ansible/ansible · error · Exception

Failed to copy {src!r} to {dest!r}.

Error message

Failed to copy {src!r} to {dest!r}.

What it means

Error "Failed to copy {src!r} to {dest!r}." thrown in ansible/ansible.

Source

Thrown at lib/ansible/modules/copy.py:640

                b_mysrc = b_src
                if remote_src and os.path.isfile(b_src):

                    dummy, b_mysrc = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=os.path.dirname(b_dest))

                    shutil.copyfile(b_src, b_mysrc)
                    try:
                        shutil.copystat(b_src, b_mysrc)
                    except OSError as err:
                        if err.errno == errno.ENOSYS and mode == "preserve":
                            module.warn("Unable to copy stats {0}".format(to_native(b_src)))
                        else:
                            raise

                # at this point we should always have tmp file
                module.atomic_move(b_mysrc, dest, unsafe_writes=module.params['unsafe_writes'], keep_dest_attrs=not remote_src)

            except OSError as ex:
                raise Exception(f"Failed to copy {src!r} to {dest!r}.") from ex
        changed = True

    # If neither have checksums, both src and dest are directories.
    checksums_none = checksum_src is None and checksum_dest is None
    both_directories = os.path.isdir(module.params['src']) and (os.path.isdir(module.params['dest']) or not os.path.exists(module.params['dest']))
    if checksums_none and remote_src and both_directories:
        b_src = to_bytes(module.params['src'], errors='surrogate_or_strict')
        b_dest = to_bytes(module.params['dest'], errors='surrogate_or_strict')

        if not b_src.endswith(to_bytes(os.path.sep)):
            b_basename = os.path.basename(b_src)
            b_dest = os.path.join(b_dest, b_basename)
            b_src = os.path.join(b_src, b'')

        changed |= copy_directory(b_src, b_dest, module)

    res_args = dict(
        dest=dest, src=src, md5sum=md5sum_src, checksum=checksum_src, changed=changed

View on GitHub (pinned to 9cf16a4aca)

Solutions

1. Check permissions and free space at the destination.
2. Ensure the destination directory exists or remote_src handling matches the source type.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/ansible/modules/copy.py:640 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ansible/ansible@9cf16a4aca (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/82e820155d1fb47a. Report an issue: GitHub.