# access particular values gathered with stat **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [September 6, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/access-particular-values-gathered-with-stat/38409 "2023-09-06T12:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dulhaver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dulhaver/32/1061_2.png) [@dulhaver](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dulhaver)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/access-particular-values-gathered-with-stat/38409/1 "2023-09-06T12:34:23Z")
I want to check for existence of a folder and also the right owner, group and mode. When any of the conditions (exists, owner=postgres, group=postgres, mode=0755) does not meet requirements I want to stop and be notified of the reason. I think I need stat for that (exists, isdir, gr\_name, pw\_name, mode) As a first step I try to get the value of pg\_name with debug, but can not figure out how to adress that value - name: Get stats of a file ansible.builtin.stat: path: “{{ item }}” register: postgres loop: - /opt/db/data - name: return ownership is right ansible.builtin.debug: msg: “owned by postgres” when: postgres.stat.pw\_name == ‘postgres’ output TASK [show content of ‘postgres’] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* fatal: [[dvzsn-rd5400.ref.eakte.rz-dvz.cn-mv.de](http://dvzsn-rd5400.ref.eakte.rz-dvz.cn-mv.de)]: FAILED! =\> {“msg”: “The conditional check ‘postgres.stat.pw\_name == ‘postgres’’ failed. The error was: error while evaluating conditional (postgres.stat.pw\_name == ‘postgres’): ‘dict object’ has no attribute ‘stat’. ‘dict object’ has no attribute ‘stat’\n\nThe error appears to be in ‘/home/gwagner/repos/automation\_postgres/playbooks/check\_postgres\_dir.yml’: line 16, column 7, but may\nbe elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.\n\nThe offending line appears to be:\n\n\n - name: show content of ‘postgres’\n ^ here\n”} what I am doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Rowe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/walter_rowe/32/4506_2.png) [@Walter\_Rowe](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Walter_Rowe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/access-particular-values-gathered-with-stat/38409/2 "2023-09-06T12:51:40Z")
You are using “loop”. This places the results in a list called “results” (ie postgres.results). Use the literal path in stat and you will get the reference you seek in the debug task. > - name: Get stats of a file > ansible.builtin.stat: > path: /opt/db/data > register: postgres > > - name: return ownership is right > ansible.builtin.debug: > msg: “owned by postgres” > when: postgres.stat.pw\_name == ‘postgres’ OR - name: Get stats of a file ansible.builtin.stat: path: “{{ item }}” register: postgres loop: - /opt/db/data - name: return ownership is right ansible.builtin.debug: msg: “{{ item.item }} owned by postgres” loop: “{{ postgres.results }}” when: - item.stat.exists == true - item.stat.pw\_name is defined - item.stat.pw\_name == ‘postgres’ - name: return ownership is not right ansible.builtin.debug: msg: “{{ item.item }} owned not by postgres” loop: “{{ postgres.results }}” when: - item.stat.exists == true - item.stat.pw\_name is defined - item.stat.pw\_name != ‘postgres’ - name: return does not exist ansible.builtin.debug: msg: “{{ item.item }} does not exist” loop: “{{ postgres.results }}” when: - item.stat.exists == false Walter ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Rowe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/walter_rowe/32/4506_2.png) [@Walter\_Rowe](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Walter_Rowe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/access-particular-values-gathered-with-stat/38409/3 "2023-09-06T12:52:46Z")
TASK [what is postgres] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] =\> { “postgres”: { “changed”: false, “msg”: “All items completed”, “results”: [ { “ansible\_loop\_var”: “item”, “changed”: false, “failed”: false, “invocation”: { “module\_args”: { “checksum\_algorithm”: “sha1”, “follow”: false, “get\_attributes”: true, “get\_checksum”: true, “get\_md5”: false, “get\_mime”: true, “path”: “/opt/db/data” } }, “item”: “/opt/db/data”, “stat”: { “exists”: false } } ], “skipped”: false } } Walter ---
**Author:** ![dnmvisser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@dnmvisser](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dnmvisser)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/access-particular-values-gathered-with-stat/38409/4 "2023-09-06T16:21:36Z")
What are you trying to do at a high level? While you can use ansible as a glorified shell wrapper or reporting tool, but its intended purpose is configuration management. So in this case, what will you do if the condition DO meet the requirements? ---
**Author:** ![dulhaver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dulhaver/32/1061_2.png) [@dulhaver](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dulhaver)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 8:31am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/access-particular-values-gathered-with-stat/38409/5 "2023-09-07T08:31:06Z")
once the conditions are met I want to proceed importing/including a role that installs postgres under that specified location. This role expects the conditions to be met in order to run successfully