Copy multiple files with Ansible

Question

How can I copy more than a single file into remote nodes by Ansible in a task?

I\'ve tried to duplicate the copy module line in my task to define files but it only copie

Answer 1

Use the following source code for copy multiple files on your client machine.

---

 - name: Copy data to the client machine
   hosts: hostname
   become_method: sudo
   become_user: root
   become: true
   tasks: 
     # Copy twice as sometimes files get skipped (mostly only one file skipped from a folder if the folder does not exist)
     - name: Copy UFO-Server 
       copy:
         src: "source files path"
         dest: "destination file path"
         owner: root
         group: root
         mode: 0644
         backup: yes
       ignore_errors: true

Note:

If you are passing multiple paths by using variable then

src: "/root/{{ item }}"

If you are passing path by using a variable for different items then

src: "/root/{{ item.source_path }}"

Answer 2

You can use the with_fileglob loop for this:

- copy:
    src: "{{ item }}"
    dest: /etc/fooapp/
    owner: root
    mode: 600
  with_fileglob:
    - /playbooks/files/fooapp/*

Answer 3

You can loop through variable with list of directories:

- name: Copy files from several directories
  copy:
    src: "{{ item }}"
    dest: "/etc/fooapp/"
    owner: root
    mode: "0600"
  loop: "{{ files }}"
  vars:
    files:
      - "dir1/"
      - "dir2/"

Answer 4

- hosts: lnx
  tasks:
    - find: paths="/appl/scripts/inq" recurse=yes patterns="inq.Linux*"
      register: file_to_copy
    - copy: src={{ item.path }} dest=/usr/local/sbin/
      owner: root
      mode: 0775
      with_items: "{{ files_to_copy.files }}"

Answer 5

copy module is a wrong tool for copying many files and/or directory structure, use synchronize module instead which uses rsync as backend. Mind you, it requires rsync installed on both controller and target host. It's really powerful, check ansible documentation.

Example - copy files from build directory (with subdirectories) of controller to /var/www/html directory on target host:

synchronize:
  src: ./my-static-web-page/build/
  dest: /var/www/html
  rsync_opts:
    - "--chmod=D2755,F644" # copy from windows - force permissions