I want to automate a list of command exections with at.
Looking at the at modules documentation I see only unit & count for specify the time and date. That looks a litte unprecise to me.
What is the concepts here to specify something like '16:00 2023-01-19'?
So you are using ansible.posix.at?
That plugin uses a file to run AT as seen at https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.posix/blob/main/plugins/modules/at.py#L82
So in the code it uses the now + method. This may be a situation where a command/shell call would be the solution.
I want to automate a list of command exections with at.
What is the concepts here to specify something like '16:00 2023-01-19'?
For example, to schedule a command at "2022-12-12 17:30:00" declare
the variables
now_datetime: "{{ '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'|strftime }}"
at_datetime: "2022-12-12 17:30:00"
at_seconds: "{{ ((at_datetime|to_datetime) -
(now_datetime|
to_datetime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'))).seconds }}"
at_minutes: "{{ (at_seconds|int / 60)|int + 1 }}"
gives
now_datetime: 2022-12-12 17:26:23
at_datetime: 2022-12-12 17:30:00
at_seconds: 217
at_minutes: 4
Use the variable *at_minutes*
- ansible.posix.at:
command: date > /tmp/test_at
count: "{{ at_minutes }}"
units: minutes
- command: at -l
register: out
- debug:
var: out.stdout
will display the queue
out.stdout: "5\tMon Dec 12 17:30:00 2022 a admin"
The command executed as expected
cat /tmp/test_at
Mon 12 Dec 2022 05:30:00 PM CET
Example of a complete playbook for testing
- hosts: localhost
vars:
now_datetime: "{{ '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'|strftime }}"
at_datetime: "2022-12-12 17:30:00"
at_seconds: "{{ ((at_datetime|to_datetime) -
(now_datetime|
to_datetime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'))).seconds }}"
at_minutes: "{{ (at_seconds|int /
60)|int + 1 }}"
tasks:
- debug:
msg: |
now_datetime: {{ now_datetime }}
at_datetime: {{ at_datetime }}
at_seconds: {{ at_seconds }}
at_minutes: {{ at_minutes }}
- ansible.posix.at:
command: date > /tmp/test_at
count: "{{ at_minutes }}"
units: minutes
- command: at -l
register: out
- debug:
var: out.stdout
thx that really works. It is not really user-friendly though.
Apparently I am not the only one thinking this should be easier, so there is an issue for adding a more intuitive way to specify time and date https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.posix/issues/326
thx that really works. It is not really user-friendly though.
Apparently I am not the only one thinking this should be easier, so there is an issue for adding a more intuitive way to specify time and date https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.posix/issues/326
> now_datetime: "{{ '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'|strftime }}"
> at_datetime: "2022-12-12 17:30:00"
> at_seconds: "{{ ((at_datetime|to_datetime) -
> (now_datetime|to_datetime)).seconds }}"
> at_minutes: "{{ (at_seconds|int / 60)|int + 1 }}"
>
> - ansible.posix.at:
> command: date > /tmp/test_at
> count: "{{ at_minutes }}"
> units: minutes
Yes, it's rather awkward. I simplified the declaration of
*at_seconds*. It might be a good idea to have a conversion function
for this, e.g.
- ansible.posix.at:
command: date > /tmp/test_at
count: "{{ at_datetime|at_minutes }}"
units: minutes
vars:
at_datetime: "2022-12-12 17:30:00"
Try
cat plugins/filter/at_minutes.py
from datetime import datetime
def at_minutes(at_datetime):
timesince = datetime.fromisoformat(at_datetime) - datetime.now()
return int(timesince.total_seconds() / 60 + 1)
class FilterModule(object):
def filters(self):
return {
'at_minutes': at_minutes,
}
That works! Even with looping
count: "{{ at_datetime|at_minutes }}"
...
would it be worth a PR on the issue or is this too quick'n'dirty?
It's quick'n'clean I'd say 
Yes, it's worth PR. I'll write tests for this. The question is which
collection?
Yes, it's worth PR. I'll write tests for this. The question is which
collection?
honestly, I am still not really 100% sure what the term 'collection' actually means in the Ansible context and how things are organized. The issue, however, lives in ansible-collection/ansible.posix. Isn't that hint enough?
I'm not sure if this kind of datetime conversion belongs to POSIX.
To learn about collections see https://github.com/ansible-collections
For example, Ansible.Posix, where the module ansible.posix.at comes
from, is "Ansible Collection targeting POSIX and POSIX-ish platforms."
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/posix/index.html