Automating the update of the NetBird client on a Windows system via Ansible is not working

[dannykorpan]

Describe the problem Dear Community,

I've tried extensively to automate the update of NetBird with Ansible on a Windows system for a business environment, but it always gets stuck during the silent uninstallation or installation of NetBird. The uninstaller or installer always hangs. Neither the silent uninstall nor the installation works. The playbook runs fine, but NetBird does not perform any uninstallation or installation. The Ansible user is accessing the Windows machine via an OpenSSH server and also has Administrator privileges.

Is there anybody out there who has already automated the update of NetBird on a Windows system via Ansible? Or does anybody have any hints for troubleshooting?

Here is my Ansible playbook:

---
- name: Update Netbird package on Windows
  hosts: windows_hosts
  tasks:
    - name: Get latest Netbird release info using PowerShell
      win_shell: |
        $url = "https://api.github.com/repos/netbirdio/netbird/releases/latest"
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $url
        $asset = $response.assets | Where-Object { $_.name -match "netbird_installer_.*_windows_amd64.exe" }
        $asset.browser_download_url
      register: release_info

    - name: Set download URL for the latest Netbird EXE
      set_fact:
        netbird_exe_url: "{{ release_info.stdout }}"

    - name: Download latest Netbird exe
      win_get_url:
        url: "{{ netbird_exe_url }}"
        dest: C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe

    - name: Stop Netbird service
      win_service:
        name: Netbird
        state: stopped
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Stop all applications containing 'netbird' in the name
      win_shell: |
        Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*netbird*" } | Stop-Process -Force
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Uninstall existing Netbird application
      win_shell: |
        Start-Process -FilePath "cmd.exe" -ArgumentList "/c C:\Program Files\Netbird\netbird_uninstall.exe /S"
# ALTERNATIVE
# NOT WORKING
#      win_command:
#        cmd: '"C:\Program Files\Netbird\netbird_uninstall.exe" "/S"'

    - name: Install Netbird
      win_shell: |
        Start-Process -FilePath "cmd.exe" -ArgumentList "/c C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe /S"
# ALTERNATIVE
# NOT WORKING
#      win_command:
#        cmd: '"C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe" "/S"'

    - name: Start Netbird service
      win_service:
        name: Netbird
        state: started

    - name: Run Netbird enrollment
      win_shell: |
        & "C:\Program Files\Netbird\netbird.exe" up --setup-key MY_ENROLLMENT_KEY
      register: netbird_setup
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Verify Netbird version
      win_shell: |
        netbird version
      register: netbird_version

    - debug: var=netbird_version.stdout_lines

    - name: Delete Netbird installer
      win_file:
        path: C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe
        state: absent

Thank you in advance for any help, Danny

[lixmal]

Have you tried with the msi package as well? That one should work with an unattended install

[dannykorpan]

The first enrollment was done via the exe.

[dannykorpan]

After a lot of trial and error, this playbook works. The uninstallation and installation processes are working fine, but they run into a timeout before the playbook continues. The timeout occurs with either the exe or msi file. There is room for improvement in the playbook, as well as in the installation and uninstallation files.

---
- name: Update Netbird package on Windows
  hosts: windows_hosts
  tasks:
    - name: Get latest Netbird release info using PowerShell
      win_shell: |
        $url = "https://api.github.com/repos/netbirdio/netbird/releases/latest"
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $url
        $asset = $response.assets | Where-Object { $_.name -match "netbird_installer_.*_windows_amd64.exe" }
        $asset.browser_download_url
      register: release_info

    - name: Set download URL for the latest Netbird EXE
      set_fact:
        netbird_exe_url: "{{ release_info.stdout }}"

    - name: Download latest Netbird exe
      win_get_url:
        url: "{{ netbird_exe_url }}"
        dest: C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe

    - name: Stop Netbird service
      win_service:
        name: Netbird
        state: stopped
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Stop all applications containing 'netbird' in the name
      win_shell: |
        Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*netbird*" } | Stop-Process -Force
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Uninstall existing Netbird Installation
      ansible.windows.win_package:
        path: C:\Program Files\Netbird\netbird_uninstall.exe
        product_id: Netbird
        arguments: /S
        state: absent
        wait_for_children: true
        chdir: C:\Program Files\Netbird
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Install Netbird MSI
      ansible.windows.win_package:
        path: C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe
        product_id: Netbird
        arguments: /S
        state: present
        wait_for_children: true
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Start Netbird service
      win_service:
        name: Netbird
        state: started

    - name: Run Netbird enrollment
      win_shell: |
        & "C:\Program Files\Netbird\netbird.exe" up --setup-key MY_ENROLLMENT_KEY
      register: netbird_setup
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Verify Netbird version
      win_shell: |
        netbird version
      register: netbird_version

    - debug: var=netbird_version.stdout_lines

    - name: Delete Netbird installer
      win_file:
        path: C:\Windows\Temp\netbird_installer.exe
        state: absent