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alternatives - Manages alternative programs for common commands

New in version 1.6.

Synopsis

  • Manages symbolic links using the ‘update-alternatives’ tool
  • Useful when multiple programs are installed but provide similar functionality (e.g. different editors).

Requirements (on host that executes module)

  • update-alternatives

Options

parameter required default choices comments
link
no
The path to the symbolic link that should point to the real executable.
This option is always required on RHEL-based distributions. On Debian-based distributions this option is required when the alternative name is unknown to the system.
name
yes
The generic name of the link.
path
yes
The path to the real executable that the link should point to.
priority
(added in 2.2)
no 50
The priority of the alternative

Examples

- name: correct java version selected
  alternatives:
    name: java
    path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java

- name: alternatives link created
  alternatives:
    name: hadoop-conf
    link: /etc/hadoop/conf
    path: /etc/hadoop/conf.ansible

- name: make java 32 bit an alternative with low priority
  alternatives:
    name: java
    path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386/jre/bin/java
    priority: -10

Status

This module is flagged as preview which means that it is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface.

For help in developing on modules, should you be so inclined, please read Community Information & Contributing, Testing Ansible and Developing Modules.

© 2012–2017 Michael DeHaan
© 2017 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/alternatives_module.html