Use block rescue always to handle a failed task

Short answer

Use block, rescue, and always to recover from a failed task and still run cleanup.

Request

attempt a command, recover in rescue, and always print a status message using /bin/false

Example

A quick heads-up: Every environment is different. Review and test this example before you run it on systems you care about.

---
- name: Handle a failed task with block rescue always
  hosts: all
  gather_facts: true
  tasks:
    - name: Attempt a command and recover on failure
      block:
        - name: Run a command that may fail
          ansible.builtin.command:
            cmd: /bin/false
      rescue:
        - name: Report the failure
          ansible.builtin.debug:
            msg: "Command failed; continuing in rescue"
      always:
        - name: Print status after the attempt
          ansible.builtin.debug:
            msg: "always block ran"

How it works

Tasks in block run first. If a task in block fails, Ansible runs rescue. Tasks in always run whether the block succeeded or failed.

When to use it

• Recovering from a soft failure without stopping the play
• Guaranteeing cleanup or status logging after an attempt

Requirements

• Ansible: >=2.14

Validation

• Syntax validated
• Not execution-tested
• Last verified 2026-09-05