# The community.windows.win\_iis\_webapplication module shows as changed every time **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Tags:** windows, playbook, awx, collections\ **Created:** [February 22, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008 "2024-02-22T22:07:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tompurl](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/tompurl/32/2031_2.png) [@tompurl](https://forum.ansible.com/u/tompurl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/1 "2024-02-22T22:07:56Z")
Hello! I am creating a bunch of IIS web sites under a web application and for some reason the `community.windows.win_iis_webapplication` module shows that it **changes the web apps every time it is executed**. Here is my play: ```yaml - name: "Create the web apps" community.windows.win_iis_webapplication: name: '{{ item.virtual_path }}' site: '{{ my_site_web_site.name }}' state: present physical_path: '{{ item.folder_path }}' application_pool: '{{ my_site_app_pool.name }}' loop: '{{ my_site_web_apps }}' notify: 'Restart web site: {{ my_site_web_site.name }}' ``` Here’s what my vars look like: ```yaml --- debug: false my_site_app_pool: name: My-Default auto_start: false my_site_web_site: name: '{{ my_site_app_pool.name }}' path: 'D:\Inetpub\{{ my_site_app_pool.name }}' url: my-default.example.com my_site_web_apps: - virtual_path: 'App1' folder_path: '{{ my_site_web_site.path }}/App1' - virtual_path: 'App2' folder_path: '{{ my_site_web_site.path }}/App2' ``` Here’s my output for one of the web apps that I see in AWX: ```json { "changed": true, "connect_as": "pass_through", "physical_path": "D:\\Inetpub\\My-Default/App1", "application_pool": "My-Default", "_ansible_no_log": false, "item": { "virtual_path": "App1", "folder_path": "D:\\Inetpub\\My-Default/App1" }, "ansible_loop_var": "item", "_ansible_item_label": { "virtual_path": "App1", "folder_path": "D:\\Inetpub\\My-Default/App1" } } ``` Finally, here’s what I get when I interrogate the web app using a one-liner: ```auto # Output of this command: # ansible --ask-vault-pass -i hosts.ini -m community.windows.win_iis_webapplication -a "name='App1' site='My-Default'" my-server wi-web19d | SUCCESS => { "application_pool": "My-Default", "changed": false, "connect_as": "pass_through", "physical_path": "D:\\Inetpub\\My-Default/App1" } ``` I’ve run this play a half-dozen times on the same server and it shows as changed every time. This makes little sense to me because everything looks idempotent to me. What am I doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![kurokobo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/kurokobo/32/182_2.png) [@kurokobo](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kurokobo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 5:54am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/2 "2024-02-23T05:54:59Z")
Hi, how about replacing `/` with `\`? ```yaml my_site_web_apps: - virtual_path: 'App1' # folder_path: '{{ my_site_web_site.path }}/App1' folder_path: '{{ my_site_web_site.path }}\App1' - virtual_path: 'App2' # folder_path: '{{ my_site_web_site.path }}/App2' folder_path: '{{ my_site_web_site.path }}\App2' ``` ---
**Author:** ![tompurl](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/tompurl/32/2031_2.png) [@tompurl](https://forum.ansible.com/u/tompurl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/3 "2024-02-23T15:07:53Z")
Thank you for the quick suggestion. I just tried your suggestion but unfortunately it didn’t make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![kurokobo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/kurokobo/32/182_2.png) [@kurokobo](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kurokobo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/4 "2024-02-23T15:21:53Z")
Hmm, I know it will be `changed` the first time after replacing `/` with `\`, but will it continue to be `changed` after further re-runs? ---
**Author:** ![kurokobo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/kurokobo/32/182_2.png) [@kurokobo](https://forum.ansible.com/u/kurokobo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/5 "2024-02-23T15:52:24Z")
Let me explain technical background: By using `/` in your path, exact `/` is used in Physical Path for your application. This works, since Windows can handle `/` as same as `\`. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/c/cff3412da23d67cca9b137fd28348c201e3dce5a.png) On the other hand, `win_iis_webapplication` module compares following two paths to determine if there is any diffs that should be modified: - (A) Current configured path for the application - (B) Specified path via `physical_path` For now, (A) includes `/` as stated in screenshot above. But (B) does _NOT_ contain `/`, since it is compared with the `FullName` parameter of the object that is retrieved with `Get-Item`. The `FullName` parameter of the object that retrieved by `Get-Item` with the path contains `/` _always uses `\` as separator_. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/e/ecbb54fbc2a4ff9363b37795e79d5e43e6085040.png) See this code block: > So by using `/` in the path in your playbook, the module always determines that the path is incorrect and should be modified, and returns `changed`. This is why I think the cause of your issue is using `/` in path. ---
**Author:** ![tompurl](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/tompurl/32/2031_2.png) [@tompurl](https://forum.ansible.com/u/tompurl)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/6 "2024-02-26T17:08:09Z")
This is _very_ helpful @kurokobo , thank you! Well, I’m surprised to say that I’m not having this issue any more 🙂 I’m not sure _why_ though. I made your suggested changes to the file paths, but even after repeated runs that didn’t seem to fix the problem. I then changed the part of my module that creates an app pool. I changed the state property from “stopped” to “present”. But that seems to be it, and now everything is working as expected. Thanks again for all of your help! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/the-community-windows-win-iis-webapplication-module-shows-as-changed-every-time/4008/7 "2024-03-27T17:08:11Z")
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