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community.windows.win_security_policy module – Change local security policy settings

Note

This module is part of the community.windows collection (version 2.4.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.windows.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.windows.win_security_policy.

Synopsis

  • Allows you to set the local security policies that are configured by SecEdit.exe.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

key

string / required

The ini key of the section or policy name to modify.

The module will return an error if this key is invalid.

section

string / required

The ini section the key exists in.

If the section does not exist then the module will return an error.

Example sections to use are ‘Account Policies’, ‘Local Policies’, ‘Event Log’, ‘Restricted Groups’, ‘System Services’, ‘Registry’ and ‘File System’

If wanting to edit the Privilege Rights section, use the ansible.windows.win_user_right module instead.

value

string / required

The value for the ini key or policy name.

If the key takes in a boolean value then 0 = False and 1 = True.

Notes

Note

  • This module uses the SecEdit.exe tool to configure the values, more details of the areas and keys that can be configured can be found here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb742512.aspx.
  • If you are in a domain environment these policies may be set by a GPO policy, this module can temporarily change these values but the GPO will override it if the value differs.
  • You can also run SecEdit.exe /export /cfg C:\temp\output.ini to view the current policies set on your system.
  • When assigning user rights, use the ansible.windows.win_user_right module instead.

See Also

See also

ansible.windows.win_user_right

Manage Windows User Rights.

Examples

- name: Change the guest account name
  community.windows.win_security_policy:
    section: System Access
    key: NewGuestName
    value: Guest Account

- name: Set the maximum password age
  community.windows.win_security_policy:
    section: System Access
    key: MaximumPasswordAge
    value: 15

- name: Do not store passwords using reversible encryption
  community.windows.win_security_policy:
    section: System Access
    key: ClearTextPassword
    value: 0

- name: Enable system events
  community.windows.win_security_policy:
    section: Event Audit
    key: AuditSystemEvents
    value: 1

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key

Description

import_log

string

The log of the SecEdit.exe /configure job that configured the local policies. This is used for debugging purposes on failures.

Returned: secedit.exe /import run and change occurred

Sample: "Completed 6 percent (0/15) \\tProcess Privilege Rights area."

key

string

The key in the section passed to the module to modify.

Returned: success

Sample: "NewGuestName"

rc

integer

The return code after a failure when running SecEdit.exe.

Returned: failure with secedit calls

Sample: -1

section

string

The section passed to the module to modify.

Returned: success

Sample: "System Access"

stderr

string

The output of the STDERR buffer after a failure when running SecEdit.exe.

Returned: failure with secedit calls

Sample: "failed to import security policy"

stdout

string

The output of the STDOUT buffer after a failure when running SecEdit.exe.

Returned: failure with secedit calls

Sample: "check log for error details"

value

string

The value passed to the module to modify to.

Returned: success

Sample: "Guest Account"

Authors

  • Jordan Borean (@jborean93)

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2025 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/community/windows/win_security_policy_module.html