Write variable to a file in Ansible

Question

I am pulling JSON via the URI module and want to write the received content out to a file. I am able to get the content and output it to the debugger so I know the content has been received, but I do not know the best practice for writing files.

Answer 1

An important comment from tmoschou:

As of Ansible 2.10, The documentation for ansible.builtin.copy says:
If you need variable interpolation in copied files, use the
ansible.builtin.template module. Using a variable in the content
field will result in unpredictable output.

For more details see this and an explanation

---

Original answer:

You could use the copy module, with the content parameter:

- copy: content="{{ your_json_feed }}" dest=/path/to/destination/file

The docs here: copy module

Answer 2

Based on Ramon's answer I run into an error. The problem where spaces in the JSON I tried to write I got it fixed by changing the task in the playbook to look like:

- copy:
    content: "{{ your_json_feed }}"
    dest: "/path/to/destination/file"

As of now I am not sure why this was needed. My best guess is that it had something to do with how variables are replaced in Ansible and the resulting file is parsed.

Answer 3

Unless you are writing very small files, you should probably use templates.

Example:

- name: copy upstart script
  template: 
    src: myCompany-service.conf.j2 
    dest: "/etc/init/myCompany-service.conf"

Answer 4

We can directly specify the destination file with the dest option now. In the below example, the output json is stored into the /tmp/repo_version_file

- name: Get repository file repo_version model to set ambari_managed_repositories=false
  uri:
    url: 'http://<server IP>:8080/api/v1/stacks/HDP/versions/3.1/repository_versions/1?fields=operating_systems/*'
    method: GET
    force_basic_auth: yes
    user: xxxxx
    password: xxxxx
    headers:
      "X-Requested-By": "ambari"
      "Content-type": "Application/json"
    status_code: 200
    dest: /tmp/repo_version_file