ansible/ansible · error · Exception

Something wrong with this module zip file: should not contai

Error message

Something wrong with this module zip file: should not contain absolute paths

What it means

Raised by the ansiballz self-extracting wrapper when the 'explode' debug command finds a zip entry whose name starts with '/'. The module package must contain only relative paths; an absolute entry indicates a corrupted, hand-edited, or incompatible ansiballz payload.

Source

Thrown at lib/ansible/_internal/_ansiballz/_wrapper.py:193

        #
        # You can now edit the source files to instrument the code or experiment with
        # different parameter values.  When you're ready to run the code you've modified
        # (instead of the code from the actual zipped module), use the execute subcommand like this::
        #   $ /usr/bin/python /home/badger/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1461173013.93-9076457629738/ping execute

        # Okay to use __file__ here because we're running from a kept file
        basedir = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), 'debug_dir')
        args_path = os.path.join(basedir, 'args')

        if command == 'explode':
            # transform the ZIPDATA into an exploded directory of code and then
            # print the path to the code.  This is an easy way for people to look
            # at the code on the remote machine for debugging it in that
            # environment
            z = zipfile.ZipFile(modlib_path)
            for filename in z.namelist():
                if filename.startswith('/'):
                    raise Exception('Something wrong with this module zip file: should not contain absolute paths')

                dest_filename = os.path.join(basedir, filename)
                if dest_filename.endswith(os.path.sep) and not os.path.exists(dest_filename):
                    os.makedirs(dest_filename)
                else:
                    directory = os.path.dirname(dest_filename)
                    if not os.path.exists(directory):
                        os.makedirs(directory)
                    with open(dest_filename, 'wb') as writer:
                        writer.write(z.read(filename))

            # write the args file
            with open(args_path, 'wb') as writer:
                writer.write(json_params)

            print('Module expanded into:')
            print(basedir)

View on GitHub (pinned to 9cf16a4aca)

Solutions

1. Ensure controller and target run compatible ansible-core versions — regenerate the module by rerunning the task rather than reusing old kept files
2. Delete stale remote tmp ansiballz files (find remote_tmp -name 'AnsiballZ_*' -delete) and retry with ANSIBLE_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES=1
3. Verify the zip locally: python -c "import zipfile; print([n for n in zipfile.ZipFile('AnsiballZ_setup').namelist() if n.startswith('/')])"
4. Check for transfer corruption: compare checksums of the module file on controller and target

Example fix

# before: stale/corrupt kept module
# ansible -m ping host -e ANSIBLE_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES=1, then rerun explode on old file
# after: clear kept files and regenerate
find "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/ansible" -name 'AnsiballZ_*' -delete 2>/dev/null
ANSIBLE_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES=1 ansible host -m setup -a 'exploded_path=debug_dir'

import zipfile
names = zipfile.ZipFile(modlib_path).namelist()
bad = [n for n in names if n.startswith('/')]
if bad:
    raise RuntimeError(f'corrupt ansiballz payload, absolute entries: {bad}')

try:
    wrapper_explode(payload)
except Exception as e:
    if 'absolute paths' in str(e):
        # stale/corrupt module package: purge kept files and re-transfer
        shutil.rmtree(debug_dir, ignore_errors=True)

When it happens

Trigger: Running the wrapped module with 'explode' (debugging with ANSIBLE_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES=1) on a zip that contains an absolute-path entry — typically a wrapper built by a different/broken ansible-core version or a payload truncated in transfer.

Common situations: Mismatched controller vs target ansible-core versions where the wrapper template changed; a partially transferred module zip (network truncation); manually repacking an ansiballz file with absolute names.

Related errors

• Unable to compile {module_name!r}.
• Failed to import packaging, check that a supported version i
• Neither python zipfile nor unzip can read %s
• Unable to list files in the archive
• string cannot be converted to a dict, must either be a JSON

AI-assisted analysis of ansible/ansible@9cf16a4aca (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/35a3bb2b1d1a70c5. Report an issue: GitHub.