Ansible: Remove All Files Except

ansible.yml

---
- name: Capture files in path and register
  shell: >
    ls -1 /path/to/files
  register: files

- name: Remove files except specified
  file:
    path: "/path/to/files/{{ item }}"
    state: absent
  with_items: files.stdout_lines
  when: >
    item not in list_of_files_to_keep

@AthanHemo https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/builtin/find_module.html
Without more context, it's hard to give a definitive answer - if you don't recurse into the directory, I'd think it would work. So either set recurse: no or depth: N depending on your concrete task.

google gave me this gist while I was searching for solution for my problem (thanks!)

I think it can be little bit improved by adding

  changed_when: no
  check_mode: no

(so the first command will become

- name: Capture files in path and register
  shell: >
    ls -1 /etc/netplan/
  register: files
  changed_when: no
  check_mode: no

) so it can

• not produce "CHANGED" event
• run in check mode properly

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions! I've since been removed from working with ansible so thanks for the updates 😀