Ansible does not have a module that can be used to rename files or directories. The copy module can be used to copy files. When you want to rename a file on a managed node (e.g. target system), the mv (move) command and the command module can be used, like this. In this example, the command module is used to rename foo.txt to bar.txt.

- name: "rename foo.txt to bar.txt"
  command: "mv foo.txt bar.txt"

Or the shell module can be used, like this. In this example, the shell module is used to rename foo.txt to bar.txt.

- name: "rename foo.txt to bar.txt"
  shell: "mv foo.txt bar.txt"

The following should be produced.

TASK [rename foo.txt to bar.txt]
changed: [server1.example.com]

By default, no stdout is printed. The register module can be used to print output to the console.

non-zero return code

If non-zero return code is being displayed in the output of the play, refer to our article on resolving non-zero return code.

Become (root, sudo)

If you do not have permission to rename a file, permission denied will be returned. To resolve this, the become module can be used to become root.

Arguments

Certain arguments can be used with the shell command. In this example, the chdir (change directory) argument is used to perform the shell command from a particular directory.

- name: ps command
  shell: "ls"
  arg:
    chdir: /root

connection module / delegate_to module

By default, Ansible performs tasks on managed node. The connection module or delegate_to module can be used to invoke the command module on the control node (that's the Ansible server).