# ansible.builtin.template
Template a file out to a target host using Jinja Template Engine.

## Parameter
| Parameter      | Type            | Default | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| -------------- | --------------- | ------- |   |
| **dest**       | path / required | -       | Location to render the template to on the remote machine.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **src**        | path / required | -       | Path of a Jinja2 formatted template on the Ansible controller.  This can be a relative or an absolute path.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| **attributes** | string          | -       | The attributes the resulting filesystem object should have. To get supported flags look at the man page for [chattr](../../../applications/cli/system/chattr.md) on the target system. The = operator is assumed as default, otherwise + or - operators need to be included in the string.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **backup**     | boolean         | false   | Create a backup file including the timestamp information so you can get the original file back if you somehow clobbered it incorrectly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| **follow**     | boolean         | false   | This flag indicates that filesystem links in the destination, if they exist, should be followed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| **force**      | boolean         | true    | Influence whether the remote file must always be replaced. If `true`, the remote file will be replaced when contents are different than the source. If `false`, the file will only be transferred if the destination does not exist.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| **group**      | string          | -       | Name of the group that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to chown.  When left unspecified, it uses the current group of the current user unless you are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **mode**       | any             | -       | The permissions the resulting filesystem object should have. For those used to _/usr/bin/chmod_ remember that modes are actually octal numbers. You must give Ansible enough information to parse them correctly. For consistent results, quote octal numbers (for example, `'644'` or `'1777'`) so Ansible receives a string and can do its own conversion from string into number. Adding a leading zero (for example, `0755`) works sometimes, but can fail in loops and some other circumstances. Giving Ansible a number without following either of these rules will end up with a decimal number which will have unexpected results. As of Ansible 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, `u+rwx` or `u=rw,g=r,o=r`). If `mode` is not specified and the destination filesystem object **does not** exist, the default `umask` on the system will be used when setting the mode for the newly created filesystem object. If `mode` is not specified and the destination filesystem object **does** exist, the mode of the existing filesystem object will be used. |
| **owner**      | string          | -       | Name of the user that should own the filesystem object, as would be fed to chown.  When left unspecified, it uses the current user unless you are root, in which case it can preserve the previous ownership.  Specifying a numeric username will be assumed to be a user ID and not a username. Avoid numeric usernames to avoid this confusion.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| **validate**   | string          | -       | The validation command to run before copying the updated file into the final destination.  A temporary file path is used to validate, passed in through ‘%s’ which must be present as in the examples below.  Also, the command is passed securely so shell features such as expansion and pipes will not work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |


## Examples
```yaml
- name: Template a file to /etc/file.conf
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: /mytemplates/foo.j2
    dest: /etc/file.conf
    owner: bin
    group: wheel
    mode: '0644'

- name: Template a file, using symbolic modes (equivalent to 0644)
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: /mytemplates/foo.j2
    dest: /etc/file.conf
    owner: bin
    group: wheel
    mode: u=rw,g=r,o=r

- name: Copy a version of named.conf that is dependent on the OS. setype obtained by doing ls -Z /etc/named.conf on original file
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: named.conf_{{ ansible_os_family }}.j2
    dest: /etc/named.conf
    group: named
    setype: named_conf_t
    mode: 0640

- name: Create a DOS-style text file from a template
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: config.ini.j2
    dest: /share/windows/config.ini
    newline_sequence: '\r\n'

- name: Copy a new sudoers file into place, after passing validation with visudo
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: /mine/sudoers
    dest: /etc/sudoers
    validate: /usr/sbin/visudo -cf %s

- name: Update sshd configuration safely, avoid locking yourself out
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: etc/ssh/sshd_config.j2
    dest: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    owner: root
    group: root
    mode: '0600'
    validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
    backup: yes
```