win_shell – Execute shell commands on target hosts

New in version 2.2.

Synopsis

  • The win_shell module takes the command name followed by a list of space-delimited arguments. It is similar to the win_command module, but runs the command via a shell (defaults to PowerShell) on the target host.
  • For non-Windows targets, use the 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
- / required
The win_shell module takes a free form command to run.
There is no parameter actually named 'free form'. See the examples!
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
-
added in 2.5
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 win_command module instead. Best practices when writing playbooks will follow the trend of using win_command unless win_shell is 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 win_shell to spawn long-running child or background processes. Consider creating a Windows service for managing background processes.
  • For non-Windows targets, use the shell module instead.
  • See also win_command, raw

Examples

# Execute a command in the remote shell; stdout goes to the specified
# file on the remote.
- win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt

# Change the working directory to somedir/ before executing the command.
- win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt chdir=C:\somedir

# You can also use the 'args' form to provide the options. This command
# will change the working directory to somedir/ and will only run when
# somedir/somelog.txt doesn't exist.
- win_shell: C:\somescript.ps1 >> C:\somelog.txt
  args:
    chdir: C:\somedir
    creates: C:\somelog.txt

# Run a command under a non-Powershell interpreter (cmd in this case)
- win_shell: echo %HOMEDIR%
  args:
    executable: cmd
  register: homedir_out

- name: run multi-lined shell commands
  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
  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:

Key Returned Description
cmd
string
 always
The command executed by the task

Sample:
rabbitmqctl join_cluster rabbit@master
delta
string
 always
The command execution delta time

Sample:
0:00:00.325771
end
string
 always
The command execution end time

Sample:
2016-02-25 09:18:26.755339
msg
boolean
 always
changed

Sample:
True
rc
integer
 always
The command return code (0 means success)
start
string
 always
The command execution start time

Sample:
2016-02-25 09:18:26.429568
stderr
string
 always
The command standard error

Sample:
ls: cannot access foo: No such file or directory
stdout
string
 always
The command standard output

Sample:
Clustering node rabbit@slave1 with rabbit@master ...
stdout_lines
list
 always
The command standard output split in lines

Sample:
["u'Clustering node rabbit@slave1 with rabbit@master ...'"]


Status

Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

Authors

  • Matt Davis (@nitzmahone)

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