Executing yum clean expire-cache and remove commands using ansible script

TL;DR;

Here are your equivalent tasks:

- name: clean
  command: yum clean expire-cache

- name: remove
  yum:
    name: pkg-to-remove
    state: absent

- name: install
  yum:
    name: pkg-to-install
    state: present

Installing and removing is done with the same module yum.

When installing would test the installed or present state, removing is about testing removed or absent state.

Install:

- name: install
  yum:
    name: pkg-to-install
    state: present

Take care: yum install and state: latest are not the same, when the yum command will install if the package is absent and do nothing if it is present already, state: latest will do an install if the package is absent but also a yum update pkg-to-install if the package is not at its latest version.
The real equivalent is state: present.

present and installed will simply ensure that a desired package is installed.
latest will update the specified package if it's not of the latest available version.

^{Source: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/yum_module.html#parameter-state}

Remove:

- name: remove
  yum:
    name: pkg-to-remove
    state: absent

Then for the clean, sadly, there was a choice to not implement it, as this is not something that can be done in an idempotent way.

See this note on yum module page

• The yum module does not support clearing yum cache in an idempotent way, so it was decided not to implement it, the only method is to use command and call the yum command directly, namely “command: yum clean all”
  https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/31450#issuecomment-352889579

^{Source: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/yum_module.html#notes}

So as pointed in the note, you could actually go by a simple command.

- name: clean
  command: yum clean expire-cache

So those are equivalent:

• in bash

yum clean expire-cache
yum -y remove pkg-to-remove
yum -y install pkg-to-install

• in playbook

- name: clean
  command: yum clean expire-cache

- name: remove
  yum:
    name: pkg-to-remove
    state: absent

- name: install
  yum:
    name: pkg-to-install
    state: present