It is possible to async a local_action in ansible? -

i'm using ansible provision vagrant machines. want playbook uncompress database dump, import in vm , recompress back.

in "normal" mode not big deal, since dumps can pretty big uncompress/compress operation take lots of time. use "fire , forget" method described here https://docs.ansible.com/playbooks_async.html

the idea is:

1. "fire , forget" dump bunzip
2. [ other operations package install, configurations ecc]
3. get bunzip
4. import dump
5. fire , forget dump recompression

if attempt bunzip using local_action dies error: unexpected error: unable determine jid

it possible async local task?

edit

tasks list example

# start async unzip - name: bunzip dump     command: bunzip2 /vagrant/vagrant_provision/dump.sql.bz2     async: 10000     poll: 0     register: bunzip_status  #[... other things ...]  # connect unzip , wait end - name: check dump bunzip     async_status: jid={{ bunzip_status.ansible_job_id }}     register: bunzip_result     until: bunzip_result.finished     retries: 80  #[... import db ...]  # fire , forget dump recompression   - name: recompress dump     command: bzip2 /vagrant/vagrant_provision/dump.sql     async: 10000     poll: 0 

now.. since i'm using provision vagrant environment partially solved putting playbook , files inside vagrant shared folder , referencing them absolute path, , works.

but question is: possible async local_action (or delegate_to)?

in case use of local_action instead archive/unarchive remotely allows me use cpus (4 versus 1 assigned vm) operations , can shutdown vm during final recompression without having wait finish.

i've gotten point make use of gnu screen whenever want background/async command in ansible can verify command running properly.

given you're describing you'd need come way notify ansible when you've reached step #3. you'd want create temporary flag file ansible can for. describe i'd along these lines:

first, i'd create wrapper script unbzip file make things bit cleaner. create flag file mentioned when bunzip complete. here's bare-bones example:

#!/bin/bash rm -f /tmp/bunzip.done bunzip /path/to/file.bz2 touch /tmp/bunzip.done exit 

then i'd execute within ansible in screen session (i use sudo in example since typically sudo screen sessions specific user):

- name: invoke bunzip script   local_action: command /usr/bin/screen -d -m sudo -u someuser /path/to/bzip_script.sh   async: true   poll: 0 

at point can whatever need within ansible. once step #3 want this:

- name: wait bunzip if still running   local_action: wait_for path=/tmp/bunzip.done state=present 

as long wait_for script returns without error should able safely reference bunzipped data @ point. wait_for defaults 300 second timeout, may need increase if expect bunzip take longer.