win_find – Return a list of files based on specific criteria

Synopsis

• Return a list of files based on specified criteria.

• Multiple criteria are AND’d together.

• For non-Windows targets, use the find module instead.

Parameters

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
age string		Select files or folders whose age is equal to or greater than the specified time. Use a negative age to find files equal to or less than the specified time. You can choose seconds, minutes, hours, days or weeks by specifying the first letter of an of those words (e.g., "2s", "10d", 1w").
age_stamp string	Choices: atime ctime mtime ←	Choose the file property against which we compare age. The default attribute we compare with is the last modification time.
checksum_algorithm string	Choices: md5 sha1 ← sha256 sha384 sha512	Algorithm to determine the checksum of a file. Will throw an error if the host is unable to use specified algorithm.
file_type string	Choices: directory file ←	Type of file to search for.
follow boolean	Choices: no ← yes	Set this to yes to follow symlinks in the path. This needs to be used in conjunction with recurse.
get_checksum boolean	Choices: no yes ←	Whether to return a checksum of the file in the return info (default sha1), use checksum_algorithm to change from the default.
hidden boolean	Choices: no ← yes	Set this to include hidden files or folders.
paths list / required		List of paths of directories to search for files or folders in. This can be supplied as a single path or a list of paths.
patterns list		One or more (powershell or regex) patterns to compare filenames with. The type of pattern matching is controlled by use_regex option. The patterns restrict the list of files or folders to be returned based on the filenames. For a file to be matched it only has to match with one pattern in a list provided. aliases: regex, regexp
recurse boolean	Choices: no ← yes	Will recursively descend into the directory looking for files or folders.
size string		Select files or folders whose size is equal to or greater than the specified size. Use a negative value to find files equal to or less than the specified size. You can specify the size with a suffix of the byte type i.e. kilo = k, mega = m... Size is not evaluated for symbolic links.
use_regex boolean	Choices: no ← yes	Will set patterns to run as a regex check if set to yes.

Examples

- name: Find files in path
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp

- name: Find hidden files in path
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    hidden: yes

- name: Find files in multiple paths
  win_find:
    paths:
    - C:\Temp
    - D:\Temp

- name: Find files in directory while searching recursively
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    recurse: yes

- name: Find files in directory while following symlinks
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    recurse: yes
    follow: yes

- name: Find files with .log and .out extension using powershell wildcards
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    patterns: [ '*.log', '*.out' ]

- name: Find files in path based on regex pattern
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    patterns: out_\d{8}-\d{6}.log

- name: Find files older than 1 day
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    age: 86400

- name: Find files older than 1 day based on create time
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    age: 86400
    age_stamp: ctime

- name: Find files older than 1 day with unit syntax
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    age: 1d

- name: Find files newer than 1 hour
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    age: -3600

- name: Find files newer than 1 hour with unit syntax
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    age: -1h

- name: Find files larger than 1MB
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    size: 1048576

- name: Find files larger than 1GB with unit syntax
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    size: 1g

- name: Find files smaller than 1MB
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    size: -1048576

- name: Find files smaller than 1GB with unit syntax
  win_find:
    paths: D:\Temp
    size: -1g

- name: Find folders/symlinks in multiple paths
  win_find:
    paths:
    - C:\Temp
    - D:\Temp
    file_type: directory

- name: Find files and return SHA256 checksum of files found
  win_find:
    paths: C:\Temp
    get_checksum: yes
    checksum_algorithm: sha256

- name: Find files and do not return the checksum
  win_find:
    paths: C:\Temp
    get_checksum: no

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key		Returned	Description
examined integer		always	The number of files/folders that was checked. Sample: 10
files complex		success	Information on the files/folders that match the criteria returned as a list of dictionary elements for each file matched. The entries are sorted by the path value alphabetically.
	attributes string	success, path exists	attributes of the file at path in raw form. Sample: Archive, Hidden
	checksum string	success, path exists, path is a file, get_checksum == True	The checksum of a file based on checksum_algorithm specified. Sample: 09cb79e8fc7453c84a07f644e441fd81623b7f98
	creationtime float	success, path exists	The create time of the file represented in seconds since epoch. Sample: 1477984205.15
	extension string	success, path exists, path is a file	The extension of the file at path. Sample: .ps1
	filename string	success, path exists	The name of the file. Sample: temp
	isarchive boolean	success, path exists	If the path is ready for archiving or not. Sample: True
	isdir boolean	success, path exists	If the path is a directory or not. Sample: True
	ishidden boolean	success, path exists	If the path is hidden or not. Sample: True
	islnk boolean	success, path exists	If the path is a symbolic link or junction or not. Sample: True
	isreadonly boolean	success, path exists	If the path is read only or not. Sample: True
	isshared boolean	success, path exists	If the path is shared or not. Sample: True
	lastaccesstime float	success, path exists	The last access time of the file represented in seconds since epoch. Sample: 1477984205.15
	lastwritetime float	success, path exists	The last modification time of the file represented in seconds since epoch. Sample: 1477984205.15
	lnk_source string	success, path exists, path is a symbolic link	The target of the symbolic link, will return null if not a link or the link is broken. Sample: C:\temp
	owner string	success, path exists	The owner of the file. Sample: BUILTIN\Administrators
	path string	success, path exists	The full absolute path to the file. Sample: BUILTIN\Administrators
	sharename string	success, path exists, path is a directory and isshared == True	The name of share if folder is shared. Sample: file-share
	size integer	success, path exists, path is not a link	The size in bytes of a file or folder. Sample: 1024
matched integer		always	The number of files/folders that match the criteria. Sample: 2

Status

• This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]

• This module is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

Authors

• Jordan Borean (@jborean93)

Hint

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