How to create an empty file with Ansible?

Question

What is the easiest way to create an empty file using Ansible? I know I can save an empty file into the files directory and then copy it to the remote host, but I f

Answer 1

Building on the accepted answer, if you want the file to be checked for permissions on every run, and these changed accordingly if the file exists, or just create the file if it doesn't exist, you can use the following:

- stat: path=/etc/nologin
  register: p

- name: create fake 'nologin' shell
  file: path=/etc/nologin 
        owner=root
        group=sys
        mode=0555
        state={{ "file" if  p.stat.exists else "touch"}}

Answer 2

Changed if file not exists. Create empty file.

- name: create fake 'nologin' shell
  file:
    path: /etc/nologin
    state: touch
  register: p
  changed_when: p.diff.before.state == "absent"

Answer 3

Turns out I don't have enough reputation to put this as a comment, which would be a more appropriate place for this:

Re. AllBlackt's answer, if you prefer Ansible's multiline format you need to adjust the quoting for state (I spent a few minutes working this out, so hopefully this speeds someone else up),

- stat:
    path: "/etc/nologin"
  register: p

- name: create fake 'nologin' shell
  file:
    path: "/etc/nologin"
    owner: root
    group: sys
    mode: 0555
    state: '{{ "file" if  p.stat.exists else "touch" }}'

Answer 4

The documentation of the file module says

If state=file, the file will NOT be created if it does not exist, see the copy or template module if you want that behavior.

So we use the copy module, using force=no to create a new empty file only when the file does not yet exist (if the file exists, its content is preserved).

- name: ensure file exists
  copy:
    content: ""
    dest: /etc/nologin
    force: no
    group: sys
    owner: root
    mode: 0555

This is a declarative and elegant solution.