# question about mode=preserve with file module **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [August 20, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649 "2020-08-20T19:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Martey\_Dodoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Martey\_Dodoo](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Martey_Dodoo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/1 "2020-08-20T19:34:20Z")
Hi everyone, I’m having some issues using the [“mode” parameter on the file module](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/file_module.html#parameter-mode) to change ownership of an existing directory without modifying its permissions. For example: > - name: use preserve mode > file: > path=/tmp/test > owner=www-data > mode=preserve > state=directory > become: true Based on the documentation, I would assume that this would “preserve” the directory’s existing permissions while changing its owner. Instead, it fails with “mode must be in octal or symbolic form” / “bad symbolic permission for mode: preserve”. I’ve managed to get the behavior I need by using an empty string for the mode parameter, but I am unsure why “preserve” doesn’t work. Is this a bug in the file module? Am I reading the documentation wrong? Thanks, Martey ---
**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:** [August 20, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/2 "2020-08-20T19:52:33Z")
Not sure it makes any difference but can you try to use the colon yaml syntax for the parameters ---
**Author:** ![Martey\_Dodoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Martey\_Dodoo](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Martey_Dodoo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/3 "2020-08-20T20:17:26Z")
> Not sure it makes any difference but can you try to use the colon yaml syntax for the parameters Using standard YAML syntax instead of key=value displays the same error message. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/4 "2020-08-21T03:12:29Z")
ansible --version? ---
**Author:** ![racke](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/racke/32/4767_2.png) [@racke](https://forum.ansible.com/u/racke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/5 "2020-08-21T05:36:57Z")
> Hi everyone, > > I'm having some issues using the "mode" parameter on the file module > \<[https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/file\_module.html#parameter-mode>](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/file_module.html#parameter-mode>); to change ownership of an existing > directory without modifying its permissions. For example: > > > - name: use preserve mode > > file: > > path=/tmp/test > > owner=www-data > > mode=preserve > > state=directory > > become: true > > Based on the documentation, I would assume that this would "preserve" the directory's existing permissions while > changing its owner. Instead, it fails with "mode must be in octal or symbolic form" / "bad symbolic permission for mode: > preserve". > > I've managed to get the behavior I need by using an empty string for the mode parameter, but I am unsure why "preserve" > doesn't work. Is this a bug in the file module? Am I reading the documentation wrong? Hello Martey, my reading of the documentation is that "preserve" applies only when you are using the "src" parameter. For example when you are creating a symlink. Regards           Racke ---
**Author:** ![Markus\_Falb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Markus\_Falb](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Markus_Falb)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/6 "2020-08-21T14:54:28Z")
have a look at this comment [https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/71377#issuecomment-677892112](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/71377#issuecomment-677892112) according to that comment, it is not intended to work with file. kind regards, markus ---
**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/question-about-mode-preserve-with-file-module/33649/7 "2020-08-21T21:14:37Z")
Martey, > ... the "mode" parameter on the file module to change ownership of > an existing directory without modifying its permissions. For > example: > > - name: use preserve mode >   file: >     path=/tmp/test >     owner=www-data >     mode=preserve >     state=directory >   become: true When "state=directory" the parameter mode says "The permissions the resulting file or directory should have". There is no reason to use "mode=preserve" if you don't want to change the mode. Simply remove the line   - name: use preserve mode     file:       path=/tmp/test       owner=www-data       state=directory     become: true