Ansible Command module says that '|' is illegal character
From the doc:
command - Executes a command on a remote node
The command module takes the command name followed by a list ofspace-delimited arguments. The given command will be executed on allselected nodes. It will not be processed through the shell, sovariables like $HOME and operations like "<", ">", "|", and "&" willnot work (use the shell module if you need these features).
shell - Executes a commands in nodes
The shell module takes the command name followed by a list of space-delimited arguments.It is almost exactly like the command module but runs the commandthrough a shell (/bin/sh) on the remote node.
Therefore you have to use shell: dpkg -l | grep python-apt.
read about the command module in the Ansible documentation:
It will not be processed through the shell, so .. operations like "<", ">", "|", and "&" will not work
As it recommends, use the shell module:
- name: Check if python-apt is installed shell: dpkg -l | grep python-apt register: python_apt_installed ignore_errors: TrueFor what it's worth, you can check/confirm the installation in a debian environment using the apt command:
- name: ensure python-apt is installed apt: name=python-apt state=present