ansible : how to pass multiple commands

Solution 1:

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.

Solution 2:

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

Solution 3:

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

Solution 4:

Shell works for me.

Simply to say, Shell is the same as you run a shell script.

Notes:

1. Make sure use | when running multiple cmds.
2. Shell won't return errors if the last cmd is success (just like normal shell)
3. 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