Since lineinfile only check the first or last match, is there a way I can use it to edit my file as I wanted on all matches?
Example : I have a file like the one below and I want to add ZZZ after all AAA matches.
Source file:
AAA
BBB
AAA
CCC
DDD
Desired output :
AAA
ZZZ
BBB
AAA
ZZZ
CCC
DDD
I tried the module replace, but since it has to match a regex, I don't really know how I can write it either.
The solution below works, but it's not idempotent. The backreference '\1\nZZZ' will make no difference
- replace:
path: test.txt
regexp: '^AAA$'
replace: 'AAA\nZZZ'
Running the play in check and diff mode --check --diff you can see the newline \nZZZ will be added repeatedly
TASK [replace] ********************************************
--- before: test.txt
+++ after: test.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
AAA
+ZZZ
ZZZ
BBB
AAA
ZZZ
+ZZZ
CCC
DDD
Use Python regex negative lookahead assertion (?!...) to make the task idempotent. The regexp below will match only if AAA\n is not followed by ZZZ
- replace:
path: test.txt
regexp: 'AAA\n(?!ZZZ)'
replace: 'AAA\nZZZ\n'
write your task:
tasks:
- name: replace
replace:
path: ./pathoffile
regexp: '^(AAA)$'
replace: '\1\nZZZ'
or if you dont want to use group regex
regexp: '^AAA$'
replace: 'AAA\nZZZ'
use regex: '^(AAA)$(?!\nZZZ)' if you want to change only AAA not followed by \nZZZ