Fixing Permission denied Errors in Ansible Synchronize

Описание: Encountering `Permission denied` errors while using Ansible's synchronize module? Discover the common causes and proven solutions to fix synchronization issues effectively.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/76511576/ asked by the user 'Amin Persia' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/7193418/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/76527848/ provided by the user 'Amin Persia' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/7193418/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Ansible Syncronize Keeps failing with Permission denied

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/l...
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Fixing Permission denied Errors in Ansible Synchronize: A Comprehensive Guide

As a system administrator, you may encounter various issues while automating tasks with Ansible. One commonly reported problem is the dreaded Permission denied error when using the synchronize module. This issue can be especially frustrating, particularly when other Ansible modules like copy or template are working perfectly fine. In this guide, we’ll dissect and solve this problem step by step.

The Problem

When running an Ansible playbook with the synchronize module, you might see an error message stating:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This occurs even when you have verified that your SSH credentials are correctly set up. Other modules operate smoothly, so why does synchronize fail?

To clarify this issue, let’s look at a sample of a typical Ansible setup:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

As indicated, synchronize produces an error, while other tasks complete without issue.

Understanding the Cause

The root of the issue often stems from how Ansible handles variable assignments when using the synchronize module. If you're assigning values to variables (in this case, SSH passwords) from another source (like secrets.yaml), they may not be correctly evaluated for the synchronize action.

Variable Assignment Example

When you define the SSH password in host_vars/testserver.yaml like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

These assignments work for all other Ansible modules but fail with synchronize. The module doesn’t recognize the re-assigned values and hence, it results in a Permission denied error.

Testing and Verifying

To verify this issue, run a simple Ansible test with a playbook like the following:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

You should see that all variables are correctly outputting the password. However, when you try the synchronize task, it will still fail.

Solution: Temporary Fix Using set_fact

Ansible does not automatically pass the password correctly in this case. As a workaround, you can re-define the variables using the set_fact module to force Ansible to re-evaluate them just before the synchronize task.

Here’s the modified playbook:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

By re-evaluating the variables using set_fact, the synchronize task can correctly reference your SSH credentials without encountering Permission denied errors. While this may feel like a workaround, it can be a reliable solution until an official fix is implemented by Ansible.

Summary of Tips

Ensure that your SSH credentials are set up correctly.

Use the set_fact module to enforce variable evaluation for synchronize.

Keep your Ansible version up to date as this problem could improve in future releases.

With these strategies, you can effectively resolve synchronization issues in your Ansible playbooks.