# Lineinfile - replacing regex instead of placing text after insertafter **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [May 28, 2017, 9:53am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586 "2017-05-28T09:53:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Listing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Listing](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Listing)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:53am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/1 "2017-05-28T09:53:05Z")
Hi guys, I have some problems with the lineinfile module. I try to add ‘inserted\_text’ after ‘#insertbelow’ when ‘this’ has been found in /etc/ansible/lineinfile/lol. This is my task: ---
**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:** [May 28, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/2 "2017-05-28T17:38:08Z")
That is not how lineinfile work. It searches for a string, and replace it or add the line. To do this you would need to combine find module to search for "this" and then run lineinfile on the file. ---
**Author:** ![Listing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Listing](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Listing)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/3 "2017-05-29T14:26:53Z")
Hi Kai, Thank you for your reply. But what is the difference then between regexp and insertafter etc? Is regexp always being replaced? Or what is exactly the logic? ---
**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:** [May 30, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/4 "2017-05-30T07:02:21Z")
regexp: and insertafter: is separate features in lineinfile. When lineinfile find the regexp in regexp: it replaces this line with the string in line: If it can't find the regexp in regexp: the sting in line: is append to end of file(EOF). When lineinfile find the regexp in insertafter: it add the string in line: after this line, if it's not already exist. If it can't find the regexp in insertafter: the string in line: is append to end of file(EOF). These two feature is not meant to be combine in one task, but used in separate tasks. ---
**Author:** ![Listing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Listing](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Listing)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/5 "2017-05-30T11:33:23Z")
Very clear, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Listing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Listing](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Listing)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/6 "2017-07-15T15:19:30Z")
Hi Kai, When looking in ansible-doc lineinfile, it does combine both regexp and insertafter in one task: - lineinfile: path: /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf regexp: '^Listen ’ insertafter: '^#Listen ’ line: 'Listen 8080 Is this an error in the docs or are we (I?) missing something? ---
**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:** [July 22, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/lineinfile-replacing-regex-instead-of-placing-text-after-insertafter/24586/7 "2017-07-22T13:14:29Z")
If you remove the regexp line it will work exactly the same.