Ansible: lineinfile syntax error when there is a space after colon(:)

Question

Ansible\'s lineinfile gives a syntax error when there\'s a space after colon(:) in the line, like line=\'item: value\'. If there\'s no space like <

Answer 1

Escape the colon as {{ ":" }}:

- name: set up sudo for testgroup
  lineinfile: dest=/etc/sudoers line='%testgroup ALL= NOPASSWD{{ ":" }} /sbin/shutdown -r now' state=present insertafter=EOF validate='visudo -cf %s'