lineinfile

lineinfile module

Ensure a particular line is in a file, or replace an existing line using a back-referenced regular expression. This module is useful for making small changes to configuration files.

Examples

- name: Add a line to a file
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/hosts
    line: "192.168.1.100 myhost.example.com"

- name: Replace a line using regex
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    regexp: '^#?PermitRootLogin'
    line: 'PermitRootLogin no'

- name: Remove a line
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/hosts
    regexp: '^192\.168\.1\.100'
    state: absent

- name: Insert line after pattern
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/fstab
    insertafter: '^/dev/sda1'
    line: '/dev/sda2 /home ext4 defaults 0 2'

- name: Create file if it doesn't exist
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/myapp.conf
    line: 'setting=value'
    create: true
    mode: '0644'

Note: Use regular expressions carefully to avoid unintended matches. The module will create the file if it doesn't exist and create=true is specified.

Module Capabilities

• Has Revert: true
• Provides Variables: None

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Description	Required	Default	Choices
backrefs	bool	Use backreferences from regexp in the line. Only works with regexp.	false	false	true, false
create	bool	Create the file if it doesn't exist.	false	false	true, false
insertafter	string	Insert line after this regex pattern, or 'EOF' for end of file.	false
insertbefore	string	Insert line before this regex pattern, or 'BOF' for beginning of file.	false
line	string	The line to insert or replace. Required when state=present.	false
mode	string	File permissions to set if creating the file (e.g., '0644').	false
path	string	Path to the file to modify. Aliases: dest, destfile, name.	false
regexp	string	Regular expression to match existing lines for replacement or removal.	false
state	string	Whether the line should be present or absent.	false	present	present, absent

Outputs

Field	Type	Description
msg	string

Parameter aliases

• dest → path
• destfile → path
• name → path