest: "{{ destvar }}"
shell> ll /tmp/file.name
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 3248 Feb 4 03:26 /tmp/file.name
copied the file to the remote hosts
shell> ansible-playbook -e "host_list=myhosts srcvar=/tmp/file.name destvar=/tmp/file.name" playbook.yml
PLAY [myhosts] *******************************************************************************
TASK [copy] **********************************************************************************
changed: [test_11]
changed: [test_13]
PLAY RECAP ***********************************************************************************
test_11: ok=1 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
test_13: ok=1 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
shell> ssh admin#test_11 ls -la /tmp/file.name
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3248 Feb 4 02:35 /tmp/file.name
shell> ssh admin#test_13 ls -la /tmp/file.name
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3248 Feb 4 02:35 /tmp/file.name
The play is idempotent
shell> ansible-playbook -e "host_list=myhosts srcvar=/tmp/file.name destvar=/tmp/file.name" playbook.yml
PLAY [myhosts] *******************************************************************************
TASK [copy] **********************************************************************************
ok: [test_11]
ok: [test_13]
PLAY RECAP ***********************************************************************************
test_11: ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
test_13: ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0
Notes:
You can use the option -e multiple times making the command easier to read and less error-prone (probably)
shell> ansible-playbook -e "host_list=myhosts" -e "srcvar=/tmp/file.name" -e "destvar=/tmp/file.name" playbook.yml
You can put the parameters into a YAML file
shell> cat params.yml
host_list: myhosts
srcvar: /tmp/file.name
destvar: /tmp/file.name
and use it in the command
shell> ansible-playbook -e #params.yml playbook.yml