How to pass today's date and time as argument in ansible

Question

I am running python script using ansible.

Here is my playbook -

- name: Run python script 
  command: python Test.py -StartDate 2020-10-01T00:00:00 -EndDate 2020-11-05T00:00:00
  register: result
- debug: msg="{{result.stdout}}"

I want this playbook to use EndDate as todays date when I run script. How can I use latest date and time in same format I have written every time I run script without having to change manually every day?

Answer 1

You can call the now() function with a fmt argument which accepts a strftime string.

---
- hosts: localhost
  vars:
    exec_date: "{{ now(fmt='%Y-%m-%d') }}T00:00:00"

Answer 2

Q: "How can I use the latest date and time ... ?"

A: Given the script below

shell> cat test.sh
#!/bin/sh
echo $1

If the granularity by seconds is sufficient the most efficient way is using the function strftime

    - name: Run script
      command: >
        {{ playbook_dir }}/test.sh '{{ "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"|strftime }}'
      register: result
    - debug:
        var: result.stdout

gives

  result.stdout: '2023-05-09 00:09:29'

If you need microseconds use Ansible facts variable ansible_date_time

    - setup:
        gather_subset: date_time
    - name: Run script
      command: "{{ playbook_dir }}/test.sh {{ ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro }}"
      register: result
    - debug:
        var: result.stdout

gives

  result.stdout: '2023-05-08T22:09:29.023295Z'

---

Notes:

• The dictionary ansible_date_time will be also created by 'gather_facts: true' when a playbook starts.

• If needed there are other attributes in the dictionary

  ansible_date_time:
    date: '2023-05-09'
    day: 09
    epoch: '1683583769'
    epoch_int: '1683583769'
    hour: '00'
    iso8601: '2023-05-08T22:09:29Z'
    iso8601_basic: 20230509T000929023295
    iso8601_basic_short: 20230509T000929
    iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:29.023295Z'
    minute: 09
    month: '05'
    second: '29'
    time: 00:09:29
    tz: CEST
    tz_dst: CEST
    tz_offset: '+0200'
    weekday: Tuesday
    weekday_number: '2'
    weeknumber: '19'
    year: '2023'

• The variable ansible_date_time will not be updated automatically when a playbook runs. For example,

    - debug:
        var: ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro
    - debug:
        var: ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro
    - debug:
        var: ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro

give (abridged)

  ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:29.023295Z'
  ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:29.023295Z'
  ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:29.023295Z'

• Run module setup to update the variable ansible_date_time. For example,

    - setup:
        gather_subset: date_time
    - debug:
        var: ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro
    - setup:
        gather_subset: date_time
    - debug:
        var: ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro
    - setup:
        gather_subset: date_time
    - debug:
        var: ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro

give (abridged)

  ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:29.845384Z'
  ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:30.390135Z'
  ansible_date_time.iso8601_micro: '2023-05-08T22:09:31.059892Z'

• The function stftime updates the date and time automatically

    - debug:
        msg: "{{ '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'|strftime }}"
    - wait_for:
        timeout: 1
    - debug:
        msg: "{{ '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'|strftime }}"
    - wait_for:
        timeout: 1
    - debug:
        msg: "{{ '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'|strftime }}"

give (abridged)

  msg: '2023-05-09 00:26:58'
  msg: '2023-05-09 00:27:00'
  msg: '2023-05-09 00:27:01'

Answer 3

assuming the T00:00:00 is always fixed, you could declare a variable using the lookup plugin, see an example below the exec_date variable and the modified command task:

---
- hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: false
  vars:
    exec_date: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'date +%Y-%m-%d') }}T00:00:00"

  tasks:
  - name: print
    debug: var=exec_date

  - name: Run python script 
    command: "python Test.py -StartDate 2020-10-01T00:00:00 -EndDate {{ exec_date }}"
    register: result
  - debug: msg="{{result.stdout}}"

If you want to pass the current time too instead of a fixed T00:00:00, you could use the below:

  vars:
    exec_date: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'date +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S') }}"

cheers