ansible.windows.win_shell – Execute shell commands on target hosts¶
Note
This plugin is part of the ansible.windows collection (version 1.4.0).
To install it use: ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.windows.
To use it in a playbook, specify: ansible.windows.win_shell.
Synopsis¶
The ansible.windows.win_shell module takes the command name followed by a list of space-delimited arguments. It is similar to the ansible.windows.win_command module, but runs the command via a shell (defaults to PowerShell) on the target host.
For non-Windows targets, use the ansible.builtin.shell module instead.
Parameters¶
| Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments |
|---|---|---|
|
chdir
path
|
Set the specified path as the current working directory before executing a command
|
|
|
creates
path
|
A path or path filter pattern; when the referenced path exists on the target host, the task will be skipped.
|
|
|
executable
path
|
Change the shell used to execute the command (eg,
cmd).The target shell must accept a
/c parameter followed by the raw command line to be executed. |
|
|
free_form
string
/ required
|
The ansible.windows.win_shell module takes a free form command to run.
There is no parameter actually named 'free form'. See the examples!
|
|
|
no_profile
boolean
|
|
Do not load the user profile before running a command. This is only valid when using PowerShell as the executable.
|
|
output_encoding_override
string
|
This option overrides the encoding of stdout/stderr output.
You can use this option when you need to run a command which ignore the console's codepage.
You should only need to use this option in very rare circumstances.
This value can be any valid encoding
Name based on the output of [System.Text.Encoding]::GetEncodings(). See https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.text.encoding.getencodings. |
|
|
removes
path
|
A path or path filter pattern; when the referenced path does not exist on the target host, the task will be skipped.
|
|
|
stdin
string
|
Set the stdin of the command directly to the specified value.
|
Notes¶
Note
If you want to run an executable securely and predictably, it may be better to use the ansible.windows.win_command module instead. Best practices when writing playbooks will follow the trend of using ansible.windows.win_command unless
win_shellis explicitly required. When running ad-hoc commands, use your best judgement.WinRM will not return from a command execution until all child processes created have exited. Thus, it is not possible to use ansible.windows.win_shell to spawn long-running child or background processes. Consider creating a Windows service for managing background processes.
See Also¶
See also
- community.windows.psexec
The official documentation on the community.windows.psexec module.
- ansible.builtin.raw
The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.raw module.
- ansible.builtin.script
The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.script module.
- ansible.builtin.shell
The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.shell module.
- ansible.windows.win_command
The official documentation on the ansible.windows.win_command module.
- community.windows.win_psexec
The official documentation on the community.windows.win_psexec module.
Examples¶
- name: Execute a command in the remote shell, stdout goes to the specified file on the remote
ansible.windows.win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt
- name: Change the working directory to somedir/ before executing the command
ansible.windows.win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt
args:
chdir: C:\somedir
- name: Run a command with an idempotent check on what it creates, will only run when somedir/somelog.txt does not exist
ansible.windows.win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt
args:
chdir: C:\somedir
creates: C:\somelog.txt
- name: Run a command under a non-Powershell interpreter (cmd in this case)
ansible.windows.win_shell: echo %HOMEDIR%
args:
executable: cmd
register: homedir_out
- name: Run multi-lined shell commands
ansible.windows.win_shell: |
$value = Test-Path -Path C:\temp
if ($value) {
Remove-Item -Path C:\temp -Force
}
New-Item -Path C:\temp -ItemType Directory
- name: Retrieve the input based on stdin
ansible.windows.win_shell: '$string = [Console]::In.ReadToEnd(); Write-Output $string.Trim()'
args:
stdin: Input message
Return Values¶
Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:
Authors¶
Matt Davis (@nitzmahone)