This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org:
---
Title       : 	Ansible - add apt_key inline
Author      : 	Remy van Elst
Date        : 	19-04-2018
URL         : 	https://raymii.org/s/snippets/Ansible_-_add_apt_key_inline.html
Format      : 	Markdown/HTML
---



Using the apt _key module one can add an APT key with ansible. You can get the
key from a remote server or from a file, or just a key ID. I got the request to
do some stuff on a machine which was quite rescricted (so no HKP protocol) and I
was asked not to place to many files on the machine. The apt_ key was needed but
it could not be a file, so using a YAML Literal Block Scalar I was able to add
the key inline in the playbook. Not the best way to do it, but one of the many
ways Ansible allows it.

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### Literal Block Scalar

In the [Ansible documentation][2] we find the Literal Block Scalar:

> Values can span multiple lines using | or >. Spanning multiple lines using a
"Literal Block Scalar" | will include the newlines and any trailing spaces.

Since it's still YAML you do need to have the indentation correct.

### Example

In my case it is a playbook for MediaWiki, here's the code:

    
    
    - name: Ubuntu | Configuration | Add mediawiki apt key
      apt_key:
        data: |
          -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
          Version: SKS 1.1.6
          Comment: Hostname: keyserver.ubuntu.com
    
          mQINBFeYfNABEAC6licKZEtY8NbvlDg5l49r3MBksYJ4ggcUQfScLJj8xUZ5Dyqnmw9uPuzr
          ct4sT/MSuVYE1I8fiWGL2SdjFaVMk7Vao7QFWUj+WLenOg2jLOwoOGRGdqaeMeH4/q71KqPA
          VyHeDOfyHg+Wuhy4Z7whHDVXpebP6iP6yGfl6XlTyayUqS9C7vqhidAQ4y7mg6NFlAIiuRr8
          ilkPOz4dQhLvOxlbUEDcOcVANHUQQ7AMKMsA9kGcFZd1fhccjlc3LAkPWDlsUENqHpD9b93+
          /UkKju3dMOZEOWUrMHxqmGCj3F85QxRqz370MEurq76PhxbbQ3y/U2sG/ge+LxGbqNIytSMt
          Nc37XNV5wMYIB04WzkCOuQnzvN6egVoeX50OcrCPi7d90UznSRbiBmR/BL2p9J+uP8cdz0Tu
          UH3I/Ddou/To1l5LibhT4lO1NGjefRDV41fpy+GDZ4QDxeK8au7xsJxrU1f8oGUn9qLSAbZa
          od4gpfRU/94ayfokf6UiYEkx5JJAzAW+ew7/+85FWKFxn8pymaYD5jtvGVeD7HTv5opBrjvx
          4hUElh8drt/VufBQxJCNwvNn75CoJfQjhResNqA0S6Dh7UqAPGpcOlo++7N4bXMqEBcIgaXO
          Q0+PhH/cvwlmR22rSIIVSAb8eWtkujWe7X2R+VjbaUHfjIxMfQARAQABtD5NZWRpYVdpa2kg
          cmVsZWFzZXMgcmVwb3NpdG9yeSA8d2lraXRlY2gtbEBsaXN0cy53aWtpbWVkaWEub3JnPokC
          PgQTAQIAKAUCV5h80AIbAwUJBWhHAAYLCQgHAwIGFQgCCQoLBBYCAwECHgECF4AACgkQkOn4
          PyIlDdeyDRAAo1NNx8dGoet6MuPnu6XgAXZUIDDi2VXTMGCz88gPOZFhOmd991enKpIDowb8
          wLf93Hr0Ery5vYWUmQ9T5y3wp771JfvZ2ZzrIgGgZ9Gru9PswrPQfDp6HYuAHqy3Tez8VRFf
          dBYXT3W2bb5t0VCD+dcKaR3vgiXV9Rt0ol/FWVNgoXkBaY234hesveEOUOwuJng6mK5t1qkZ
          BB7nJRuclZOCeG19UamaVpDZwEg6g2q/e3SnNJf0YfjzKwMAx0kwhggkHc/kpMuN3rfi61F9
          1fmXrw2teV/1SlDSmFQdslmYrlQDowXaTU0OOU7bGSOUpeVfmIK8vs10i1/2xNRn7ipYzpre
          kEn8hROYPPnqb801xMWO0vBqBwEnNIpHpb/72UMkYG4NuvpjQ7Ubj86bWm6C8GQvqpNHC3oU
          yuiZYi8OXrg+kZBfEK/X3OuuE1P9oKsZ4PYfIgRRDZtuS2Prgme2zuSf6hSHf5h7WWYXtB1f
          sCOcjnHbbh6UjWRbr1Vl3EWd7lupiPODClkDhExKK/VM2KKLjU5UfRPZfWxOLspoJ8dfIDix
          hNxhmVRAU9Z3AhJUtCsmOvSIhzGhZwwm35B4r+rlZnsVtuLj9Bjs0jouwc1pqSKMAqQmO0gZ
          yg9N3k2tRxDorAM0S2i0FaLfsM0aovmahbb7lqYTVmmZvmc=
          =svAF
          -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
      tags:
        - mediawiki
    
    - name: Ubuntu | Configuration | add mediawiki apt repo
      apt_repository:
        repo: deb https://releases.wikimedia.org/debian jessie-mediawiki main
        state: present
      tags:
        - mediawiki
    

If you do not have the indentation correct, like this:

    
    
    - name: Ubuntu | Configuration | Add mediawiki apt key
      apt_key:
        data: |
    -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
    Version: SKS 1.1.6
    Comment: Hostname: keyserver.ubuntu.com
    
    mQINBFeYfNABEAC6licKZEtY8NbvlDg5l49r3MBksYJ4ggcUQfScLJj8xUZ5Dyqnmw9uPuzr
    ct4sT/MSuVYE1I8fiWGL2SdjFaVMk7Vao7QFWUj+WLenOg2jLOwoOGRGdqaeMeH4/q71KqPA
    VyHeDOfyHg+Wuhy4Z7whHDVXpebP6iP6yGfl6XlTyayUqS9C7vqhidAQ4y7mg6NFlAIiuRr8
    

Ansible will complain and fail:

    
    
    ERROR! Syntax Error while loading YAML.
      could not find expected ':'
    
    The error appears to have been in '[...]roles/mediawiki/tasks/main.yml': line 8, column 1, but may
    be elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.
    
    The offending line appears to be:
    
    -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
    Version: SKS 1.1.6
    ^ here
    

   [1]: https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=7435ae6b8212
   [2]: http://web.archive.org/web/20180419061010/http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/YAMLSyntax.html

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