# remove files from host that are not in a dictionary **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [January 10, 2017, 12:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/remove-files-from-host-that-are-not-in-a-dictionary/23416 "2017-01-10T12:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mekonhead100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@mekonhead100](https://forum.ansible.com/u/mekonhead100)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 12:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/remove-files-from-host-that-are-not-in-a-dictionary/23416/1 "2017-01-10T12:21:56Z")
I’m trying to remove config files from a host if they are no longer managed by ansible. The ansible managed files are in a dictionary similar to the following : config\_files: vhost01: servername: vhost01 domain: [company.com](http://company.com) vhost02: servername: vhost02 domain: [company.com](http://company.com) And get added to the host as follows : - name: Add ansible managed vhost config files. template: src: vhost.j2 dest: “{{ vhost\_path }}/{{ item.key }}.conf” mode: 0644 with\_dict: “{{ config\_files }}” But when attempting to remove them with the following it does not work : - name: Build list of ansible managed files. shell: echo “{{ item.key }}.conf” with\_dict: “{{ config\_files }}” register: managed\_files - name: Build list of config files on host. shell: ls -1 “{{ vhost\_path }}” register: vhost\_config\_files - name: Remove unmanaged vhost config files. file: path: “{{ vhost\_path }}/{{ item }}” state: absent with\_items: vhost\_config\_files.stdout\_lines when: item not in managed\_files.stdout\_lines The error is as follows : Unable to look up a name or access an attribute in template string ({% if item not in managed\_files.stdout\_lines %} True {% else %} False {% endif %}) Here is the output of managed\_files : {“msg”: “All items completed”, “changed”: true, “results”: [{“\_ansible\_parsed”: true, “changed”: true, “stdout”: “vhost02.conf”, “\_ansible\_item\_result”: true, “warnings”: , “delta”: “0:00:00.002037”, “stdout\_lines”: [“vhost02.conf”], “end”: “2017-01-10 12:14:06.090689”, “\_ansible\_no\_log”: false, “start”: “2017-01-10 12:14:06.088652”, “cmd”: “echo "vhost02.conf"”, “item”: {“key”: “vhost02”, “value”: {“servername”: “vhost02”, “domain”: “[company.com](http://company.com)”}}, “stderr”: “”, “rc”: 0, “invocation”: {“module\_name”: “command”, “module\_args”: {“warn”: true, “executable”: null, “\_uses\_shell”: true, “\_raw\_params”: “echo "vhost02.conf"”, “removes”: null, “creates”: null, “chdir”: null}}}, {“\_ansible\_parsed”: true, “changed”: true, “stdout”: “vhost01.conf”, “\_ansible\_item\_result”: true, “warnings”: , “delta”: “0:00:00.002117”, “stdout\_lines”: [“vhost01.conf”], “end”: “2017-01-10 12:14:06.253953”, “\_ansible\_no\_log”: false, “start”: “2017-01-10 12:14:06.251836”, “cmd”: “echo "vhost01.conf"”, “item”: {“key”: “vhost01”, “value”: {“servername”: “vhost01”, “domain”: “[company.com](http://company.com)”}}, “stderr”: “”, “rc”: 0, “invocation”: {“module\_name”: “command”, “module\_args”: {“warn”: true, “executable”: null, “\_uses\_shell”: true, “\_raw\_params”: “echo "vhost01.conf"”, “removes”: null, “creates”: null, “chdir”: null}}}]} Here is the output of vhost\_config\_files : {“start”: “2017-01-10 12:14:06.895256”, “delta”: “0:00:00.002718”, “cmd”: “ls -1 "/etc/nginx/conf.d"”, “end”: “2017-01-10 12:14:06.897974”, “stderr”: “”, “stdout”: “dummy.conf\nvhost01.conf\nvhost02.conf\nvhost03.conf”, “stdout\_lines”: [“dummy.conf”, “vhost01.conf”, “vhost02.conf”, “vhost03.conf”], “changed”: true, “rc”: 0, “warnings”: } I would expect it to remove dummy.conf and vhost03.conf from the host. Any help on how to do this would be greatly appreciated. I am running Ansible version 2.2.0.0 ---
**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:** [January 11, 2017, 10:28am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/remove-files-from-host-that-are-not-in-a-dictionary/23416/2 "2017-01-11T10:28:34Z")
> I'm trying to remove config files from a host if they are no longer managed > by ansible. > > The ansible managed files are in a dictionary similar to the following : > > config\_files: >   vhost01: >     servername: vhost01 >     domain: company.com >   vhost02: >     servername: vhost02 >     domain: company.com > > And get added to the host as follows : > > - name: Add ansible managed vhost config files. >   template: >     src: vhost.j2 >     dest: "{{ vhost\_path }}/{{ item.key }}.conf" >     mode: 0644 >   with\_dict: "{{ config\_files }}" > > But when attempting to remove them with the following it does not work : > > - name: Build list of ansible managed files. >   shell: echo "{{ item.key }}.conf" >   with\_dict: "{{ config\_files }}" >   register: managed\_files > > - name: Build list of config files on host. >   shell: ls -1 "{{ vhost\_path }}" >   register: vhost\_config\_files > > - name: Remove unmanaged vhost config files. >   file: >     path: "{{ vhost\_path }}/{{ item }}" >     state: absent >   with\_items: vhost\_config\_files.stdout\_lines >   when: item not in managed\_files.stdout\_lines When you are using register and with\_dict together, all the result will be a list in managed\_files.results, one item in the list for every iteration. So the managed\_files.stdout\_lines doesn't exist. > The error is as follows : > > Unable to look up a name or access an attribute in template string ({% if > item not in managed\_files.stdout\_lines %} True {% else %} False {% endif %}) > > Here is the output of managed\_files : > > {"msg": "All items completed", "changed": true, "results": > [{"\_ansible\_parsed": true, "changed": true, "stdout": "vhost02.conf", > "\_ansible\_item\_result": true, "warnings": , "delta": "0:00:00.002037", > "stdout\_lines": ["vhost02.conf"], "end": "2017-01-10 12:14:06.090689", > "\_ansible\_no\_log": false, "start": "2017-01-10 12:14:06.088652", "cmd": > "echo \"vhost02.conf\"", "item": {"key": "vhost02", "value": {"servername": > "vhost02", "domain": "company.com"}}, "stderr": "", "rc": 0, "invocation": > {"module\_name": "command", "module\_args": {"warn": true, "executable": > null, "\_uses\_shell": true, "\_raw\_params": "echo \"vhost02.conf\"", > "removes": null, "creates": null, "chdir": null}}}, {"\_ansible\_parsed": > true, "changed": true, "stdout": "vhost01.conf", "\_ansible\_item\_result": > true, "warnings": , "delta": "0:00:00.002117", "stdout\_lines": > ["vhost01.conf"], "end": "2017-01-10 12:14:06.253953", "\_ansible\_no\_log": > false, "start": "2017-01-10 12:14:06.251836", "cmd": "echo > \"vhost01.conf\"", "item": {"key": "vhost01", "value": {"servername": > "vhost01", "domain": "company.com"}}, "stderr": "", "rc": 0, "invocation": > {"module\_name": "command", "module\_args": {"warn": true, "executable": > null, "\_uses\_shell": true, "\_raw\_params": "echo \"vhost01.conf\"", > "removes": null, "creates": null, "chdir": null}}}]} > > Here is the output of vhost\_config\_files : > > {"start": "2017-01-10 12:14:06.895256", "delta": "0:00:00.002718", "cmd": > "ls -1 \"/etc/nginx/conf.d\"", "end": "2017-01-10 12:14:06.897974", > "stderr": "", "stdout": > "dummy.conf\nvhost01.conf\nvhost02.conf\nvhost03.conf", "stdout\_lines": > ["dummy.conf", "vhost01.conf", "vhost02.conf", "vhost03.conf"], "changed": > true, "rc": 0, "warnings": } I recommend using - debug: var=managed\_files and - debug: var=vhost\_config\_files Then you get it in more human readable format, and you can easily the structure of the variable.