ansible : how to pass multiple commands - module

Question

I tried this:
- command: ./configure chdir=/src/package/
- command: /usr/bin/make chdir=/src/package/
- command: /usr/bin/make install chdir=/src/package/
which works, but I was hoping for something neater.
So I tried this:
from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24043561/multiple-commands-in-the-same-line-for-bruker-topspin which give me back "no such file or directory"
- command: ./configure;/usr/bin/make;/usr/bin/make install chdir=/src/package/
I tried this too: https://u.osu.edu/hasnan.1/2013/12/16/ansible-run-multiple-commands-using-command-module-and-with-items/
but I couldn't find the right syntax to put:
- command: "{{ item }}" chdir=/src/package/
with_items:
./configure
/usr/bin/make
/usr/bin/make install
That does not work, saying there is a quote issue.

Answer 1

To run multiple shell commands with ansible you can use the shell module with a multi-line string (note the pipe after shell:), as shown in this example:
- name: Build nginx
shell: |
cd nginx-1.11.13
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install

Answer 2

If a value in YAML begins with a curly brace ({), the YAML parser assumes that it is a dictionary. So, for cases like this where there is a (Jinja2) variable in the value, one of the following two strategies needs to be adopted to avoiding confusing the YAML parser:
Quote the whole command:
- command: "{{ item }} chdir=/src/package/"
with_items:
- ./configure
- /usr/bin/make
- /usr/bin/make install
or change the order of the arguments:
- command: chdir=/src/package/ {{ item }}
with_items:
- ./configure
- /usr/bin/make
- /usr/bin/make install
Thanks for #RamondelaFuente alternative suggestion.

Answer 3

Shell works for me.
Simply to say, Shell is the same as you run a shell script.
Notes:
Make sure use | when running multiple cmds.
Shell won't return errors if the last cmd is success (just like normal shell)
Control it with exit 0/1 if you want to stop ansible when error occurs.
The following example shows an error in shell, but it's success at the end of the execution.
- name: test shell with an error
become: no
shell: |
rm -f /test1 # This should be an error.
echo "test2"
echo "test1"
echo "test3" # success
This example shows stopinng shell with exit 1 error.
- name: test shell with exit 1
become: no
shell: |
rm -f /test1 # This should be an error.
echo "test2"
exit 1 # this stops ansible due to returning an error
echo "test1"
echo "test3" # success
reference:
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/shell_module.html

Answer 4

You can also do like this:
- command: "{{ item }}"
args:
chdir: "/src/package/"
with_items:
- "./configure"
- "/usr/bin/make"
- "/usr/bin/make install"
Hope that might help other

Answer 5

Here is worker like this. \o/
- name: "Exec items"
shell: "{{ item }}"
with_items:
- echo "hello"
- echo "hello2"

Answer 6

I faced the same issue. In my case, part of my variables were in a dictionary i.e. with_dict variable (looping) and I had to run 3 commands on each item.key. This solution is more relevant where you have to use with_dict dictionary with running multiple commands (without requiring with_items)
Using with_dict and with_items in one task didn't help as it was not resolving the variables.
My task was like:
- name: Make install git source
command: "{{ item }}"
with_items:
- cd {{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.artifact_dir }}
- make prefix={{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.artifact_dir }} all
- make prefix={{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.artifact_dir }} install
with_dict: "{{ git_versions }}"
roles/git/defaults/main.yml was:
---
tool: git
default_git: git_2_6_3
git_versions:
git_2_6_3:
git_tar_name: git-2.6.3.tar.gz
git_tar_dir: git-2.6.3
git_tar_url: https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/git-2.6.3.tar.gz
The above resulted in an error similar to the following for each {{ item }} (for 3 commands as mentioned above). As you see, the values of tools_dir is not populated (tools_dir is a variable which is defined in a common role's defaults/main.yml and also item.value.git_tar_dir value was not populated/resolved).
failed: [server01.poc.jenkins] => (item=cd {# tools_dir #}/{# item.value.git_tar_dir #}) => {"cmd": "cd '{#' tools_dir '#}/{#' item.value.git_tar_dir '#}'", "failed": true, "item": "cd {# tools_dir #}/{# item.value.git_tar_dir #}", "rc": 2}
msg: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Solution was easy. Instead of using "COMMAND" module in Ansible, I used "Shell" module and created a a variable in roles/git/defaults/main.yml
So, now roles/git/defaults/main.yml looks like:
---
tool: git
default_git: git_2_6_3
git_versions:
git_2_6_3:
git_tar_name: git-2.6.3.tar.gz
git_tar_dir: git-2.6.3
git_tar_url: https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/git-2.6.3.tar.gz
#git_pre_requisites_install_cmds: "cd {{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.git_tar_dir }} && make prefix={{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.git_tar_dir }} all && make prefix={{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.git_tar_dir }} install"
#or use this if you want git installation to work in ~/tools/git-x.x.x
git_pre_requisites_install_cmds: "cd {{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.git_tar_dir }} && make prefix=`pwd` all && make prefix=`pwd` install"
#or use this if you want git installation to use the default prefix during make
#git_pre_requisites_install_cmds: "cd {{ tools_dir }}/{{ item.value.git_tar_dir }} && make all && make install"
and the task roles/git/tasks/main.yml looks like:
- name: Make install from git source
shell: "{{ git_pre_requisites_install_cmds }}"
become_user: "{{ build_user }}"
with_dict: "{{ git_versions }}"
tags:
- koba
This time, the values got successfully substituted as the module was "SHELL" and ansible output echoed the correct values. This didn't require with_items: loop.
"cmd": "cd ~/tools/git-2.6.3 && make prefix=/home/giga/tools/git-2.6.3 all && make prefix=/home/giga/tools/git-2.6.3 install",