# How to save stdout\_lines to a file without losing the newlines **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [November 7, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973 "2016-11-07T15:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![actionmystique](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/actionmystique/32/1678_2.png) [@actionmystique](https://forum.ansible.com/u/actionmystique)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/1 "2016-11-07T15:07:36Z")
Hi everyone, Considering a variable {{ table.stdout\_lines ]] containing the following when printing it out on the terminal: TASK [save\_table : Printing the returned table] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [IOSv\_L2\_10] =\> { “table.stdout\_lines”: [ [ “Extended IP access list authorized-snmp-nms”, " 10 permit ip host 172.21.100.1 host 172.21.100.210 log", “Extended IP access list preauth\_ipv4\_acl (per-user)”, " 10 permit udp any any eq domain", " 20 permit tcp any any eq domain", " 30 permit udp any eq bootps any", " 40 permit udp any any eq bootpc", " 50 permit udp any eq bootpc any", " 60 deny ip any any", “IPv6 access list preauth\_ipv6\_acl (per-user)”, " permit udp any any eq domain sequence 10", " permit tcp any any eq domain sequence 20", " permit icmp any any nd-ns sequence 30", " permit icmp any any nd-na sequence 40", " permit icmp any any router-solicitation sequence 50", " permit icmp any any router-advertisement sequence 60", " permit icmp any any redirect sequence 70", " permit udp any eq 547 any eq 546 sequence 80", " permit udp any eq 546 any eq 547 sequence 90", " deny ipv6 any any sequence 100" ] ] } I need to save those lines into a local file, easy right? - name: Saving “{{ item }}” into local file local\_action: copy content=“{{ table.stdout\_lines }}” dest=“{{ dest\_file }}” Unfortunately, all newlines are lost rendering the file difficult to read: [[“Extended IP access list authorized-snmp-nms”, " 10 permit ip host 172.21.100.1 host 172.21.100.210 log", “Extended IP access list preauth\_ipv4\_acl (per-user)”, " 10 permit udp any any eq domain", " 20 permit tcp any any eq domain", " 30 permit udp any eq bootps any", " 40 permit udp any any eq bootpc", " 50 permit udp any eq bootpc any", " 60 deny ip any any", “IPv6 access list preauth\_ipv6\_acl (per-user)”, " permit udp any any eq domain sequence 10", " permit tcp any any eq domain sequence 20", " permit icmp any any nd-ns sequence 30", " permit icmp any any nd-na sequence 40", " permit icmp any any router-solicitation sequence 50", " permit icmp any any router-advertisement sequence 60", " permit icmp any any redirect sequence 70", " permit udp any eq 547 any eq 546 sequence 80", " permit udp any eq 546 any eq 547 sequence 90", " deny ipv6 any any sequence 100"]] Anyone has a brilliant simple idea to save {{ table.stdout\_lines }} with all newlines in the file? ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/2 "2016-11-07T15:38:42Z")
Yes, use table.stdout 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![j.r.hawkesworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@j.r.hawkesworth](https://forum.ansible.com/u/j.r.hawkesworth)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/3 "2016-11-07T15:41:05Z")
Have you tried the following? {{table.stdout\_lines|join(‘\n’) }} Not tested but sounds like it might do what you want. Jon ---
**Author:** ![actionmystique](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/actionmystique/32/1678_2.png) [@actionmystique](https://forum.ansible.com/u/actionmystique)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/4 "2016-11-07T16:17:31Z")
@Kai Stian Olstad: stdout adds literal ‘\n’ to each line @Jon: |join(‘\n’) has no effect on stdout\_lines However, if I combine both proposals into **table.stdout|join(‘\n’)**, it works! Thanks guys 😉 For instance: Mac Address Table ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/5 "2016-11-07T16:27:29Z")
That's strange, i use that all the time and get correct newlines. ---
**Author:** ![actionmystique](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/actionmystique/32/1678_2.png) [@actionmystique](https://forum.ansible.com/u/actionmystique)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/6 "2016-11-07T17:10:59Z")
I suppose it depends on how the data are returned by the target device, which is not a Linux server here, but a Cisco IOS networking device, which is a very specific beast. ---
**Author:** ![psprygada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@psprygada](https://forum.ansible.com/u/psprygada)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/7 "2016-11-07T18:42:28Z")
Write the stdout var instead. - name: Saving “{{ item }}” into local file local\_action: copy content=“{{ table.stdout[0] }}” dest=“{{ dest\_file }}” ---
**Author:** ![actionmystique](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/actionmystique/32/1678_2.png) [@actionmystique](https://forum.ansible.com/u/actionmystique)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/8 "2016-11-07T18:53:30Z")
Thanks, it’s even simpler and it seems to function correctly in **all cases**. ---
**Author:** ![actionmystique](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/actionmystique/32/1678_2.png) [@actionmystique](https://forum.ansible.com/u/actionmystique)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-save-stdout-lines-to-a-file-without-losing-the-newlines/22973/9 "2016-11-08T15:10:13Z")
@Peter Sprygada: I’m now facing a more complicated case where I have trouble accessing stdout[0]: - name: Fetching PACL\_Table on all L2 interfaces from the remote node ios\_command: provider: “{{ connections.ssh }}” commands: - “show run interface {{ net\_item.key }} | include ^interface|access-group” with\_dict: “{{ ansible\_net\_interfaces }}” when: net\_item.value.ipv4.address is not defined loop\_control: loop\_var: net\_item register: pacl\_tables - name: Printing pacl\_tables.results debug: var=pacl\_tables.results …leads to: ok: [IOSv\_L2\_10] =\> { “pacl\_tables.results”: [ { “\_ansible\_item\_label”: { “key”: “GigabitEthernet1/2”, “value”: { “bandwidth”: 1000000, “description”: “Connected to [u’IOSv\_Leaf\_16.actionmystique.net’] on its port [u’Gi0/0’]”, “duplex”: “Full”, “ipv4”: null, “lineprotocol”: "up (connected) ", “macaddress”: “0036.2586.7e06”, “mediatype”: “unknown media type”, “mtu”: 1500, “operstatus”: “up”, “type”: “iGbE” } }, “\_ansible\_item\_result”: true, “\_ansible\_no\_log”: false, “\_ansible\_parsed”: true, “changed”: false, “invocation”: { “module\_args”: { “auth\_pass”: “VALUE\_SPECIFIED\_IN\_NO\_LOG\_PARAMETER”, “authorize”: true, “commands”: [ “show run interface GigabitEthernet1/2 | include ^interface|access-group” ], “host”: “172.21.100.210”, “interval”: 1, “match”: “all”, “password”: “VALUE\_SPECIFIED\_IN\_NO\_LOG\_PARAMETER”, “port”: 22, “provider”: { “auth\_pass”: “VALUE\_SPECIFIED\_IN\_NO\_LOG\_PARAMETER”, “authorize”: true, “host”: “172.21.100.210”, “password”: “VALUE\_SPECIFIED\_IN\_NO\_LOG\_PARAMETER”, “port”: 22, “ssh\_keyfile”: “~/.ssh/id\_rsa”, “timeout”: 10, “transport”: “cli”, “username”: “admin”, “version”: 2 }, “retries”: 10, “ssh\_keyfile”: “/root/.ssh/id\_rsa”, “timeout”: 10, “transport”: “cli”, “use\_ssl”: true, “username”: “admin”, “validate\_certs”: true, “wait\_for”: null }, “module\_name”: “ios\_command” }, “net\_item”: { “key”: “GigabitEthernet1/2”, “value”: { “bandwidth”: 1000000, “description”: “Connected to [u’IOSv\_Leaf\_16.actionmystique.net’] on its port [u’Gi0/0’]”, “duplex”: “Full”, “ipv4”: null, “lineprotocol”: "up (connected) ", “macaddress”: “0036.2586.7e06”, “mediatype”: “unknown media type”, “mtu”: 1500, “operstatus”: “up”, “type”: “iGbE” } }, “stdout”: [ “show run interface GigabitEthernet1/2 | include ^interface|access-$terface GigabitEthernet1/2 | include ^interface|access-g oup\ninterface GigabitEthernet1/2” ], “stdout\_lines”: [ [ “show run interface GigabitEthernet1/2 | include ^interface|access-$terface GigabitEthernet1/2 | include ^interface|access-g oup”, “interface GigabitEthernet1/2” ] ], “warnings”: }, …repeated n times, for all found L2 interfaces. However, I cannot access stdout[0] for all these interfaces with: - name: Printing pacl\_tables.results.stdout debug: var=print\_item.stdout[0] with\_dict: “{{ pacl\_tables.results }}” loop\_control: loop\_var: print\_item … which leads to: fatal: [IOSv\_L2\_10]: FAILED! =\> {“failed”: true, “msg”: “with\_dict expects a dict”} How can we correctly access a table of results? (I’m not mentioning the issue with the strange result itself.)