# setting explicit remote shell **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [April 22, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/setting-explicit-remote-shell/32754 "2020-04-22T12:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![christian.tremel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@christian.tremel](https://forum.ansible.com/u/christian.tremel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/setting-explicit-remote-shell/32754/1 "2020-04-22T12:58:07Z")
hi all, strange little problem here, so i have this quite quirky role which removes all rpm’s from an aix system and rolls out a whole new rpm distribution. this also involves removal of the default python and installing a fallback python for ansible, but this all works and is already sorted out. per default the root user, which is used by ansible as the remote user has bash set as default shell. this is changed during play to ksh via the chsh command. the following environment/variables are set in the ansible role/play level. ` ansible\_shell\_executable: “/usr/bin/ksh” ansible\_shell\_interpreter: “/usr/bin/ksh” ansible\_python\_interpreter: “/opt/bin/python” SHELL: “/usr/bin/ksh” PATH: “/opt/bin:/opt/freeware/bin:{{ ansible\_env.PATH }}” LIBPATH: “/opt/lib:/usr/lib:/lib:/opt/freeware/lib” ` anyhow, somehing inside ansible persits using /usr/bin/bash which make the whole play fail. ` TASK [do_aixtoolbox_migration : destroy all rpm packages] ************************************************************************************************************** task path: /etc/ansible/aix/roles/do_aixtoolbox_migration/tasks/main.yml:36 <172.17.14.13> ESTABLISH SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: root <172.17.14.13> SSH: EXEC ssh -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o 'User="root"' -o ConnectTimeout=20 -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r 172.17.14.13 '/usr/bin/ksh -c '"'"'echo ~root && sleep 0'"'"'' <172.17.14.13> (0, '/root\n', '') <172.17.14.13> ESTABLISH SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: root <172.17.14.13> SSH: EXEC ssh -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o 'User="root"' -o ConnectTimeout=20 -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r 172.17.14.13 '/usr/bin/ksh -c '"'"'( umask 77 && mkdir -p "` echo /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119 `" && echo ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119="` echo /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119 `" ) && sleep 0’“'”‘’ \<172.17.14.13\> (0, ‘ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119=/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119\n’, ‘’) Using module file /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/ansible/modules/commands/command.py \<172.17.14.13\> PUT /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-local-28818rmvv6A/tmp0Mbfvc TO /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/AnsiballZ\_command.py \<172.17.14.13\> SSH: EXEC sftp -b - -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ‘User=“root”’ -o ConnectTimeout=20 -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r ‘[172.17.14.13]’ \<172.17.14.13\> (0, ‘sftp\> put /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-local-28818rmvv6A/tmp0Mbfvc /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/AnsiballZ\_command.py\n’, ‘’) \<172.17.14.13\> ESTABLISH SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: root \<172.17.14.13\> SSH: EXEC ssh -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ‘User=“root”’ -o ConnectTimeout=20 -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r 172.17.14.13 ‘/usr/bin/ksh -c ‘"’“‘chmod u+x /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/ /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/AnsiballZ\_command.py && sleep 0’”’“‘’ \<172.17.14.13\> (0, ‘’, ‘’) \<172.17.14.13\> ESTABLISH SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: root \<172.17.14.13\> SSH: EXEC ssh -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ‘User=“root”’ -o ConnectTimeout=20 -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r -tt 172.17.14.13 '/usr/bin/ksh -c '”‘“‘HTTP\_PROXY=[http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080](http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080) HTTPS\_PROXY=[http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080](http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080) no\_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.1,nimmsag\_a,.itsv.at,.sozvers.at http\_proxy=[http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080](http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080) ftp\_proxy=[http://proxy.sozvers.at:8181](http://proxy.sozvers.at:8181) LIBPATH=/opt/lib:/usr/lib:/lib:/opt/freeware/lib https\_proxy=[http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080](http://proxy.sozvers.at:8080) SHELL=/usr/bin/ksh FTP\_PROXY=[http://proxy.sozvers.at:8181](http://proxy.sozvers.at:8181) /opt/bin/python /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/AnsiballZ\_command.py && sleep 0’”’“‘’ \<172.17.14.13\> (0, ‘\r\n{“changed”: true, “end”: “2020-04-22 14:26:59.034312”, “stdout”: “Preparing packages…\nyum-3.4.3-7.noarch\nyum-metadata-parser-1.1.4-2.ppc\npython-tools-2.7.10-1.ppc\npysqlite-1.1.7-2.ppc\nsqlite-3.15.2-1.ppc\npython-urlgrabber-3.10.1-1.noarch\npython-pycurl-7.19.3-1.ppc\ncurl-7.52.1-1.ppc\npython-devel-2.7.10-1.ppc\nca-certificates-2016.10.7-2.ppc\npython-iniparse-0.4-1.noarch\npython-2.7.10-1.ppc\nreadline-6.1-2.ppc\nlibxml2-2.9.9-1.ppc\nglib2-2.56.1-2.ppc\nlibiconv-1.14-2.ppc\ngettext-0.19.8.1-5.ppc\nlibunistring-0.9.9-2.ppc\ninfo-6.6-2.ppc\nbash-5.0-1.ppc\nxz-libs-5.2.4-1.ppc\nncurses-6.2-1.ppc\nlibstdc+±8.3.0-2.ppc\nlibffi-3.2.1-3.ppc\nlibgcc-8.3.0-2.ppc\nzlib-1.2.11-1.ppc\ndb-4.8.24-3.ppc\ngdbm-1.8.3-5.ppc\nAIX-rpm-7.2.3.15-1.ppc\nSUCCESSES\n---------\n Filesets listed in this section passed pre-deinstall verification\n and will be removed.\n\n Selected Filesets\n -----------------\n rpm.rte 4.13.0.10 # RPM Package Manager\n\n \<\< End of Success Section \>\>\n\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/etc/httpd/conf is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/etc/httpd is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/etc/yum is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/etc is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/lib/python2.7/site-packages/rpm is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/lib/python2.7/site-packages is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/lib/python2.7 is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/lib is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/packages is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/share/info is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware/share is not empty.\nrmdir: Directory /opt/freeware is not empty.\n\nYour rpms have been removed, but the /opt/freeware and /usr/opt/freeware\ndirectories (one is just a symbolic link) have been left present.\nYou may want to look through these directories for any files you may have\ncreated yourself. If there is nothing that you want to save, you can now\nremove these directories and any remaining contents within.”, “cmd”: “/tmp/destroyRPMS -f”, “rc”: 0, “start”: “2020-04-22 14:26:46.211237”, “stderr”: "warning: /opt/freeware/etc/yum/yum.conf saved as /opt/freeware/etc/yum/yum.conf.rpmsave\nCould not load program /sbin/install-info:\nCould not load module /opt/freeware/lib64/libintl.a(libintl.so.8).\n\tDependent module /opt/freeware/lib/libiconv.a(libiconv.so.2) could not be loaded.\nCould not load module /opt/freeware/lib/libiconv.a(libiconv.so.2).\nSystem error: No such file or directory\nCould not load module install-info\_64.\n\tDependent module /opt/freeware/lib64/libintl.a(libintl.so.8) could not be loaded.\nCould not load program /sbin/install-info:\n\tDependent module /opt/freeware/lib64/libintl.a(libintl.so.8) could not be loaded.\nCould not load module /opt/freeware/lib64/libintl.a(libintl.so.8).\nSystem error: No such file or directory\n±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n\t\t Pre-deinstall Verification…\n±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+\nVerifying selections…done\nVerifying requisites…done\nResults…\n\nFILESET STATISTICS \n------------------\n 1 Selected to be deinstalled, of which:\n 1 Passed pre-deinstall verification\n ----\n 1 Total to be deinstalled\n\n±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n\t\t\t Deinstalling Software…\n±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n\ninstallp: DEINSTALLING software for:\n\trpm.rte 4.13.0.10\n\nFinished processing all filesets. (Total time: 4 secs).\n\n±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n\t\t\t\tSummaries:\n±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+\n\nInstallation Summary\n--------------------\nName Level Part Event Result\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nrpm.rte 4.13.0.10 ROOT DEINSTALL SUCCESS \nrpm.rte 4.13.0.10 USR DEINSTALL SUCCESS ", “delta”: “0:00:12.823075”, “invocation”: {“module\_args”: {“creates”: null, “executable”: “/usr/bin/ksh”, “\_uses\_shell”: true, “strip\_empty\_ends”: true, “\_raw\_params”: “/tmp/destroyRPMS -f”, “removes”: null, “argv”: null, “warn”: true, “chdir”: null, “stdin\_add\_newline”: true, “stdin”: null}}}\r\n’, ‘Shared connection to 172.17.14.13 closed.\r\n’) \<172.17.14.13\> ESTABLISH SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: root \<172.17.14.13\> SSH: EXEC ssh -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ‘User=“root”’ -o ConnectTimeout=20 -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r 172.17.14.13 '/usr/bin/ksh -c '”‘“‘rm -f -r /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/ \> /dev/null 2\>&1 && sleep 0’”’"‘’ \<172.17.14.13\> (1, ‘’, ‘/usr/bin/bash: No such file or directory\n’) \<172.17.14.13\> Failed to connect to the host via ssh: /usr/bin/bash: No such file or directory [WARNING]: Error deleting remote temporary files (rc: 1, stderr: /usr/bin/bash: No such file or directory }) changed: [AIXTEST01] =\> { “changed”: true, “cmd”: “/tmp/destroyRPMS -f”, “delta”: “0:00:12.823075”, “end”: “2020-04-22 14:26:59.034312”, “failed\_when\_result”: false, “invocation”: { “module\_args”: { “\_raw\_params”: “/tmp/destroyRPMS -f”, “\_uses\_shell”: true, “argv”: null, “chdir”: null, “creates”: null, “executable”: “/usr/bin/ksh”, “removes”: null, “stdin”: null, “stdin\_add\_newline”: true, “strip\_empty\_ends”: true, “warn”: true } }, “rc”: 0, “start”: “2020-04-22 14:26:46.211237” } STDOUT: Preparing packages… yum-3.4.3-7.noarch yum-metadata-parser-1.1.4-2.ppc python-tools-2.7.10-1.ppc pysqlite-1.1.7-2.ppc sqlite-3.15.2-1.ppc python-urlgrabber-3.10.1-1.noarch python-pycurl-7.19.3-1.ppc curl-7.52.1-1.ppc python-devel-2.7.10-1.ppc ca-certificates-2016.10.7-2.ppc python-iniparse-0.4-1.noarch python-2.7.10-1.ppc readline-6.1-2.ppc libxml2-2.9.9-1.ppc glib2-2.56.1-2.ppc libiconv-1.14-2.ppc gettext-0.19.8.1-5.ppc libunistring-0.9.9-2.ppc info-6.6-2.ppc bash-5.0-1.ppc xz-libs-5.2.4-1.ppc ncurses-6.2-1.ppc libstdc+±8.3.0-2.ppc libffi-3.2.1-3.ppc libgcc-8.3.0-2.ppc zlib-1.2.11-1.ppc db-4.8.24-3.ppc gdbm-1.8.3-5.ppc AIX-rpm-7.2.3.15-1.ppc SUCCESSES ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/setting-explicit-remote-shell/32754/2 "2020-04-23T01:22:13Z")
if you set these as environment variables, Ansible is not going to do anything with them, they need to be variables. ansible\_shell\_executable: "/usr/bin/ksh" ansible\_shell\_interpreter: "/usr/bin/ksh" ansible\_python\_interpreter: "/opt/bin/python" Also the `environment:` keyword won't affect Ansible itself, any environment setting for Ansible must be set BEFORE calling the ansible executable. In any case, the output seems to show you using `ksh` and the specific python, so they must be set correctly, just posting the above to clarify misconceptions. I'm not sure what is causing the bash error, since the last command (part of cleanup) clearly uses ksh also: '/usr/bin/ksh -c '"'"'rm -f -r /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1587558405.77-115997468659119/ \> /dev/null 2\>&1 && sleep 0'"'"'' unless the ssh login itself is forcing bash usage. I suggest tracing the process on the remote to try to find out what exactly is executed to trigger that error, since the last ansible command clearly specifies ksh.