How to copy files between two nodes using ansible

Question

I need to copy file form machine A to machine B whereas my control machine from where i run all my ansible tasks is machine C(local machine)

I have tried the following:

Use scp command in shell module of ansible

hosts: machine2
user: user2
tasks:
  - name: Copy file from machine1 to machine2 
    shell: scp user1@machine1:/path-of-file/file1 /home/user2/file1

This approach just goes on and on never ends.

use fetch & copy modules

hosts: machine1
user: user1
tasks:
  - name: copy file from machine1 to local
    fetch: src=/path-of-file/file1 dest=/path-of-file/file1

hosts: machine2
user: user2
tasks:
  - name: copy file from local to machine2
    copy: src=/path-of-file/file1 dest=/path-of-file/file1

This approach throws me an error as follows:

error while accessing the file /Users/<myusername>/.ansible/cp/ansible-ssh-machine2-22-<myusername>, error was: [Errno 102] Operation not supported on socket: u'/Users/<myusername>/.ansible/cp/ansible-ssh-machine2-22-<myusername>'

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Answer 1

As ant31 already pointed out you can use the synchronize module to this. By default, the module transfers files between the control machine and the current remote host (inventory_host), however that can be changed using the task's delegate_to parameter (it's important to note that this is a parameter of the task, not of the module).

You can place the task on either ServerA or ServerB, but you have to adjust the direction of the transfer accordingly (using the mode parameter of synchronize).

Placing the task on ServerB

- hosts: ServerB
  tasks:
    - name: Transfer file from ServerA to ServerB
      synchronize:
        src: /path/on/server_a
        dest: /path/on/server_b
      delegate_to: ServerA

This uses the default mode: push, so the file gets transferred from the delegate (ServerA) to the current remote (ServerB).

This might sound like strange, since the task has been placed on ServerB (via hosts: ServerB). However, one has to keep in mind that the task is actually executed on the delegated host, which in this case is ServerA. So pushing (from ServerA to ServerB) is indeed the correct direction. Also remember that we cannot simply choose not to delegate at all, since that would mean that the transfer happens between the control machine and ServerB.

Placing the task on ServerA

- hosts: ServerA
  tasks:
    - name: Transfer file from ServerA to ServerB
      synchronize:
        src: /path/on/server_a
        dest: /path/on/server_b
        mode: pull
      delegate_to: ServerB

This uses mode: pull to invert the transfer direction. Again, keep in mind that the task is actually executed on ServerB, so pulling is the right choice.