sysctl – Manage entries in sysctl.conf

Synopsis

  • This module manipulates sysctl entries and optionally performs a /sbin/sysctl -p after changing them.

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
ignoreerrors
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Use this option to ignore errors about unknown keys.
name
- / required
The dot-separated path (aka key) specifying the sysctl variable.

aliases: key
reload
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
If yes, performs a /sbin/sysctl -p if the sysctl_file is updated. If no, does not reload sysctl even if the sysctl_file is updated.
state
-
    Choices:
  • present
  • absent
Whether the entry should be present or absent in the sysctl file.
sysctl_file
-
Default:
"/etc/sysctl.conf"
Specifies the absolute path to sysctl.conf, if not /etc/sysctl.conf.
sysctl_set
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes
Verify token value with the sysctl command and set with -w if necessary
value
-
Desired value of the sysctl key.

aliases: val

Examples

# Set vm.swappiness to 5 in /etc/sysctl.conf
- sysctl:
    name: vm.swappiness
    value: 5
    state: present

# Remove kernel.panic entry from /etc/sysctl.conf
- sysctl:
    name: kernel.panic
    state: absent
    sysctl_file: /etc/sysctl.conf

# Set kernel.panic to 3 in /tmp/test_sysctl.conf
- sysctl:
    name: kernel.panic
    value: 3
    sysctl_file: /tmp/test_sysctl.conf
    reload: no

# Set ip forwarding on in /proc and verify token value with the sysctl command
- sysctl:
    name: net.ipv4.ip_forward
    value: 1
    sysctl_set: yes

# Set ip forwarding on in /proc and in the sysctl file and reload if necessary
- sysctl:
    name: net.ipv4.ip_forward
    value: 1
    sysctl_set: yes
    state: present
    reload: yes

Status

Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

Authors

Hint

If you notice any issues in this documentation you can edit this document to improve it.

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2019 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
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