On this page
community.docker.docker_container_exec – Execute command in a docker container
Note
This plugin is part of the community.docker collection (version 1.10.0).
You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.
To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.docker.
To use it in a playbook, specify: community.docker.docker_container_exec.
New in version 1.5.0: of community.docker
Synopsis
- Executes a command in a Docker container.
 
Requirements
The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.
- Docker API >= 1.20
 - Docker SDK for Python: Please note that the docker-py Python module has been superseded by docker (see here for details). For Python 2.6, 
docker-pymust be used. Otherwise, it is recommended to install thedockerPython module. Note that both modules should not be installed at the same time. Also note that when both modules are installed and one of them is uninstalled, the other might no longer function and a reinstall of it is required. - Docker SDK for Python >= 1.8.0 (use docker-py for Python 2.6)
 
Parameters
| Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments | 
|---|---|---|
| api_version
        
        string
         | 
      Default: 
        "auto"
         | 
      
        
        The version of the Docker API running on the Docker Host.
        
       
        Defaults to the latest version of the API supported by Docker SDK for Python and the docker daemon.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  
       DOCKER_API_VERSION will be used instead. If the environment variable is not set, the default value will be used.
       aliases: docker_api_version  | 
     
| argv
        
        list / elements=string
         | 
      
        
        The command to execute.
        
       
        Since this is a list of arguments, no quoting is needed.
        
       
        Exactly one of argv and command must be specified.
         | 
     |
| ca_cert
        
        path
         | 
      
        
        Use a CA certificate when performing server verification by providing the path to a CA certificate file.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task and the environment variable  
       DOCKER_CERT_PATH is set, the file ca.pem from the directory specified in the environment variable DOCKER_CERT_PATH will be used.
       aliases: tls_ca_cert, cacert_path  | 
     |
| chdir
        
        string
         | 
      
        
        The directory to run the command in.
         | 
     |
| client_cert
        
        path
         | 
      
        
        Path to the client's TLS certificate file.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task and the environment variable  
       DOCKER_CERT_PATH is set, the file cert.pem from the directory specified in the environment variable DOCKER_CERT_PATH will be used.
       aliases: tls_client_cert, cert_path  | 
     |
| client_key
        
        path
         | 
      
        
        Path to the client's TLS key file.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task and the environment variable  
       DOCKER_CERT_PATH is set, the file key.pem from the directory specified in the environment variable DOCKER_CERT_PATH will be used.
       aliases: tls_client_key, key_path  | 
     |
| command
        
        string
         | 
      
        
        The command to execute.
        
       
        Exactly one of argv and command must be specified.
         | 
     |
| container
        
        string / required
         | 
      
        
        The name of the container to execute the command in.
         | 
     |
| debug
        
        boolean
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        Debug mode
         | 
     
| docker_host
        
        string
         | 
      Default: 
        "unix://var/run/docker.sock"
         | 
      
        
        The URL or Unix socket path used to connect to the Docker API. To connect to a remote host, provide the TCP connection string. For example,  
       tcp://192.0.2.23:2376. If TLS is used to encrypt the connection, the module will automatically replace tcp in the connection URL with https.
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  
       DOCKER_HOST will be used instead. If the environment variable is not set, the default value will be used.
       aliases: docker_url  | 
     
| ssl_version
        
        string
         | 
      
        
        Provide a valid SSL version number. Default value determined by ssl.py module.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  DOCKER_SSL_VERSION will be used instead.
        | 
     |
| stdin
        
        string
         | 
      
        
        Set the stdin of the command directly to the specified value.
         | 
     |
| stdin_add_newline
        
        boolean
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        If set to  true, appends a newline to stdin.
        | 
     
| strip_empty_ends
        
        boolean
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        Strip empty lines from the end of stdout/stderr in result.
         | 
     
| timeout
        
        integer
         | 
      Default: 
        60
         | 
      
        
        The maximum amount of time in seconds to wait on a response from the API.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  DOCKER_TIMEOUT will be used instead. If the environment variable is not set, the default value will be used.
        | 
     
| tls
        
        boolean
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        Secure the connection to the API by using TLS without verifying the authenticity of the Docker host server. Note that if validate_certs is set to  
       yes as well, it will take precedence.
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  DOCKER_TLS will be used instead. If the environment variable is not set, the default value will be used.
        | 
     
| tls_hostname
        
        string
         | 
      
        
        When verifying the authenticity of the Docker Host server, provide the expected name of the server.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  
       DOCKER_TLS_HOSTNAME will be used instead. If the environment variable is not set, the default value will be used.
       
        The current default value is  localhost. This default is deprecated and will change in community.docker 2.0.0 to be a value computed from docker_host. Explicitly specify localhost to make sure this value will still be used, and to disable the deprecation message which will be shown otherwise.
        | 
     |
| tty
        
        boolean
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        Whether to allocate a TTY.
         | 
     
| use_ssh_client
        
        boolean
        
       
        added in 1.5.0 of community.docker
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        For SSH transports, use the  
       ssh CLI tool instead of paramiko.
       
        Requires Docker SDK for Python 4.4.0 or newer.
         | 
     
| user
        
        string
         | 
      
        
        If specified, the user to execute this command with.
         | 
     |
| validate_certs
        
        boolean
         | 
      
       
  | 
      
        
        Secure the connection to the API by using TLS and verifying the authenticity of the Docker host server.
        
       
        If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable  
       DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY will be used instead. If the environment variable is not set, the default value will be used.
       aliases: tls_verify  | 
     
Notes
Note
- Does not support 
check_mode. - Connect to the Docker daemon by providing parameters with each task or by defining environment variables. You can define 
DOCKER_HOST,DOCKER_TLS_HOSTNAME,DOCKER_API_VERSION,DOCKER_CERT_PATH,DOCKER_SSL_VERSION,DOCKER_TLS,DOCKER_TLS_VERIFYandDOCKER_TIMEOUT. If you are using docker machine, run the script shipped with the product that sets up the environment. It will set these variables for you. See https://docs.docker.com/machine/reference/env/ for more details. - When connecting to Docker daemon with TLS, you might need to install additional Python packages. For the Docker SDK for Python, version 2.4 or newer, this can be done by installing 
docker[tls]with ansible.builtin.pip. - Note that the Docker SDK for Python only allows to specify the path to the Docker configuration for very few functions. In general, it will use 
$HOME/.docker/config.jsonif theDOCKER_CONFIGenvironment variable is not specified, and use$DOCKER_CONFIG/config.jsonotherwise. - This module uses the Docker SDK for Python to communicate with the Docker daemon.
 
Examples
- name: Run a simple command (command)
  community.docker.docker_container_exec:
    container: foo
    command: /bin/bash -c "ls -lah"
    chdir: /root
  register: result
- name: Print stdout
  debug:
    var: result.stdout
- name: Run a simple command (argv)
  community.docker.docker_container_exec:
    container: foo
    argv:
      - /bin/bash
      - "-c"
      - "ls -lah > /dev/stderr"
    chdir: /root
  register: result
- name: Print stderr lines
  debug:
    var: result.stderr_lines
  Return Values
Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:
| Key | Returned | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| rc
        
        integer
         | 
      success | 
        
        The exit code of the command.
          | 
     
| stderr
        
        string
         | 
      success | 
        
        The standard error output of the container command.
          | 
     
| stdout
        
        string
         | 
      success | 
        
        The standard output of the container command.
          | 
     
Authors
- Felix Fontein (@felixfontein)
 
© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2021 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
 https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/community/docker/docker_container_exec_module.html