# Need to Extract data from the Ansible debug out put **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Tags:** vmware\ **Created:** [November 13, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652 "2019-11-13T16:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rakesh\_Parida](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rakesh\_Parida](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Rakesh_Parida)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/1 "2019-11-13T16:40:06Z")
Hi , I have an playbook for Vmware Powercli : tasks: - name: Run PowerShellGet VM script command: pwsh /tmp/vcsa\_getVM.ps1 ignore\_errors: yes changed\_when: false register: powershell\_output\_getVM - name: Debug GetVM output debug: msg: - “{{ powershell\_output\_getVM.stdout\_lines }}” Out put: TASK [Debug GetVM output] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ok: [localhost] =\> { “msg”: [ [ “”, “Name PowerState Num CPUs MemoryGB”, “---- ---------- -------- --------”, “BVI12DS2 PoweredOn 4 4.000”, “BVI13PL1 PoweredOn 8 16.000”, “BVI06ID1 PoweredOn 4 4.000”, “BVI14PL1 PoweredOn 8 16.000”, “BVI10VA1 PoweredOn 4 4.000”, “BVI13CS1 PoweredOn 4 8.000”, I want my o/p should only be list of the following: BVI12DS2 BVI13PL1 BVI06ID1 BVI14PL1 BVI10VA1 BVI13CS1 ---
**Author:** ![sdoran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@sdoran](https://forum.ansible.com/u/sdoran)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/2 "2019-11-13T19:10:58Z")
Rakesh, Either massage the data with a shell task using grep and cut, or write a custom info module in order to manipulate the data in Python. This shell task might get you what you need, then use the value of 'stdout\_lines'. - shell: pwsh /tmp/vcsa\_getVM.ps1 | grep -Ev '^(Name|-+)' | cut -d ' ' -f 1 ---
**Author:** ![jborean](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jborean/32/1525_2.png) [@jborean](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jborean)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/3 "2019-11-13T20:14:39Z")
You could use something like grep to extract it but you could also add the following in your powershell script ` > Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name ` This must come after your Get-\* cmdlet call, i.e. ‘Get-VMs | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name’. This works by taking in the output from the cmdlet and outputting only the values of the Name property. Thanks Jordan ---
**Author:** ![Akasurde](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/akasurde/32/230_2.png) [@Akasurde](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Akasurde)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/4 "2019-11-14T04:27:51Z")
Hi Rakesh, I agree with Sam and Jordan. You can take a look at this custom VMware powershell modules to write your own - [https://github.com/Akasurde/ansible-vmware\_update\_manager](https://github.com/Akasurde/ansible-vmware_update_manager) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Rakesh\_Parida](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rakesh\_Parida](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Rakesh_Parida)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/5 "2019-11-14T13:17:31Z")
Hi Jordan , Thanks for your suggestion . It worked for some extent , now iam getting the o/p as below. Actually i am new to PowerCLI so dont have much idea on PowerCLi cmdlets, But is there a way to remove the inverted commas and Comma using the PowerCLi Commad. “BVI12DS2”, “BVI13PL1”, “BVI06ID1”, “BVI14PL1”, “BVI10VA1”, “BVI13CS1”, “BVI03CA1”, “BVI13SC2”, “BVI12DB2”, “BVI05CS2”, “BVI04OR2”, Is there a way to remove the Special charecters using the command input. ---
**Author:** ![Rakesh\_Parida](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rakesh\_Parida](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Rakesh_Parida)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/6 "2019-11-14T13:21:10Z")
Hi Abhijeet and Sam, Actually the Vcenter in my organisation has policy enforced not have SSL connectivity , so i cld nt use ansible vm-modules . That is why i had to switch to PWSH using ansible. Jordan’s Suggestion worked . But i need to figure out how to remove special characters from o/p using PowerCLi cmds ---
**Author:** ![Rakesh\_Parida](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rakesh\_Parida](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Rakesh_Parida)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/7 "2019-11-14T13:23:05Z")
Here is my script whcih i am using: Connect-VIServer -Server x.x.x.x -User:xxxxx.com\yyyy -Password:zzzz | Out-Null $result = Get-VM -Name BV\* |Where-object {$\_.powerstate -eq “poweredon”} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name $result ---
**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:** [November 14, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/need-to-extract-data-from-the-ansible-debug-out-put/31652/8 "2019-11-14T13:25:25Z")
If you want to remove “” via ansible , thats possible