Last updated on: 2024-01-16 03:25:50.

bigip_ucs_fetch – Fetches a UCS file from remote nodes

New in version 1.0.0.

Synopsis

  • This module is used for fetching UCS files from remote machines and storing them locally in a file tree, organized by hostname. Note that this module is written to transfer UCS files that might not be present, so a missing remote UCS won’t be an error unless fail_on_missing is set to ‘yes’.

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Configuration Comments
attributes
string
added in 2.3
The attributes the resulting filesystem object should have.
To get supported flags look at the man page for chattr on the target system.
This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed by lsattr.
The = operator is assumed as default, otherwise + or - operators need to be included in the string.

aliases: attr
backup
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Create a backup file including the timestamp information so you can get the original file back if you somehow clobbered it incorrectly.
create_on_missing
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
Creates the UCS based on the value of src if the file does not already exist on the remote system.
dest
path
A directory into which the UCS file is saved.
This option is mandatory when only_create_file is set to false.
encryption_password
string
Password used to encrypt the UCS file, if desired.
fail_on_missing
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Make the module fail if the UCS file on the remote system is missing.
force
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If false, the file will only be transferred if the destination does not exist.
group
string
Name of the group that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to chown.
When left unspecified, it uses the current group of the current user unless you are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership.
mode
raw
The permissions the resulting filesystem object should have.
For those used to /usr/bin/chmod remember that modes are actually octal numbers. You must give Ansible enough information to parse them correctly. For consistent results, quote octal numbers (for example, V('644') or V('1777')) so Ansible receives a string and can do its own conversion from string into number. Adding a leading zero (for example, V(0755)) works sometimes, but can fail in loops and some other circumstances.
Giving Ansible a number without following either of these rules will end up with a decimal number which will have unexpected results.
As of Ansible 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, V(u+rwx) or V(u=rw,g=r,o=r)).
If O(mode) is not specified and the destination filesystem object does not exist, the default umask on the system will be used when setting the mode for the newly created filesystem object.
If O(mode) is not specified and the destination filesystem object does exist, the mode of the existing filesystem object will be used.
Specifying O(mode) is the best way to ensure filesystem objects are created with the correct permissions. See CVE-2020-1736 for further details.
only_create_file
boolean
added in 1.12.0
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
If true, the file is created on the device and not downloaded. If the UCS archive exists on the device, no change is made and the file is not downloaded.
To recreate UCS files left on the device, remove them with the bigip_ucs module before running this module with only_create_file set to true.
Parameter is mutually exclusive with task_id.
owner
string
Name of the user that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to chown.
When left unspecified, it uses the current user unless you are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership.
Specifying a numeric username will be assumed to be a user ID and not a username. Avoid numeric usernames to avoid this confusion.
selevel
string
The level part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the range.
When set to V(_default), it will use the level portion of the policy if available.
serole
string
The role part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
When set to V(_default), it will use the role portion of the policy if available.
setype
string
The type part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
When set to V(_default), it will use the type portion of the policy if available.
seuser
string
The user part of the SELinux filesystem object context.
By default it uses the V(system) policy, where applicable.
When set to V(_default), it will use the user portion of the policy if available.
src
string
The name of the UCS file to create on the remote server for downloading.
If not given the name will be randomly generated when creating UCS file on the device.
The parameter is required when task_id is defined otherwise file download will fail.
The file is retrieved or created in the /var/local/ucs/ directory.
This option is mandatory when only_create_file is set to true.
task_id
string
The ID of the async task as returned by the system in a previous module run.
Used to query the status of the task on the device, useful with longer running operations that require restarting services.
Parameter is mutually exclusive with only_create_file.
timeout
integer
Default:
150
Parameter used when creating a new UCS file on the device.
The number of seconds to wait for the API async interface to complete its task.
The accepted value range is between 150 and 1800 seconds.
unsafe_writes
boolean
added in 2.2
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target filesystem object.
By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target filesystem objects, but sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted filesystem objects, which cannot be updated atomically from inside the container and can only be written in an unsafe manner.
This option allows Ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating filesystem objects when atomic operations fail (however, it doesn't force Ansible to perform unsafe writes).
IMPORTANT! Unsafe writes are subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.

Notes

Note

  • BIG-IP provides no way to get a checksum of the UCS files on the system via any interface except, perhaps, logging in directly to the box (which would not support appliance mode). Therefore, the best this module can do is check for the existence of the file on disk; no check-summing.
  • If you are using this module with either Ansible Tower or Ansible AWX, you should be aware of how these Ansible products execute jobs in restricted environments. More information can be found here https://clouddocs.f5.com/products/orchestration/ansible/devel/usage/module-usage-with-tower.html
  • Some longer running tasks might cause the REST interface on BIG-IP to time out, to avoid this adjust the timers as per this KB article https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K94602685

Examples

- name: Create a new UCS
  bigip_ucs_fetch:
    dest: /tmp/cs_backup.ucs
  register: task

- name: Check for task completion and download created UCS
  bigip_ucs_fetch:
    dest: /tmp/cs_backup.ucs
    src: "{{ task.src }}"
    task_id: "{{ task.task_id }}"
    timeout: 300

- name: Download an existing UCS
  bigip_ucs_fetch:
    src: cs_backup.ucs
    dest: /tmp/cs_backup.ucs

- name: Only create new UCS, no download
  bigip_ucs_fetch:
    src: cs_backup.ucs
    only_create_file: true

- name: Recreate UCS file left on device - remove file first
  bigip_ucs:
    ucs: cs_backup.ucs
    state: absent

- name: Recreate UCS file left on device - create new file
  bigip_ucs_fetch:
    src: cs_backup.ucs
    only_create_file: true

Return Values

The following are the fields unique to this module:

Key Returned Description
backup_file
string
changed and if backup=yes
Name of backup file created.

Sample:
/path/to/file.txt.2015-02-12@22:09~
checksum
string
success or changed
The SHA1 checksum of the downloaded file.

Sample:
7b46bbe4f8ebfee64761b5313855618f64c64109
dest
string
success
Location on the ansible host to which the UCS was saved.

Sample:
/path/to/file.txt
gid
integer
success
Group ID of the UCS file, after execution.

Sample:
100
group
string
success
Group of the UCS file, after execution.

Sample:
httpd
md5sum
string
changed or success
The MD5 checksum of the downloaded file.

Sample:
96cacab4c259c4598727d7cf2ceb3b45
message
dictionary
changed
Informative message of the task status.

Sample:
Import success
mode
string
success
Permissions of the target UCS, after execution.

Sample:
420
owner
string
success
Owner of the UCS file, after execution.

Sample:
httpd
size
integer
success
Size of the target UCS, after execution.

Sample:
1220
src
string
changed
Name of the UCS file on the remote BIG-IP to download. If not specified, then the filename is randomly generated.

Sample:
cs_backup.ucs
task_id
dictionary
changed
The task ID returned by the system.

Sample:
hash/dictionary of values
uid
integer
success
Owner ID of the UCS file, after execution.

Sample:
100


Status

Authors

  • Wojciech Wypior (@wojtek0806)