# get_url – Downloads files from HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP to node

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

## Synopsis

- Downloads files from HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP to the remote server. The remote server must have direct access to the remote resource.
- By default, if an environment variable `<protocol>_proxy` is set on the target host, requests will be sent through that proxy. This behaviour can be overridden by setting a variable for this task (see setting the environment), or by using the use_proxy option.
- HTTP redirects can redirect from HTTP to HTTPS so you should be sure that your proxy environment for both protocols is correct.
- From Ansible 2.4 when run with `--check`, it will do a HEAD request to validate the URL but will not download the entire file or verify it against hashes.
- For Windows targets, use the win_get_url module instead.

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---
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

Create a backup file including the timestamp information so you can get the original file back if you somehow clobbered it incorrectly.

checksum
string

Default:
""

If a checksum is passed to this parameter, the digest of the destination file will be calculated after it is downloaded to ensure its integrity and verify that the transfer completed successfully. Format: <algorithm>:<checksum|url>, e.g. checksum="sha256:D98291AC[...]B6DC7B97", checksum="sha256:http://example.com/path/sha256sum.txt"
If you worry about portability, only the sha1 algorithm is available on all platforms and python versions.
The third party hashlib library can be installed for access to additional algorithms.
Additionally, if a checksum is passed to this parameter, and the file exist under the `dest` location, the destination_checksum would be calculated, and if checksum equals destination_checksum, the file download would be skipped (unless `force` is true). If the checksum does not equal destination_checksum, the destination file is deleted.

client_cert path added in 2.4 |  | PEM formatted certificate chain file to be used for SSL client authentication. This file can also include the key as well, and if the key is included, `client_key` is not required.
client_key path added in 2.4 |  | PEM formatted file that contains your private key to be used for SSL client authentication. If `client_cert` contains both the certificate and key, this option is not required.
dest path / required |  | Absolute path of where to download the file to. If `dest` is a directory, either the server provided filename or, if none provided, the base name of the URL on the remote server will be used. If a directory, `force` has no effect. If `dest` is a directory, the file will always be downloaded (regardless of the `force` option), but replaced only if the contents changed..

force
boolean

Choices:
- no ←
- yes

If `yes` and `dest` is not a directory, will download the file every time and replace the file if the contents change. If `no`, the file will only be downloaded if the destination does not exist. Generally should be `yes` only for small local files.
Prior to 0.6, this module behaved as if `yes` was the default.
Alias `thirsty` has been deprecated and will be removed in 2.13.
aliases: thirsty

force_basic_auth
boolean

Choices:
- no ←
- yes

Force the sending of the Basic authentication header upon initial request.
httplib2, the library used by the uri module only sends authentication information when a webservice responds to an initial request with a 401 status. Since some basic auth services do not properly send a 401, logins will fail.

group string |  | Name of the group that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
headers raw |  | Add custom HTTP headers to a request in hash/dict format. The hash/dict format was added in Ansible 2.6. Previous versions used a `"key:value,key:value"` string format. The `"key:value,key:value"` string format is deprecated and will be removed in version 2.10.
http_agent string | Default: "ansible-httpget" | Header to identify as, generally appears in web server logs.

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.

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.
sha256sum - | Default: "" | If a SHA-256 checksum is passed to this parameter, the digest of the destination file will be calculated after it is downloaded to ensure its integrity and verify that the transfer completed successfully. This option is deprecated. Use `checksum` instead.
timeout integer | Default: 10 | Timeout in seconds for URL request.
tmp_dest path |  | Absolute path of where temporary file is downloaded to. When run on Ansible 2.5 or greater, path defaults to ansible's remote_tmp setting When run on Ansible prior to 2.5, it defaults to `TMPDIR`, `TEMP` or `TMP` env variables or a platform specific value. https://docs.python.org/2/library/tempfile.html#tempfile.tempdir

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.

url string / required |  | HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP URL in the form (http|https|ftp)://[user[:pass]]@host.domain[:port]/path
url_password string |  | The password for use in HTTP basic authentication. If the `url_username` parameter is not specified, the `url_password` parameter will not be used. Since version 2.8 you can also use the 'password' alias for this option. aliases: password
url_username string |  | The username for use in HTTP basic authentication. This parameter can be used without `url_password` for sites that allow empty passwords. Since version 2.8 you can also use the `username` alias for this option. aliases: username

use_proxy
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes ←

if `no`, it will not use a proxy, even if one is defined in an environment variable on the target hosts.

validate_certs
boolean

Choices:
- no
- yes ←

If `no`, SSL certificates will not be validated.
This should only be used on personally controlled sites using self-signed certificates.

## Notes

Note

- For Windows targets, use the win_get_url module instead.

## See Also

See also

uri – Interacts with webservices
  The official documentation on the uri module.
win_get_url – Downloads file from HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP to node
  The official documentation on the win_get_url module.

## Examples

    - name: Download foo.conf
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        mode: '0440'

    - name: Download file and force basic auth
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        force_basic_auth: yes

    - name: Download file with custom HTTP headers
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        headers:
          key1: one
          key2: two

    - name: Download file with check (sha256)
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        checksum: sha256:b5bb9d8014a0f9b1d61e21e796d78dccdf1352f23cd32812f4850b878ae4944c

    - name: Download file with check (md5)
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        checksum: md5:66dffb5228a211e61d6d7ef4a86f5758

    - name: Download file with checksum url (sha256)
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        checksum: sha256:http://example.com/path/sha256sum.txt

    - name: Download file from a file path
      get_url:
        url: file:///tmp/afile.txt
        dest: /tmp/afilecopy.txt

    - name: < Fetch file that requires authentication.
            username/password only available since 2.8, in older versions you need to use url_username/url_password
      get_url:
        url: http://example.com/path/file.conf
        dest: /etc/foo.conf
        username: bar
        password: '{{ mysecret }}'

## Return Values

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

Key | Returned | Description
--- | --- | ---
backup_file string | changed and if backup=yes | name of backup file created after download Sample: /path/to/file.txt.2015-02-12@22:09~
checksum_dest string | success | sha1 checksum of the file after copy Sample: 6e642bb8dd5c2e027bf21dd923337cbb4214f827
checksum_src string | success | sha1 checksum of the file Sample: 6e642bb8dd5c2e027bf21dd923337cbb4214f827
dest string | success | destination file/path Sample: /path/to/file.txt
elapsed integer | always | The number of seconds that elapsed while performing the download Sample: 23
gid integer | success | group id of the file Sample: 100
group string | success | group of the file Sample: httpd
md5sum string | when supported | md5 checksum of the file after download Sample: 2a5aeecc61dc98c4d780b14b330e3282
mode string | success | permissions of the target Sample: 0644
msg string | always | the HTTP message from the request Sample: OK (unknown bytes)
owner string | success | owner of the file Sample: httpd
secontext string | success | the SELinux security context of the file Sample: unconfined_u:object_r:user_tmp_t:s0
size integer | success | size of the target Sample: 1220
src string | always | source file used after download Sample: /tmp/tmpAdFLdV
state string | success | state of the target Sample: file
status_code integer | always | the HTTP status code from the request Sample: 200
uid integer | success | owner id of the file, after execution Sample: 100
url string | always | the actual URL used for the request Sample: https://www.ansible.com/

## Status

- This module is guaranteed to have backward compatible interface changes going forward. [stableinterface]
- This module is maintained by the Ansible Core Team. [core]

### Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

### Authors

- Jan-Piet Mens (@jpmens)

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