How to add spaces at beginning of block in Ansible's blockinfile?

Question

I found this blockinfile issue, where a user suggested adding a number after the "|" in the "block: |" line, but gives a syntax error. Basically, I want to use blockinfile module to add a block of lines in a file, but I want the block to be indented 6 spaces in the file. Here's the task

- name: Added a block of lines in the file   blockinfile:   dest: /path/some_file.yml   insertafter: 'authc:'   block: |     line0       line1       line2       line3         line4 

I expect

  authc:     line0       line1       line2       line3         line4 

but get

  authc: line0   line1   line2   line3     line4 

Adding spaces in the beginning of the lines does not do it. How can I accomplish this?

Answer 1

You can use a YAML feature called "Block Indentation Indicator":

- name: Added a block of lines in the file   blockinfile:   dest: /path/some_file.yml   insertafter: 'authc:'   block: |2       line0         line1         line2         line3           line4 

It's all about the 2 after the |

References:

• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/ansible-project/mmXvhTh6Omo
• In YAML, how do I break a string over multiple lines?
• http://www.yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html#id2793979

Answer 2

The number after the | describes how many lines the block is indented. For example:

  block: |2     insert some stuff   ^^ 2 spaces here.    block: |4       insert some stuff   ^^^^ 4 spaces here. 

If you like to indent your line in the destination file you can use this workaround:

  block: |     # this is a comment       insert some stuff 

In this example, the line # this is a comment will not be indented and the line insert some stuff will have 2 leading spaces.