Ansible is something I really love to use. It makes server setups a breeze, provided you know how to code a decent playbook.
I present you with an always up-to-date list of Ansible tricks. Learn how to easily achieve tasks which are not available using standard modules.
Ensure directory is empty
Make an empty directory on your ansible host and synchronize it to remote dir:
- name: Empty remote directory
synchronize:
src: empty/
dest: "{{ remote_dir }}/"
delete: yes
recursive: yes
Credit: Original post
Ensure file is empty
- name: "ensure empty log file exists (important for fail2ban)"
copy:
content: ""
dest: /var/log/example.log
force: yes
owner: root
group: root
mode: 0600