# Help: cant get Ansible blockinfile to work **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [October 29, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561 "2019-10-29T13:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Michael3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@Michael3](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/1 "2019-10-29T13:11:23Z")
Hello, I am having a challenge removing a block of lines in a configuration file after an uninstall using Ansible module blockinfile. I have tried multiple variations(of indentation) after block: | but they’re all a miss. In the configuration file, the first line is preceded by 2 tabs(8spaces) and this appears to be what I’m not getting right in my code - name: Policy Cleanup blockinfile: path: /opt/install\_content/test/wlm.config.xml state: absent block: | Pls help. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vandyy\_Vines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Vandyy\_Vines](https://forum.ansible.com/u/The_Vandyy_Vines)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/2 "2019-10-29T13:14:07Z")
I think you need to add , regex for better filtering the lines to be removed. ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Visser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@Dick\_Visser](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dick_Visser)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/3 "2019-10-29T13:17:28Z")
But judging from the content the best option is probably the xml module: [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/xml\_module.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/xml_module.html) Once you've set that up properly, it's way more robust and will do exactly what you're looking for. It does depend on the entire xml file though - if you can post that? Dick ---
**Author:** ![Michael3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@Michael3](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/4 "2019-10-29T13:23:21Z")
Right, i thought so too, and so one of the variations i tried, with and without single and double quotes, was: - name: Policy Cleanup blockinfile: path: /opt/install\_content/test/wlm.config.xml state: absent block: | \s\*\n\s\*\n\s\*\\n\s\*\\n\s\*\ This did not work. Except I’m not specifying it correctly ---
**Author:** ![Michael3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@Michael3](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/5 "2019-10-29T13:39:02Z")
@Visser, sure. \ ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Visser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@Dick\_Visser](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dick_Visser)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/6 "2019-10-29T14:32:27Z")
Thanks - but it looks like your XML file has accidentally been truncated? I'd expect a closing WLMConfigFile tag... ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Visser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@Dick\_Visser](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dick_Visser)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/7 "2019-10-29T14:48:07Z")
OK assuming your file is valid XML and is not missing the above mentioned end tag, try this:    - name: Policy Cleanup      xml:        path: /opt/install\_content/test/wlm.config.xml        xpath: /WLMConfigFile/Policies/Policy[@name="DataClickPolicy"]        state: absent Note that you'd have to "pip install lxml" or equivalent for the xml module to work. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vandyy\_Vines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Vandyy\_Vines](https://forum.ansible.com/u/The_Vandyy_Vines)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/8 "2019-10-29T16:55:31Z")
Nice ---
**Author:** ![Michael3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@Michael3](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/9 "2019-10-29T18:43:58Z")
Visser, you are right, i truncated the file but i am including the complete file below this reply. Using the solution you provided got me somewhere but i noticed that some changes in the file with respect to change from double to single quotes and character spacing. Here is a screenshot of the file after running the playbook compared to the original file on the right. I highlighted the few changes. I am not experienced with xml and not sure what effect this would have. ![img.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/5/58e72301af5acfcd7067d0bd9f54b2ef9719bee1.jpeg) \ ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Visser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@Dick\_Visser](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dick_Visser)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/help-cant-get-ansible-blockinfile-to-work/31561/10 "2019-10-29T21:29:12Z")
Those changes are to ensure compatibility and consistency, and are harmless. Dick > **(attachments)** > > ![img.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/5/58e72301af5acfcd7067d0bd9f54b2ef9719bee1.jpeg)