# Unpacking a zip with variably named root folder **URL:** \ **Category:** Get Help\ **Tags:** playbook, ansible-core\ **Created:** [December 8, 2023, 11:59am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unpacking-a-zip-with-variably-named-root-folder/2805 "2023-12-08T11:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zonoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/df705f/32.png) [@Zonoia](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Zonoia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 11:59am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unpacking-a-zip-with-variably-named-root-folder/2805/1 "2023-12-08T11:59:58Z")
Hi there! I’m trying to unzip a file ([https://download.axoniq.io/axonserver/AxonServer.zip](https://download.axoniq.io/axonserver/AxonServer.zip)), to copy the contents to a server host. The zip however contains a root folder which contains the release version (i.e. AxonServer-2023.2.1). I’ve been trying to find a way to extract the contents of that root folder generically. I wasn’t able to find an option in the `unarchive` API however, so I tried doing it in the following manner: ```auto - name: AxonServer.zip should be unzipped hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Make folder file: path: ../../files/server state: directory - name: Extract ./files/AxonServer.zip into ./files/server/ unarchive: src: ../../files/AxonServer.zip dest: ../../files/server extra_opts: - "--add-file" - "*/." - name: Get latest unzipped files in the folder hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Register all unzipped folders in the server folder find: paths: ../../files/server file_type: directory register: found_files - name: Creating a variable of the newest folder set_fact: newest_folder: "{{(found_files.files | sort(attribute='mtime',reverse=true) | first).path}}" - name: Debug folder name debug: var: newest_folder - name: Copy over the files to the Axon host copy: src: "{{newest_folder}}/" dest: "~/axon" ``` However this method seems quite verbose, imperative. And doesn´t even work due to the task `Get latest unzipped files in the folder` needing to be ran on localhost first but the subtask `Copy over the files to the Axon host` needing to be `axon`, not `localhost`. As right now files get copied to localhost’s home folder, which of course isn’t that helpful. So, I’m either looking for a better way to unarchive zip files with variably named root folders, a better way to store and use variables (so I can split the tasks up and use multiple hosts configurations), or a combination of the both. Feel free to completely flip the problem/solution on it’s head if it helps solve the problem. Thanks in advance! P.S. Repo with everything available here: [GitHub - Hoekstraa/axoniq-cluster-ansible: Axoniq cluster with Ansible demo](https://github.com/Hoekstraa/axoniq-cluster-ansible) ---
**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:** [December 8, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unpacking-a-zip-with-variably-named-root-folder/2805/2 "2023-12-08T13:34:28Z")
If I understand your situation correctly, `list_files` parameter for `unarchive` module may helps you. `unarchive` can return list of extacted files if `list_files` is `true`, and the first value of the list should always be root directory (of course only if the zip has root directory). So you can: - Specify `list_files: true` for `unarchive` and register returned value by `register` - Extract the name of the root directory by `.files[0] | regex_replace('\\/$', '')` Snippet of tasks: ```yaml - name: Extract ./files/AxonServer.zip into ./files/server/ unarchive: src: ../../files/AxonServer.zip dest: ../../files/server list_files: true register: extracted_files - name: Debug extracted files debug: var: extracted_files - name: Save root directory set_fact: root_dir: "{{ extracted_files.files[0] | regex_replace('\\/$', '') }}" - name: Debug root directory debug: var: root_dir ``` Results: ```bash TASK [Debug extracted files] ************************************************************************************************************************** ok: [localhost] => { "extracted_files": { "changed": false, "dest": "../../files/server", "failed": false, "files": [ "AxonServer-2023.2.1/", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/axonserver.properties", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/README.txt", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/axonserver-cli.jar", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/axonserver.jar", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/axoniq-cli.jar", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/axonserver-migration.jar", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/extensions/", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/extensions/axon-server-extension-oauth-4.6.1.zip", "AxonServer-2023.2.1/extensions/axon-server-extension-ldap-4.6.3.zip" ], ... } } TASK [Save root directory] **************************************************************************************************************************** ok: [localhost] TASK [Debug root directory] *************************************************************************************************************************** ok: [localhost] => { "root_dir": "AxonServer-2023.2.1" } ``` Note the variable `root_dir` is stored as only for `localhost`. But you can refer this variable by `hostvars.localhost.root_dir` in the plays for another host, if this plays in the same playbook: ```yaml - name: Copy over the files to the Axon host hosts: axon_target tasks: - name: Debug folder name debug: var: hostvars.localhost.root_dir ``` Result: ```bash PLAY [Copy over the files to the Axon host] *********************************************************************************************************** TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************************************************************************** ok: [axon_target] TASK [Debug folder name] ****************************************************************************************************************************** ok: [axon_target] => { "hostvars.localhost.root_dir": "AxonServer-2023.2.1" } ``` Hope this helps 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zonoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/df705f/32.png) [@Zonoia](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Zonoia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unpacking-a-zip-with-variably-named-root-folder/2805/3 "2023-12-08T13:46:20Z")
Thank you! You gave exactly what I needed to work out a solution. This is what I have now, which has solved my problem (not cleaned up yet!): ```auto - name: AxonServer.zip should be unzipped hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Make folder file: path: ../../files/server state: directory - name: Extract ./files/AxonServer.zip into ./files/server/ unarchive: src: ../../files/AxonServer.zip dest: ../../files/server list_files: true register: extracted_files - name: Debug extracted files debug: var: extracted_files - name: Get latest unzipped files in the folder hosts: axon tasks: - name: Copy over the files to the Axon host copy: src: "../../files/server/{{hostvars.localhost.extracted_files.files[0]}}" dest: "~/axon" ``` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/unpacking-a-zip-with-variably-named-root-folder/2805/4 "2024-01-07T13:47:17Z")
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