Error while copying files using ansible role

Question

I'm trying to copy files using an ansible role. 

- name: Backing up existing ~/.zshrc
  shell: if [ -f ~/.zshrc ]; then cp ~/.zshrc{,.orig}; fi
  become: true
  become_user: root
  when: installation|success

However, I end up with this error:

fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => 
{  
   "changed":true,
   "cmd":"if [ -f ~/.zshrc ]; then cp ~/.zshrc{,.orig}; fi",
   "delta":"0:00:00.002640",
   "end":"2017-04-11 12:32:35.886640",
   "failed":true,
   "rc":1,
   "start":"2017-04-11 12:32:35.884000",
   "stderr":"cp: missing destination file operand after '/root/.zshrc{,.orig}'\nTry 'cp --help' for more information.",
   "stderr_lines":[  
      "cp: missing destination file operand after '/root/.zshrc{,.orig}'",
      "Try 'cp --help' for more information."
   ],
   "stdout":"",
   "stdout_lines":[  

   ]
}

Answer 1

Add the following as an argument to the shell module to run the commands in Bash:

executable: /bin/bash

Comments

Why does this happen though?

---

Not all shells support brace expansion and you can see in the error message cp: missing destination file operand after '/root/.zshrc{,.orig}', that it took the argument too literally.