Ansible Module Alternatives

Overview

This guide provides replacement alternatives for deprecated or legacy Ansible modules. Use this reference when ansible-lint reports deprecated module warnings or when updating older playbooks to modern best practices.

Quick Detection

Use the FQCN checker script to automatically detect non-FQCN module usage:

# Scan a playbook
bash scripts/check_fqcn.sh playbook.yml

# Scan a role
bash scripts/check_fqcn.sh roles/webserver/

# Scan entire directory
bash scripts/check_fqcn.sh .

The script identifies modules using short names and provides specific FQCN migration recommendations.

Deprecated Modules and Replacements

Package Management

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`apt` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.apt`	Use FQCN for clarity
`yum` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.yum` or `ansible.builtin.dnf`	dnf preferred for RHEL 8+
`pip` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.pip`	Use FQCN
`easy_install`	`ansible.builtin.pip`	easy_install is deprecated in Python
`homebrew`	`community.general.homebrew`	Moved to community.general
`zypper`	`community.general.zypper`	Moved to community.general
`apk`	`community.general.apk`	Moved to community.general

File Operations

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`copy` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.copy`	Use FQCN
`file` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.file`	Use FQCN
`template` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.template`	Use FQCN
`lineinfile` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.lineinfile`	Use FQCN
`blockinfile` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.blockinfile`	Use FQCN
`synchronize`	`ansible.posix.synchronize`	Moved to ansible.posix
`acl`	`ansible.posix.acl`	Moved to ansible.posix

Service Management

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`service` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.service` or `ansible.builtin.systemd`	Use systemd for systemd-based systems
`systemd` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.systemd`	Use FQCN
`sysvinit`	`ansible.builtin.service`	service module handles sysvinit

User and Group Management

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`user` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.user`	Use FQCN
`group` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.group`	Use FQCN
`authorized_key` (short name)	`ansible.posix.authorized_key`	Moved to ansible.posix

Networking

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`get_url` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.get_url`	Use FQCN
`uri` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.uri`	Use FQCN
`iptables`	`ansible.builtin.iptables`	Use FQCN
`ufw`	`community.general.ufw`	Moved to community.general
`firewalld`	`ansible.posix.firewalld`	Moved to ansible.posix

Command Execution

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`command` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.command`	Use FQCN; prefer specific modules
`shell` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.shell`	Use FQCN; prefer specific modules
`raw` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.raw`	Use FQCN; use only when necessary
`script` (short name)	`ansible.builtin.script`	Use FQCN

Cloud Providers

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`ec2`	`amazon.aws.ec2_instance`	Use amazon.aws collection
`ec2_ami`	`amazon.aws.ec2_ami`	Use amazon.aws collection
`ec2_vpc`	`amazon.aws.ec2_vpc_net`	Use amazon.aws collection
`azure_rm_*`	`azure.azcollection.*`	Use azure.azcollection
`gcp_*`	`google.cloud.*`	Use google.cloud collection
`docker_container`	`community.docker.docker_container`	Use community.docker collection
`docker_image`	`community.docker.docker_image`	Use community.docker collection

Database

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`mysql_db`	`community.mysql.mysql_db`	Use community.mysql collection
`mysql_user`	`community.mysql.mysql_user`	Use community.mysql collection
`postgresql_db`	`community.postgresql.postgresql_db`	Use community.postgresql collection
`postgresql_user`	`community.postgresql.postgresql_user`	Use community.postgresql collection
`mongodb_*`	`community.mongodb.*`	Use community.mongodb collection

Monitoring and Logging

Deprecated Module	Replacement	Notes
`nagios`	`community.general.nagios`	Use community.general collection
`zabbix_*`	`community.zabbix.*`	Use community.zabbix collection

FQCN Migration

Why Use Fully Qualified Collection Names (FQCN)?

Clarity: Explicitly shows which collection provides the module
Conflict Prevention: Avoids naming conflicts between collections
Future-Proofing: Prevents breakage when modules move between collections
Best Practice: Recommended by Ansible for all new playbooks

Migration Examples

# Old style (deprecated)
- name: Install nginx
  apt:
    name: nginx
    state: present

# New style (recommended)
- name: Install nginx
  ansible.builtin.apt:
    name: nginx
    state: present

# Old style (deprecated)
- name: Configure firewall
  ufw:
    rule: allow
    port: '443'

# New style (recommended)
- name: Configure firewall
  community.general.ufw:
    rule: allow
    port: '443'

Installing Required Collections

When migrating to FQCN modules, ensure the required collections are installed:

# Install common collections
ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.posix
ansible-galaxy collection install community.general
ansible-galaxy collection install community.docker
ansible-galaxy collection install community.mysql
ansible-galaxy collection install community.postgresql
ansible-galaxy collection install amazon.aws
ansible-galaxy collection install azure.azcollection
ansible-galaxy collection install google.cloud

Or create a requirements.yml:

---
collections:
  - name: ansible.posix
    version: ">=1.5.0"
  - name: community.general
    version: ">=6.0.0"
  - name: community.docker
    version: ">=3.0.0"
  - name: community.mysql
    version: ">=3.0.0"
  - name: community.postgresql
    version: ">=2.0.0"

Then install with:

ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml

Checking for Deprecated Modules

Use ansible-lint to identify deprecated modules in your playbooks:

# Check for deprecated module usage
ansible-lint --profile production playbook.yml

# Show rule documentation for deprecated modules
ansible-lint -L | grep deprecated

Version Compatibility Notes

Ansible 2.9: Last version with many modules in ansible.builtin
Ansible 2.10+: Collections separated from core
Ansible 2.12+: Many deprecated modules removed from core
Ansible 2.14+: FQCN strongly recommended for all modules

/ansible-validator

referencesmodule_alternatives.md