win_command – Executes a command on a remote Windows node

Synopsis

  • The win_command module takes the command name followed by a list of space-delimited arguments.
  • The given command will be executed on all selected nodes. It will not be processed through the shell, so variables like $env:HOME and operations like "<", ">", "|", and ";" will not work (use the win_shell module if you need these features).
  • For non-Windows targets, use the command module instead.

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
chdir
path
Set the specified path as the current working directory before executing a command.
creates
path
A path or path filter pattern; when the referenced path exists on the target host, the task will be skipped.
free_form
string / required
The win_command module takes a free form command to run.
There is no parameter actually named 'free form'. See the examples!
removes
path
A path or path filter pattern; when the referenced path does not exist on the target host, the task will be skipped.
stdin
string
added in 2.5
Set the stdin of the command directly to the specified value.

Notes

Note

  • If you want to run a command through a shell (say you are using <, >, |, etc), you actually want the win_shell module instead. The win_command module is much more secure as it’s not affected by the user’s environment.
  • creates, removes, and chdir can be specified after the command. For instance, if you only want to run a command if a certain file does not exist, use this.

See Also

See also

command – Execute commands on targets
The official documentation on the command module.
psexec – Runs commands on a remote Windows host based on the PsExec model
The official documentation on the psexec module.
raw – Executes a low-down and dirty command
The official documentation on the raw module.
win_psexec – Runs commands (remotely) as another (privileged) user
The official documentation on the win_psexec module.
win_shell – Execute shell commands on target hosts
The official documentation on the win_shell module.

Examples

- name: Save the result of 'whoami' in 'whoami_out'
  win_command: whoami
  register: whoami_out

- name: Run command that only runs if folder exists and runs from a specific folder
  win_command: wbadmin -backupTarget:C:\backup\
  args:
    chdir: C:\somedir\
    creates: C:\backup\

- name: Run an executable and send data to the stdin for the executable
  win_command: powershell.exe -
  args:
    stdin: Write-Host test

Return Values

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

Key Returned Description
cmd
string
always
The command executed by the task

Sample:
rabbitmqctl join_cluster rabbit@master
delta
string
always
The command execution delta time

Sample:
0:00:00.325771
end
string
always
The command execution end time

Sample:
2016-02-25 09:18:26.755339
msg
boolean
always
changed

Sample:
True
rc
integer
always
The command return code (0 means success)
start
string
always
The command execution start time

Sample:
2016-02-25 09:18:26.429568
stderr
string
always
The command standard error

Sample:
ls: cannot access foo: No such file or directory
stdout
string
always
The command standard output

Sample:
Clustering node rabbit@slave1 with rabbit@master ...
stdout_lines
list
always
The command standard output split in lines

Sample:
["u'Clustering node rabbit@slave1 with rabbit@master ...'"]


Status

Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

Authors

  • Matt Davis (@nitzmahone)

Hint

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