cisco.ios.ios_config module – Module to manage configuration sections.

Note

This module is part of the cisco.ios collection (version 9.0.3).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install cisco.ios.

To use it in a playbook, specify: cisco.ios.ios_config.

New in cisco.ios 1.0.0

Synopsis

• Cisco IOS configurations use a simple block indent file syntax for segmenting configuration into sections. This module provides an implementation for working with IOS configuration sections in a deterministic way.

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
after list / elements=string	The ordered set of commands to append to the end of the command stack if a change needs to be made. Just like with before this allows the playbook designer to append a set of commands to be executed after the command set.
backup boolean	This argument will cause the module to create a full backup of the current running-config from the remote device before any changes are made. If the backup_options value is not given, the backup file is written to the backup folder in the playbook root directory or role root directory, if playbook is part of an ansible role. If the directory does not exist, it is created. Choices: false ← (default) true
backup_options dictionary	This is a dict object containing configurable options related to backup file path. The value of this option is read only when backup is set to yes, if backup is set to no this option will be silently ignored.
dir_path path	This option provides the path ending with directory name in which the backup configuration file will be stored. If the directory does not exist it will be first created and the filename is either the value of filename or default filename as described in filename options description. If the path value is not given in that case a backup directory will be created in the current working directory and backup configuration will be copied in filename within backup directory.
filename string	The filename to be used to store the backup configuration. If the filename is not given it will be generated based on the hostname, current time and date in format defined by <hostname>_config.<current-date>@<current-time>
before list / elements=string	The ordered set of commands to push on to the command stack if a change needs to be made. This allows the playbook designer the opportunity to perform configuration commands prior to pushing any changes without affecting how the set of commands are matched against the system.
defaults boolean	This argument specifies whether or not to collect all defaults when getting the remote device running config. When enabled, the module will get the current config by issuing the command show running-config all. Choices: false ← (default) true
diff_against string	When using the ansible-playbook --diff command line argument the module can generate diffs against different sources. When this option is configure as startup, the module will return the diff of the running-config against the startup-config. When this option is configured as intended, the module will return the diff of the running-config against the configuration provided in the intended_config argument. When this option is configured as running, the module will return the before and after diff of the running-config with respect to any changes made to the device configuration. Choices: "running" "startup" "intended"
diff_ignore_lines list / elements=string	Use this argument to specify one or more lines that should be ignored during the diff. This is used for lines in the configuration that are automatically updated by the system. This argument takes a list of regular expressions or exact line matches.
intended_config string	The intended_config provides the master configuration that the node should conform to and is used to check the final running-config against. This argument will not modify any settings on the remote device and is strictly used to check the compliance of the current device’s configuration against. When specifying this argument, the task should also modify the diff_against value and set it to intended. The configuration lines for this value should be similar to how it will appear if present in the running-configuration of the device including the indentation to ensure correct diff.
lines aliases: commands list / elements=string	The ordered set of commands that should be configured in the section. The commands must be the exact same commands as found in the device running-config to ensure idempotency and correct diff. Be sure to note the configuration command syntax as some commands are automatically modified by the device config parser.
match string	Instructs the module on the way to perform the matching of the set of commands against the current device config. If match is set to line, commands are matched line by line. If match is set to strict, command lines are matched with respect to position. If match is set to exact, command lines must be an equal match. Finally, if match is set to none, the module will not attempt to compare the source configuration with the running configuration on the remote device. Choices: "line" ← (default) "strict" "exact" "none"
multiline_delimiter string	This argument is used when pushing a multiline configuration element to the IOS device. It specifies the character to use as the delimiting character. This only applies to the configuration action. Default: "@"
parents list / elements=string	The ordered set of parents that uniquely identify the section or hierarchy the commands should be checked against. If the parents argument is omitted, the commands are checked against the set of top level or global commands.
replace string	Instructs the module on the way to perform the configuration on the device. If the replace argument is set to line then the modified lines are pushed to the device in configuration mode. If the replace argument is set to block then the entire command block is pushed to the device in configuration mode if any line is not correct. Choices: "line" ← (default) "block"
running_config aliases: config string	The module, by default, will connect to the remote device and retrieve the current running-config to use as a base for comparing against the contents of source. There are times when it is not desirable to have the task get the current running-config for every task in a playbook. The running_config argument allows the implementer to pass in the configuration to use as the base config for comparison. The configuration lines for this option should be similar to how it will appear if present in the running-configuration of the device including the indentation to ensure idempotency and correct diff.
save_when string	When changes are made to the device running-configuration, the changes are not copied to non-volatile storage by default. Using this argument will change that before. If the argument is set to always, then the running-config will always be copied to the startup-config and the modified flag will always be set to True. If the argument is set to modified, then the running-config will only be copied to the startup-config if it has changed since the last save to startup-config. If the argument is set to never, the running-config will never be copied to the startup-config. If the argument is set to changed, then the running-config will only be copied to the startup-config if the task has made a change. changed was added in Ansible 2.5. Choices: "always" "never" ← (default) "modified" "changed"
src string	Specifies the source path to the file that contains the configuration or configuration template to load. The path to the source file can either be the full path on the Ansible control host or a relative path from the playbook or role root directory. This argument is mutually exclusive with lines, parents. The configuration lines in the source file should be similar to how it will appear if present in the running-configuration of the device including the indentation to ensure idempotency and correct diff.

Notes

Note

• Tested against Cisco IOSXE Version 17.3 on CML.

• Abbreviated commands are NOT idempotent, see https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/network/user_guide/faq.html#why-do-the-config-modules-always-return-changed-true-with-abbreviated-commands

• To ensure idempotency and correct diff the configuration lines in the relevant module options should be similar to how they appear if present in the running configuration on device including the indentation.

• This module works with connection network_cli. See https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/network/user_guide/platform_ios.html

• For more information on using Ansible to manage network devices see the :ref:`Ansible Network Guide <network_guide>`

• For more information on using Ansible to manage Cisco devices see the `Cisco integration page <https://www.ansible.com/integrations/networks/cisco>`_.

Examples

- name: Configure top level configuration
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines: hostname {{ inventory_hostname }}

- name: Configure interface settings
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines:
      - description test interface
      - ip address 172.31.1.1 255.255.255.0
    parents: interface Ethernet1

- name: Configure ip helpers on multiple interfaces
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines:
      - ip helper-address 172.26.1.10
      - ip helper-address 172.26.3.8
    parents: "{{ item }}"
  with_items:
    - interface Ethernet1
    - interface Ethernet2
    - interface GigabitEthernet1

- name: Configure policer in Scavenger class
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines:
      - conform-action transmit
      - exceed-action drop
    parents:
      - policy-map Foo
      - class Scavenger
      - police cir 64000

- name: Load new acl into device
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines:
      - 10 permit ip host 192.0.2.1 any log
      - 20 permit ip host 192.0.2.2 any log
      - 30 permit ip host 192.0.2.3 any log
      - 40 permit ip host 192.0.2.4 any log
      - 50 permit ip host 192.0.2.5 any log
    parents: ip access-list extended test
    before: no ip access-list extended test
    match: exact

- name: Check the running-config against master config
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    diff_against: intended
    intended_config: "{{ lookup('file', 'master.cfg') }}"

- name: Check the startup-config against the running-config
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    diff_against: startup
    diff_ignore_lines:
      - ntp clock .*

- name: Save running to startup when modified
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    save_when: modified

- name: For idempotency, use full-form commands
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines:
      # - shut
      - shutdown
    # parents: int gig1/0/11
    parents: interface GigabitEthernet1/0/11

# Set boot image based on comparison to a group_var (version) and the version
# that is returned from the `ios_facts` module
- name: Setting boot image
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    lines:
      - no boot system
      - boot system flash bootflash:{{new_image}}
    host: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
  when: ansible_net_version != version

- name: Render a Jinja2 template onto an IOS device
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    backup: true
    src: ios_template.j2

- name: Configurable backup path
  cisco.ios.ios_config:
    src: ios_template.j2
    backup: true
    backup_options:
      filename: backup.cfg
      dir_path: /home/user

# Example ios_template.j2
# ip access-list extended test
#  permit ip host 192.0.2.1 any log
#  permit ip host 192.0.2.2 any log
#  permit ip host 192.0.2.3 any log
#  permit ip host 192.0.2.4 any log

Return Values

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

Key	Description
backup_path string	The full path to the backup file Returned: when backup is yes Sample: "/playbooks/ansible/backup/ios_config.2016-07-16@22:28:34"
commands list / elements=string	The set of commands that will be pushed to the remote device Returned: always Sample: ["hostname foo", "router ospf 1", "router-id 192.0.2.1"]
date string	The date extracted from the backup file name Returned: when backup is yes Sample: "2016-07-16"
filename string	The name of the backup file Returned: when backup is yes and filename is not specified in backup options Sample: "ios_config.2016-07-16@22:28:34"
shortname string	The full path to the backup file excluding the timestamp Returned: when backup is yes and filename is not specified in backup options Sample: "/playbooks/ansible/backup/ios_config"
time string	The time extracted from the backup file name Returned: when backup is yes Sample: "22:28:34"
updates list / elements=string	The set of commands that will be pushed to the remote device Returned: always Sample: ["hostname foo", "router ospf 1", "router-id 192.0.2.1"]

Authors

• Peter Sprygada (@privateip)

Collection links

• Issue Tracker
• Repository (Sources)