# delegate\_to running on unexpected host **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Tags:** ubuntu, aws\ **Created:** [May 5, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159 "2014-05-05T14:06:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scott\_Anderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Scott\_Anderson](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Scott_Anderson)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/1 "2014-05-05T14:06:10Z")
Hi all, My understanding of delegate\_to is that it runs the task on the designated host, once for each host in the current group, and with the current host’s variables. I have this: - hosts: 127.0.0.1   connection: local   - tasks:     [… stuff …]     - name: Copy override file for database information       template: \>         src=templates/user\_data.json         dest={{ app\_exec\_dir }}/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json       delegate\_to: "{{ retrieved\_instance.public\_ip }}" I see this, where \ is the correct IP address: TASK: [Copy override file for database information] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* \ EXEC ['/bin/sh', '-c', 'mkdir -p $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281 && chmod a+rx $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281 && echo $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281'] \ EXEC ['/bin/sh', '-c', u'rc=0; [-r "/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json"] || rc=2; [-f "/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json"] || rc=1; [-d "/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json"] && echo 3 && exit 0; (/usr/bin/md5sum /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/sbin/md5sum -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/digest -a md5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/sbin/md5 -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/md5 -n /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/bin/md5 -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/csum -h MD5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/bin/csum -h MD5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (echo "${rc} /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json")'] \ PUT /var/folders/m4/mk3x6q\_50dj\_50jpx0763lm80000gn/T/tmpl9p7QM TO /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281/source \ PUT /var/folders/m4/mk3x6q\_50dj\_50jpx0763lm80000gn/T/tmpB7\_vdY TO /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281/copy \ EXEC ['/bin/sh', '-c', '/usr/bin/python /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281/copy; rm -rf /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281/ \>/dev/null 2\>&1'] failed: [127.0.0.1] =\> {"failed": true} msg: Destination /srv/sp/web/core not writable The directory does exist on the delegate\_to host: (sp\_devops)GoatRodeo:devops anderson$ ssh -i keys/hoopdy.id\_rsa ubuntu@\ ubuntu@ip-10-2-1-174:~$ ls /srv/sp/web/core [… stuff …] If I add the directory to the \*local\* machine running Ansible, the script finds it. This is telling me that the template command is actually trying to copy to the local machine and not the delegate\_to machine. If this is not what delegate\_to is for, is there another way to run a single task on a single host not in the current group without having to pop all the way back up to the playbook context and add another host: section? Thanks, -scott ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/2 "2014-05-06T01:46:18Z")
delegate\_to does work, I suspect your issues stem from the variable not being defined or being empty, delegate\_to will fallback to localhost. Brian Coca ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/3 "2014-05-06T03:56:26Z")
“My understanding of delegate\_to is that it runs the task on the designated host, once for each host in the current group, and with the current host’s variables.” Delegate\_to runs the given step on the delegated host, instead of the one currently being referenced in the host loop. " I suspect your issues stem from the variable not being defined or being empty, delegate\_to will fallback to localhost." This really shouldn’t be the case, and I would consider that a bug if so. It should be easy to test that independent of the above example, however. ---
**Author:** ![Adam\_Morris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Adam\_Morris](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Adam_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/4 "2014-05-06T16:45:41Z")
> Hi all, > > My understanding of delegate\_to is that it runs the task on the designated host, once for each host in the current group, and with the current host’s variables. > > msg: Destination /srv/sp/web/core not writable > > The directory does exist on the delegate\_to host: > > (sp\_devops)GoatRodeo:devops anderson$ ssh -i keys/hoopdy.id\_rsa ubuntu@ > ubuntu@ip-10-2-1-174:~$ ls /srv/sp/web/core > [… stuff …] > > If I add the directory to the _local_ machine running Ansible, the script finds it. This is telling me that the template command is actually trying to copy to the local machine and not the delegate\_to machine. It’s not saying that the directory doesn’t exist, it’s saying that it is not writable, do you have write permission to /srv/sp/web/core on the delegate\_to machine? ls -ld /srv/sp/web/core should show what I’m interested in… Adam ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Anderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Scott\_Anderson](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Scott_Anderson)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/5 "2014-05-06T17:32:28Z")
Imagine that was filled in with an actual IP in the log (I removed it for Teh Securityz). \<54.1.2.3\> PUT /var/folders/m4/mk3x6q\_50dj\_50jpx0763lm80000gn/T/tmpB7\_vdY TO /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399297955.21-265740010111281/copy The task is currently running with a host of 127.0.0.1. \<54.1.2.3\> would not be there if the variable being used for delegate\_to were empty. Another clue: /Users/anderson only exists on my local machine, not on the remote machine (which is 12.04 LTS, not OSX). The task is running a PUT to the local machine, not 54.1.2.3. Regards, -scott ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Anderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Scott\_Anderson](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Scott_Anderson)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/6 "2014-05-06T18:30:53Z")
The directory exists and is writable (it’s owned by ubuntu) on the delegate\_to machine. It does not exist on localhost. As an additional test, I added the directory on localhost and made it writable, at which point the task no longer failed indicating that it is running on localhost and not on the delegate\_to IP: (sp\_devops)GoatRodeo:devops anderson$ sudo chmod aoug+w /srv/sp/web/core Password: (sp\_devops)GoatRodeo:devops anderson$ ls -Faxl /srv/sp/web/core total 0 drwxrwxrwx 2 root wheel 68 May 6 14:14 ./ drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 May 6 14:14 …/ TASK: [debug msg=“retrieved\_instance.public\_ip is {{retrieved\_instance.public\_ip}}”] \*\*\* ok: [127.0.0.1] =\> { “msg”: “retrieved\_instance.public\_ip is 54.215.196.1” } TASK: [Copy override file for database information] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* \<54.215.196.1\> EXEC [‘/bin/sh’, ‘-c’, ‘mkdir -p $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463 && chmod a+rx $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463 && echo $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463’] \<54.215.196.1\> EXEC [‘/bin/sh’, ‘-c’, u’rc=0; [-r “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”] || rc=2; [-f “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”] || rc=1; [-d “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”] && echo 3 && exit 0; (/usr/bin/md5sum /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/sbin/md5sum -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/digest -a md5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/sbin/md5 -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/md5 -n /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/bin/md5 -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/csum -h MD5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/bin/csum -h MD5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (echo “${rc} /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”)‘] \<54.215.196.1\> PUT /var/folders/m4/mk3x6q\_50dj\_50jpx0763lm80000gn/T/tmp68MzNT TO /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463/source \<54.215.196.1\> PUT /var/folders/m4/mk3x6q\_50dj\_50jpx0763lm80000gn/T/tmpZah9PU TO /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463/copy \<54.215.196.1\> EXEC [’/bin/sh’, ‘-c’, ‘/usr/bin/python /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463/copy; rm -rf /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463/ \>/dev/null 2\>&1’] changed: [127.0.0.1] =\> {“changed”: true, “dest”: “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”, “gid”: 20, “group”: “staff”, “md5sum”: “f1f374872c6ddab3a2b38c1176df2a0a”, “mode”: “0644”, “owner”: “anderson”, “size”: 312, “src”: “/Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399400706.01-38026459986463/source”, “state”: “file”, “uid”: 501} The task is clearly running on 127.0.0.1 and not 54.215.196.1. The “is not writable” error apparently is returned for both non-existent and non-writable directories. Regards, -scott ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Anderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Scott\_Anderson](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Scott_Anderson)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/delegate-to-running-on-unexpected-host/15159/7 "2014-05-06T18:36:20Z")
For extra special fun I made up an IP address and used it in delegate\_to: - name: Copy override file for database information template: \> src=templates/user\_data.json dest={{ aws\_settings\_override\_file\_path }} delegate\_to: 34.142.33.2 (sp\_devops)GoatRodeo:devops anderson$ ping 34.142.33.2 PING 34.142.33.2 (34.142.33.2): 56 data bytes Request timeout for icmp\_seq 0 TASK: [Copy override file for database information] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* \<34.142.33.2\> EXEC [‘/bin/sh’, ‘-c’, ‘mkdir -p $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399401156.95-113268015974642 && chmod a+rx $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399401156.95-113268015974642 && echo $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399401156.95-113268015974642’] \<34.142.33.2\> EXEC [‘/bin/sh’, ‘-c’, u’rc=0; [-r “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”] || rc=2; [-f “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”] || rc=1; [-d “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”] && echo 3 && exit 0; (/usr/bin/md5sum /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/sbin/md5sum -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/digest -a md5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/sbin/md5 -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/md5 -n /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/bin/md5 -q /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/usr/bin/csum -h MD5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (/bin/csum -h MD5 /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json 2\>/dev/null) || (echo “${rc} /srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”)‘] \<34.142.33.2\> PUT /var/folders/m4/mk3x6q\_50dj\_50jpx0763lm80000gn/T/tmpBAaq73 TO /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399401156.95-113268015974642/file \<34.142.33.2\> EXEC [’/bin/sh’, ‘-c’, ‘/usr/bin/python /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399401156.95-113268015974642/file; rm -rf /Users/anderson/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1399401156.95-113268015974642/ \>/dev/null 2\>&1’] ok: [127.0.0.1] =\> {“changed”: false, “gid”: 20, “group”: “staff”, “mode”: “0644”, “owner”: “anderson”, “path”: “/srv/sp/web/core/AWS\_OVERRIDE.json”, “size”: 312, “state”: “file”, “uid”: 501} 🙂 Regards, -scott