# Reinstall package if config dir is missing or different? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [October 18, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/reinstall-package-if-config-dir-is-missing-or-different/28820 "2018-10-18T14:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mauricio\_Tavares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mauricio\_Tavares](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mauricio_Tavares)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/reinstall-package-if-config-dir-is-missing-or-different/28820/1 "2018-10-18T14:01:59Z")
As you know some packages install their config files/dir during the normal package installation (the first examples that popped in my mind are postfix, bind, and apache). I understand that if the configuration file I am editing using ansible is different than the one I providing (as file or template), it will be overwritten back into the desired state next time ansible is run. But, let's say one of the other files in that config file is missing. Or I was bored and deleted the entire config dir. How would I detect it? I take if I do detect I would then want to reinstall said package and then run my customization, right? ---
**Author:** ![S\_C\_Rigler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@S\_C\_Rigler](https://forum.ansible.com/u/S_C_Rigler)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/reinstall-package-if-config-dir-is-missing-or-different/28820/2 "2018-10-18T14:27:38Z")
Assuming you're using RPM, files that are marked "config" files in the package will not be overwritten by package upgrades (that's how you end up with ".rpmnew" files). But if you have missing files you can file them by looking at the output of "rpm -V". Then think of some creative way to trigger a reinstall of the package based on that. ---
**Author:** ![Mauricio\_Tavares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mauricio\_Tavares](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mauricio_Tavares)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/reinstall-package-if-config-dir-is-missing-or-different/28820/3 "2018-10-25T18:20:36Z")
> Assuming you're using RPM, files that are marked "config" files in the > package will not be overwritten by package upgrades (that's how you > end up with ".rpmnew" files). But if you have missing files you can > file them by looking at the output of "rpm -V". Then think of some > creative way to trigger a reinstall of the package based on that.       Let's make sure I understand what you are saying. If I have something like - name: Install package Foo   package:     name: "{{ foo\_packages }}"     update\_cache: yes     state: latest even though /etc/foo.conf is part of the package, deleting it will not trigger a reinstall because it will not be overwritten during an upgrade, right? If that is the case, I would need to do something like - name: Check if the Foo config is installed   stat:     path: "{{ Foo\_config }}"     register: foo\_config and then trigger an reinstall if foo\_config.stat.exists == False ---
**Author:** ![Mauricio\_Tavares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mauricio\_Tavares](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Mauricio_Tavares)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/reinstall-package-if-config-dir-is-missing-or-different/28820/4 "2018-11-02T16:15:04Z")
> \> > \> Assuming you're using RPM, files that are marked "config" files in the > \> package will not be overwritten by package upgrades (that's how you > \> end up with ".rpmnew" files). But if you have missing files you can > \> file them by looking at the output of "rpm -V". Then think of some > \> creative way to trigger a reinstall of the package based on that. > >       Let's make sure I understand what you are saying. If I have something like > > - name: Install package Foo >   package: >     name: "{{ foo\_packages }}" >     update\_cache: yes >     state: latest > > even though /etc/foo.conf is part of the package, deleting it will not > trigger a reinstall because it will not be overwritten during an > upgrade, right? If that is the case, I would need to do something like > > - name: Check if the Foo config is installed >   stat: >     path: "{{ Foo\_config }}" >     register: foo\_config > > and then trigger an reinstall if foo\_config.stat.exists == False       NVM, package ([https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/package\_module.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/package_module.html)) can't be forced. Yeah, I am trying to abstract as much as possible. I guess I will try to uninstall and then reinstall package manually ---
**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:** [November 3, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/reinstall-package-if-config-dir-is-missing-or-different/28820/5 "2018-11-03T22:44:04Z")
Example playbook below will do that. Initially it used the 'stat' module for each file, but since it's very common for packages to have hundreds of files that became too slow. So as a workaround I replaced it with a single command task that calls stat on all files at once. The Debian/RedHat test is very basic. Pass the package name as command line option ( -e package=httpd). - name: Ensure package is correctly installed   become: true   hosts: all   tasks:     - name: Ensure package is installed       package:         name: "{{ package }}"     - name: Find package's files       command: "{{ (ansible\_os\_family == 'Debian') | ternary( 'dpkg --listfiles', 'repoquery --list') }} {{ package }}"       register: pkg\_files       changed\_when: false     - name: Stat all files       command: "stat {{ pkg\_files.stdout\_lines | join(' ') }}"       changed\_when: false       failed\_when: false       register: stat\_all\_files     - name: Force reinstall       command: "{{ (ansible\_os\_family == 'Debian') | ternary( 'apt-get install --', 'yum -y ') }}reinstall {{ package }}"       args:         warn: false       when: stat\_all\_files.rc != 0 Dick