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Zuke's avatar
Zuke
Icon for Cirrostratus rankCirrostratus
Feb 05, 2021

Ansible bigip_command module error message

I'm trying to run a simple playbook to create a link in bash: --- - name: Issue a command on the F5 devices hosts: all connection: local environment: F5_SERVER: '{​​{​​ ansible_host |...
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Mike_A's avatar
Mike_A
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Feb 15, 2021

I have been having issues with BASH commands using the bigip_command module. What I see after the job is run is below. As you can see it is 100%, atleast in my case, abending tmsh -c to any command. The module says it runs bash. I have not been able to figure out how to do it yet. 

"executed_commands": [
 "tmsh -c \\\"netstat -rn \\\" | grep \\\"^0.0.0.0\\\" | grep -v mgmt | awk \\'{print \\$2}\\'"
 ]
 "failed": false,

Here is what is in my playbook. 

 tasks:
  - name: Default Gateway
   bigip_command:
    commands:
     - netstat -rn | grep "^0.0.0.0" | grep -v mgmt | awk '{print $2}'
    provider: "{{ provider }}"
   register: f5_gateway_output
 
 
  - debug:
    var: f5_gateway_output
  • Zuke's avatar
    Zuke
    Icon for Cirrostratus rankCirrostratus
    Feb 17, 2021

    Mike your whitespace looks off. I pasted your playbook as printed above to yamllint.com and got errors. Try this.

    --- 
tasks: 
  - 
    bigip_command: 
      commands: 
        - "netstat -rn | grep \"^0.0.0.0\" | grep -v mgmt | awk '{print $2}'"
      provider: "{{ provider }}"
    name: "Default Gateway"
    register: f5_gateway_output
  - 
    debug: 
    var: f5_gateway_output
    • Mike_A's avatar
      Mike_A
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Feb 17, 2021

      Zuke, even with what you pasted, I get the same response. 

       "executed_commands": [
            "tmsh -c \\\"netstat -rn \\\" |  grep \\\"^0.0.0.0\\\" | grep -v mgmt | awk \\'{print \\$2}\\'"
        ],

      As you can see it is inserting "tmsh -c" before any command that is under the bigip_command module.

      This module says it runs bash, I'm questioning how that is possible when "tmsh -c" is inserted before any command.

      Have you successfully run a bash command with this bigip_command module?

    • Zuke's avatar
      Zuke
      Icon for Cirrostratus rankCirrostratus
      Feb 18, 2021

      No I haven't successfully run a bash command with this module, and the documentation on the Ansible page is ambiguous. "Run TMSH and bash commands" headline and every example shows a command that is executed in TMSH. I've tried running this playbook with two commands given, the first command being "bash" but no luck. I still get the encoding error.

       

      https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/f5networks/f5_modules/bigip_command_module.html#ansible-collections-f5networks-f5-modules-bigip-command-module

       

      FWIW I think I will use a different, non-F5 module if I'm going to use bash commands going forward.

       

    • Mike_A's avatar
      Mike_A
      Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
      Feb 18, 2021

      Agreed, there is very little documentation about running an actual bash command.

      However, after some further testing, I was able to get my command working, but without "awk '{print $2}", its not optimal but in any event I was able to get it to run. The odd part is a single "ls", no flags, command throws an error.

      I have no rhyme or reason as to why some work and some dont, I assume I'm/we are missing some fundamental piece to run bash commands.

      Below is what is working for me right now, spacing is OK, it runs the play just not with the full command I want. 

        tasks:
    - name: Collect Big-IP Facts
      bigip_command:
        commands:
          - "netstat -rn | grep \"^0.0.0.0\" | grep -v \"eth0\\|mgmt\""
        provider: "{{ provider }}"
      register: f5_audit_output
 
    - debug:
        var: f5_audit_output