# Escaping $ inside a variable **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001 "2012-10-19T21:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Janis\_Gengeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Janis\_Gengeris](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Janis_Gengeris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/1 "2012-10-19T21:08:17Z")
I have variable defined in playbook like this: vars: - net\_status\_match\_02: “\[1\]+address ${service\_net\_ip}$” How to properly escape the ‘$’ sign? The backslash is not working for me. Thanks, –janis * * * 1. [:blank:] ---
**Author:** ![CWS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e495f1/32.png) [@CWS](https://forum.ansible.com/u/CWS)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/2 "2012-10-19T22:06:07Z")
You're probably wanting a double backslash. Or triple, I can never remember which. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_Hokka\_Zakriss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@Daniel\_Hokka\_Zakriss](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Daniel_Hokka_Zakriss)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/3 "2012-10-19T22:23:54Z")
Jānis Ģeņģeris wrote: > I have variable defined in playbook like this: > > vars: >    - net\_status\_match\_02: "^[[:blank:]]+address ${service\_net\_ip}\$" > > How to properly escape the '$' sign? The backslash is not working for me. That depends entirely on what you want to do with it. Ansible's variable replacer will not touch any $ that is not followed by a valid variable name. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Janis\_Gengeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Janis\_Gengeris](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Janis_Gengeris)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/4 "2012-10-20T09:17:42Z")
Somehow this is not working for me. Using this: - net\_status\_match\_02: “\[1\]+address ${service\_net\_ip}$” I get this error: Traceback (most recent call last): File “/home/j9/software/ansible/bin/ansible-playbook”, line 164, in sys.exit(main(sys.argv[1:])) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/bin/ansible-playbook”, line 135, in main pb.run() File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/playbook/ **init**.py”, line 170, in run play = Play(self, play\_ds, play\_basedir) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py”, line 83, in **init** self.\_tasks = self.\_load\_tasks(self.\_ds, ‘tasks’) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py”, line 123, in \_load\_tasks results.append(Task(self,x,module\_vars=task\_vars)) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py”, line 142, in **init** self.action = utils.template(None, self.action, self.module\_vars) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/utils.py”, line 390, in template text = varReplace(unicode(text), vars, expand\_lists=expand\_lists) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/utils.py”, line 309, in varReplace replacement = varReplace(replacement, vars, depth=depth+1, expand\_lists=expand\_lists) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/utils.py”, line 296, in varReplace m = \_varFind(raw) File “/home/j9/software/ansible/lib/ansible/utils.py”, line 249, in \_varFind if text[var\_start] == ‘{’: IndexError: string index out of range When using backslash escape: - net\_status\_match\_02: “\[2\]+address ${service\_net\_ip}$” This error: ERROR: Syntax Error while loading YAML script, /home/j9/cfg/ansible/playbooks/network\_config.yml Note: The error may actually appear before this position: line 31, column 68 - net\_status\_match\_02: “\[3\]+address ${service\_net\_ip}$” ^ * * * 1. [:blank:] 2. [:blank:] 3. [:blank:] ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/5 "2012-10-20T11:26:16Z")
Hi Jānis, Please make sure there's a bug filed in github for this. It looks like we need to improve the string replacement code. If you can paste as much of your playbook as possible into the ticket that would be great. (You will probably have to indent each line in github by four spaces to get it to render correctly in the browser.) [http://github.com/ansible/ansible](http://github.com/ansible/ansible), click on "issues". your problem \*MAY\* go away if you change that to $service\_net\_ip, but I can't be positive without trying it. In any event, paste the full playbook, redacting what you need to, and we can take a look. --Michael ---
**Author:** ![Kesten\_Broughton2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kesten\_Broughton2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kesten_Broughton2)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/6 "2013-12-10T21:48:12Z")
Is there a solution to this? I am trying to add to PATH and can’t keep ansible from evaluating a $ I’ve tried ‘$’ and several other things. I’m trying to achieve the following: MYPATH is an env variable on a remote host. I want to add a string defined in vars/main.yml to a line in .bash\_profile export PATH=$PATH:$MYPATH In full detail here - name: Add git scripts to .bash\_profile lineinfile: dest=“{{home\_prefix}}/{{ansible\_ssh\_user}}/.bash\_profile” regexp=“{{item.regexp}}” line=“{{item.line}}” with\_items: - { regexp: “roles/git/files”, line: ‘{{path\_to\_git\_extras}}’ } with path\_to\_git\_extras defined in vars/main.yml path\_to\_git\_extras: ‘PATH=\$PATH:\$ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/files’ # I thought jinja filters might work here but i get variable “string” undefined path\_to\_git\_extras: ‘{{string(“export PATH=$PATH:$ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/files”)}}’ The latter is what i really want. A function or something that says “Don’t evaluate anything inside here EVER” I didn’t see an issue on git. Still want one filed? kesten ---
**Author:** ![kahlil.hodgson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9bd4f/32.png) [@kahlil.hodgson](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kahlil.hodgson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/7 "2013-12-10T22:03:51Z")
does '\>' quoting help?     path\_to\_git\_extras: \>         PATH=$PATH:$ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/files K ---
**Author:** ![kesten\_broughton1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@kesten\_broughton1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kesten_broughton1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/8 "2013-12-11T18:13:43Z")
unfortunately no. with path\_to\_git\_extras: \> PATH=$PATH:$ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/files when the file gets templated to the remote, it contains the value of ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME evaluated on the local machine. The remote has the correct ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME path but it never gets a chance. I tried something new with jinja2 templating which i was sure would work but it seems that ansible $variable substitution happens in a peculiar way. I tried this in my file template, but still get the local $ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME evaluated. TEST 1 {% filter string %} export PATH=“$PATH:$ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/files” {% endfilter %} TEST2 Testing with upper, i see the export line uppercased except for the $ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME portion. {% filter upper %} export PATH=“$PATH:$ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/files” {% endfilter %} Result EXPORT PATH=“$PATH:/Users/kbroughton/21ct-ansible/ROLES/GIT/FILES” So it seems that in TEST2 that the jinja2 filter gets applied BEFORE the ansible variable substitution, but it appears that in TEST1 the jinja2 filter comes after, or is not being applied somehow. Peculiar. kesten ---
**Author:** ![kahlil.hodgson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9bd4f/32.png) [@kahlil.hodgson](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kahlil.hodgson)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/9 "2013-12-11T21:28:44Z")
How about the following:     path\_to\_git\_extras: "{{ 'EXPORT PATH=$' + 'PATH:' + '$' + 'ANSIBLE\_21CT\_HOME/roles/git/file' }}" Or something similar in a template. The problem will probably just go away once the old style '$' variable syntax is retired. K Kahlil (Kal) Hodgson GPG: C9A02289 Head of Technology (m) +61 (0) 4 2573 0382 DealMax Pty Ltd (w) +61 (0) 3 9008 5281 Suite 1415 401 Docklands Drive Docklands VIC 3008 Australia "All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can't get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer." -- IBM maintenance manual, 1925 ---
**Author:** ![kesten\_broughton1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@kesten\_broughton1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kesten_broughton1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/10 "2013-12-11T22:28:50Z")
Amazingly no! ansible catenates the strings, then evaluates it with the local variable. I wonder if there is an option that can be set that will allow the new behavior - {{ only with no $ vars - that can be used for now? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/escaping-inside-a-variable/12001/11 "2013-12-11T23:01:31Z")
Pretty sure this isn’t going through the local shell before getting to the git module. You can debug with setting ANSIBLE\_KEEP\_REMOTE\_FILES=1 in the environment and running with -vvv and looking at that module it outputs on the remote system. If you see that behavior, please file a ticket if you are seeing this on Ansible 1.4.X or higher.