# Playbook execution from Ansible Host - cron **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Created:** [February 9, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792 "2024-02-09T18:24:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adam-int](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@adam-int](https://forum.ansible.com/u/adam-int)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/1 "2024-02-09T18:24:45Z")
Hello, Have been using Ansible, but only scratching the surface. I’m new to this community. I know you can schedule CRON jobs on remote systems with a playbook. I already do this. But is it possible to run an ansible-playbook command FROM the Ansible host itself, with Cron? For example, I can run the command (From the Ansible server) such as "ansible-playbook MyPlaybooknameHere.yml Works perfect. However, I want to run this on a schedule from the Ansible server via cron. ```auto 08 13 * * * /usr/bin/ansible-playbook /etc/ansible/playbooks/MyPlaybooknameHere.yml ``` So far, it doesn’t appear to be executing via cron. Am I missing something? Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Dustin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dustin/32/2573_2.png) [@Dustin](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dustin)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/2 "2024-02-09T19:29:53Z")
If you have AWX or AAP (AKA: Tower), you create execution schedules for jobs. If you are executing from CLI on a Linux/Unix system, you should be able to create a cron job that runs on whatever schedule you need. Instead of executing the cron job as you have called out, I would probably have the cron job call a bash script that sets up the working environment (python virtual environment, environment variables, working directory, etc.). At the end of the bash script, have it call the ansible-playbook. Lastly, I’d setup the cron job to log all stdout and stderr to a log file so you can see the results of the daily executions. ---
**Author:** ![adam-int](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@adam-int](https://forum.ansible.com/u/adam-int)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/3 "2024-02-11T16:07:07Z")
Thanks for the feedback. Do you have an example bash script to do this? I’m new to this and a working example to work off of would be perfect for me to learn. Do you have anything like this you’d be willing to share? ---
**Author:** ![Dustin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dustin/32/2573_2.png) [@Dustin](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dustin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/4 "2024-02-12T13:03:22Z")
This is a very rough, very incomplete bash script you could use as a start. ```bash # Set your environment variables export ANSIBLE_VAULT_PASSWORD_FILE=/home/dustin/venvs/IaC/my_ansible_vault_password.txt export ANSIBLE_CONTROLLER=https://myawx.mydomain.com export ANSIBLE_USERNAME=myansibleusername # Change the current working directory to your playbook folder cd /path/to/playbooks_directory # Execute your playbook /path/to/ansible-playbook /path/to/myplaybook.yml -i /path/to/inventory ``` **Notes** : - If you are unsure where your “ansible-playbook” executable is located, use the **which** command from the same environment you normally run your playbooks manually. ```bash (IaC) dustin@mypc:~/venvs/IaC$ which ansible-playbook /home/dustin/venvs/IaC/bin/ansible-playbook (IaC) dustin@mypc:~/venvs/IaC$ ``` - Make sure to set the “execute” permission on the bash script file to avoid any permissions issues with crontab. - When starting from the beginning, it is very tempting to just put your passwords in clear text in your scripts. What I put in the bash example above hints at how you can put your necessary passwords in an ansible-vault. Definitely put the effort into understanding how ansible-vault works, and find a way to keep from putting your passwords into files as clear text. ---
**Author:** ![Dustin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dustin/32/2573_2.png) [@Dustin](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dustin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/5 "2024-02-13T15:22:10Z")
Let me know how this turns out. If it works for you, mind marking my answer as the solution? Thank you, Dustin ---
**Author:** ![adam-int](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@adam-int](https://forum.ansible.com/u/adam-int)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/6 "2024-02-13T17:56:45Z")
So just to test, I tried the following: ```auto #!/bin/bash # Change the current working directory to your playbook folder cd /etc/ansible/playbooks # Execute your playbook /usr/bin/ansible-playbook /etc/ansible/playbooks/qualify_trunk.yml ``` Then changed the permissions to the appropriate execute permissions, etc. I can run the file directly on the Ansible host, and it works fine. But it does not work via a cronjob. Cronjob example below. ```auto 44 12 * * * /usr/bin/bash /etc/ansible/scripts/Cron_Qualify_Trunk.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 ``` I realize the above are very simplistic, but just to see if the thing will work, I made it very simple. Any ideas what I am missing? ---
**Author:** ![ptn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/ptn/32/481_2.png) [@ptn](https://forum.ansible.com/u/ptn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/7 "2024-02-13T19:28:55Z")
Hi, > it does not work via a cronjob What hints you on that ? Have you check crond (or the cron service you’re using) logs ? Things to check: - Permissions on your script - If crond service is running - If user running your cron is member of the appropriate group.s - selinux context of you cron file Also, what if you run it with: `run-parts -v` ? ---
**Author:** ![Dustin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dustin/32/2573_2.png) [@Dustin](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dustin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/8 "2024-02-13T19:56:45Z")
Just to confirm, your cron schedule `44 12 * * *` means you want to run the cron every day at 44 minutes past noon, local time of the server. Here’s a good link for building cron schedules: [Cron Schedule Builder](https://crontab.guru/#44_0_*_*_*) ## **Some things I would check:** Is the cron daemon running on the server? > **Check Cron Deamon Status** > > Look for the running process using `ps -ef | grep crond`. If it is running, you’ll see it in the listed processes > > ```bash > [my_server~]$ps -ef | grep crond > root 1699 1 0 2022 ? 00:01:28 /usr/sbin/crond -n > [my_server~]$ > > ``` * * * Is the server time correct. Maybe it is running, but not at the time you think it is. > **Check Server Time** > > Your cron says it will run 44 minutes after noon, local time to the server. > Use the `date` command to validate the time on the server. > > ```bash > [my_server~]$date > Tue Feb 13 14:45:37 EST 2024 > [my_server~]$ > > ``` * * * Are their errors when you run your command manually. > **Run Manually and Look For Errors** > > Simply copy your entire cron command, excluding the schedule `44 12 * * *`, and paste it into the CLI terminal. > See if there are any errors or helpful information displayed. * * * Write all STDOUT and STDERR to a log file and look for errors there. > **Write all output to log** > > Instead of dumping all output to null with `>/dev/null 2>&1`, create a log file to contain your cron results and dump all logs there. > Then, you can check that log to see if it ever executed and if it had any errors during execution. > > ```bash > 0 0 * * * /bin/bash /path/to/my/script.sh &>> /path/to/log/file.txt > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![jrglynn2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/94ad74/32.png) [@jrglynn2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jrglynn2)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/9 "2024-02-13T20:36:23Z")
I run ansible jobs from crontab all the time, without making a shell script. Here is a simple example: ```auto 10 0 * * * cd /opt/ansible && ansible-playbook /opt/ansible/playbooks/playbook-name.yml ``` The key for me was to make sure that I changed directory into my ansible directory (`/opt/ansible`) before then running the playbook. ---
**Author:** ![adam-int](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@adam-int](https://forum.ansible.com/u/adam-int)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/10 "2024-02-13T20:55:02Z")
I’ll give that a try as well. having trouble getting it to run, and I have a feeling it is because of changing to the ansible folder. I installed ansible using pip, so not sure how to get the location properly. using “which ansible-playbook” gives me a location, but that does not seem to work. ---
**Author:** ![adam-int](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@adam-int](https://forum.ansible.com/u/adam-int)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/11 "2024-02-13T20:57:02Z")
Thank you for your help! It is working now, and I am able to have it log properly as well. However the script does not get written to if I do it from the cronjob. If I direct the output to a log file from inside the script, it properly outputs to the log file. This has been very helpful and a learning exercise for me. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![jrglynn2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/94ad74/32.png) [@jrglynn2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/jrglynn2)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/12 "2024-02-14T01:26:00Z")
Just an FYI, I use old school methods with my cron jobs to make logs - I just pipe the results into a log file. Not elegant, but effective lol. The earlier example was a simplified version, but here’s one I use that outputs into a log: `10 0 * * * cd /opt/ansible && echo `date` >> /var/log/playbook-name.log && ansible-playbook /opt/ansible/playbooks/playbook-name.yml >> /var/log/playbook-name.log` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/playbook-execution-from-ansible-host-cron/3792/13 "2024-03-15T01:26:08Z")
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