# postgresql_pg_hba – Add, remove or modify a rule in a pg_hba file

New in version 2.8.

- Synopsis
- Requirements
- Parameters
- Notes
- See Also
- Examples
- Return Values
- Status

## Synopsis

- The fundamental function of the module is to create, or delete lines in pg_hba files.
- The lines in the file should be in a typical pg_hba form and lines should be unique per key (type, databases, users, source). If they are not unique and the SID is ‘the one to change’, only one for `state=present` or none for `state=absent` of the SID’s will remain.

## Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

- ipaddress

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
address string | Default: "samehost" | The source address/net where the connections could come from. Will not be used for entries of type=`local`. You can also use keywords `all`, `samehost`, and `samenet`. aliases: source, src
attributes string |  | The attributes the resulting file or directory should have. To get supported flags look at the man page for chattr on the target system. This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed by lsattr. The `=` operator is assumed as default, otherwise `+` or `-` operators need to be included in the string. aliases: attr

backup
boolean

Choices:
- no ←
- yes

If set, create a backup of the `pg_hba` file before it is modified. The location of the backup is returned in the (backup) variable by this module.

backup_file string |  | Write backup to a specific backupfile rather than a temp file.

contype
string

Choices:
- local
- host
- hostnossl
- hostssl

Type of the rule. If not set, `postgresql_pg_hba` will only return contents.

create
boolean

Choices:
- no ←
- yes

Create an `pg_hba` file if none exists.
When set to false, an error is raised when the `pg_hba` file doesn't exist.

databases string | Default: "all" | Databases this line applies to.
dest path / required |  | Path to `pg_hba` file to modify.
group string |  | Name of the group that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.

method
string

Choices:
- cert
- gss
- ident
- krb5
- ldap
- md5 ←
- pam
- password
- peer
- radius
- reject
- scram-sha-256
- sspi
- trust

Authentication method to be used.

mode
string

The permissions the resulting file or directory should have.
For those used to /usr/bin/chmod remember that modes are actually octal numbers. You must either add a leading zero so that Ansible's YAML parser knows it is an octal number (like `0644` or `01777`) or quote it (like `'644'` or `'1777'`) so Ansible receives a string and can do its own conversion from string into number.
Giving Ansible a number without following one 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`).
As of Ansible 2.6, the mode may also be the special string `preserve`.
When set to `preserve` the file will be given the same permissions as the source file.

netmask string |  | The netmask of the source address.
options string |  | Additional options for the authentication method.

order
-

Choices:
- sdu ←
- sud
- dsu
- dus
- usd
- uds

The entries will be written out in a specific order. With this option you can control by which field they are ordered first, second and last. s=source, d=databases, u=users. This option is deprecated since 2.9 and will be removed in 2.11. Sortorder is now hardcoded to sdu.

owner string |  | Name of the user that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
selevel string | Default: "s0" | The level part of the SELinux file context. This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the `range`. When set to `_default`, it will use the `level` portion of the policy if available.
serole string |  | The role part of the SELinux file context. When set to `_default`, it will use the `role` portion of the policy if available.
setype string |  | The type part of the SELinux file context. When set to `_default`, it will use the `type` portion of the policy if available.
seuser string |  | The user part of the SELinux file context. By default it uses the `system` policy, where applicable. When set to `_default`, it will use the `user` portion of the policy if available.

state
-

Choices:
- absent
- present ←

The lines will be added/modified when `state=present` and removed when `state=absent`.

unsafe_writes
boolean

Choices:
- no ←
- yes

Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target file.
By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target files, but sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted files, which cannot be updated atomically from inside the container and can only be written in an unsafe manner.
This option allows Ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating files when atomic operations fail (however, it doesn't force Ansible to perform unsafe writes).
IMPORTANT! Unsafe writes are subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.

users - | Default: "all" | Users this line applies to.

## Notes

Note

- The default authentication assumes that on the host, you are either logging in as or sudo’ing to an account with appropriate permissions to read and modify the file.
- This module also returns the pg_hba info. You can use this module to only retrieve it by only specifying dest. The info can be found in the returned data under key pg_hba, being a list, containing a dict per rule.
- This module will sort resulting `pg_hba` files if a rule change is required. This could give unexpected results with manual created hba files, if it was improperly sorted. For example a rule was created for a net first and for a ip in that net range next. In that situation, the ‘ip specific rule’ will never hit, it is in the `pg_hba` file obsolete. After the `pg_hba` file is rewritten by the postgresql_pg_hba module, the ip specific rule will be sorted above the range rule. And then it will hit, which will give unexpected results.
- With the ‘order’ parameter you can control which field is used to sort first, next and last.
- The module supports a check mode and a diff mode.

## See Also

See also

PostgreSQL pg_hba.conf file reference
  Complete reference of the PostgreSQL pg_hba.conf file documentation.

## Examples

    - name: Grant users joe and simon access to databases sales and logistics from ipv6 localhost ::1/128 using peer authentication.
      postgresql_pg_hba:
        dest: /var/lib/postgres/data/pg_hba.conf
        contype: host
        users: joe,simon
        source: ::1
        databases: sales,logistics
        method: peer
        create: true

    - name: Grant user replication from network 192.168.0.100/24 access for replication with client cert authentication.
      postgresql_pg_hba:
        dest: /var/lib/postgres/data/pg_hba.conf
        contype: host
        users: replication
        source: 192.168.0.100/24
        databases: replication
        method: cert

    - name: Revoke access from local user mary on database mydb.
      postgresql_pg_hba:
        dest: /var/lib/postgres/data/pg_hba.conf
        contype: local
        users: mary
        databases: mydb
        state: absent

## Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key | Returned | Description
--- | --- | ---
backup_file string | changed | File that the original pg_hba file was backed up to Sample: /tmp/pg_hba_jxobj_p
msgs list | always | List of textual messages what was done Sample: {'msgs': ['Removing', 'Changed', 'Writing']}
pg_hba list | always | List of the pg_hba rules as they are configured in the specified hba file Sample: {'pg_hba': [{'db': 'all', 'method': 'md5', 'src': 'samehost', 'type': 'host', 'usr': 'all'}]}

## Status

- This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]
- This module is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

### Authors

- Sebastiaan Mannem (@sebasmannem)

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