copy module: modify time on the file (mtime) is not updating

[ShawnHardwick]

Summary

Using the ansible.builtin.copy module to update the contents of a file that already exists is not updating the modify file descriptor on the file even though the file contents are updated.

This appears to have been introduced around 2.17:
2.16.5.post0 - works
2.17.0.dev0 - works
2.17.0b1.post0 - does not work
2.18.0.dev0 - does not work

# Works
ansible [core 2.16.5.post0]
  config file = /home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /home/shawn.hardwick/code/venv/ansible-2.16/lib/python3.10/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /home/shawn.hardwick/code/venv/ansible-2.16/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.10.12 (main, Nov 20 2023, 15:14:05) [GCC 11.4.0] (/home/shawn.hardwick/code/venv/ansible-2.16/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.3
  libyaml = True

Issue Type

Bug Report

Component Name

copy

Ansible Version

# Does not work
ansible [core 2.17.0b1.post0]
  config file = /home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /home/shawn.hardwick/code/venv/ansible-2.17/lib/python3.10/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /home/shawn.hardwick/code/venv/ansible-2.17/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.10.12 (main, Nov 20 2023, 15:14:05) [GCC 11.4.0] (/home/shawn.hardwick/code/venv/ansible-2.17/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.3
  libyaml = True

Configuration

# if using a version older than ansible-core 2.12 you should omit the '-t all'
$ ansible-config dump --only-changed -t all

OS / Environment

Ansible controller: Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
Ansible remote target: Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS"

Steps to Reproduce

Create file on target-hostname, run below on target host
echo "Test content" >> /tmp/test

Collect stat data
stat /tmp/test

   File: /tmp/test
 Size: 13              Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: fd00h/64768d    Inode: 131153      Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: (1243051161/shawn.hardwick)   Gid: (1243000513/domain-users)
Access: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Modify: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Change: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Birth: -

Execute ansible to update file contents
ansible all -i "target-hostname," -m ansible.builtin.copy -a "content=test2 dest=/tmp/test"
Note that the task is marked as changed:

target-hostname | CHANGED => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/bin/python3.8"
    },
    "changed": true,
    "checksum": "109f4b3c50d7b0df729d299bc6f8e9ef9066971f",
    "dest": "/tmp/test",
    "gid": 1243000513,
    "group": "domain-users",
    "md5sum": "ad0234829205b9033196ba818f7a872b",
    "mode": "0644",
    "owner": "shawn.hardwick",
    "size": 5,
    "src": "/home/shawn.hardwick/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1712769550.823656-41798-135864879611184/.source",
    "state": "file",
    "uid": 1243051161
}

Compare stat data and note that modify (and even access) have not been updated

  File: /tmp/test
  Size: 5               Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: fd00h/64768d    Inode: 136736      Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: (1243051161/shawn.hardwick)   Gid: (1243000513/domain-users)
Access: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Modify: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Change: 2024-04-10 17:19:13.088483862 +0000
 Birth: -

Expected Results

I expect modify and access to be updated via stat when using ansible.built.copy to update file contents:

  File: /tmp/test
  Size: 5               Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: fd00h/64768d    Inode: 136736      Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: (1243051161/shawn.hardwick)   Gid: (1243000513/domain-users)
Access: 2024-04-10 17:19:13.088483862 +0000
Modify: 2024-04-10 17:19:13.088483862 +0000
Change: 2024-04-10 17:19:13.088483862 +0000
 Birth: -

Actual Results

`stat` returns that `modify` and `access` do not have updated timestamps.

  File: /tmp/test
  Size: 5               Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: fd00h/64768d    Inode: 136736      Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: (1243051161/shawn.hardwick)   Gid: (1243000513/domain-users)
Access: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Modify: 2024-04-10 17:16:20.363826238 +0000
Change: 2024-04-10 17:19:13.088483862 +0000
 Birth: -

### Code of Conduct

- [X] I agree to follow the Ansible Code of Conduct

[ansibot]

Files identified in the description:

• lib/ansible/modules/copy.py
• lib/ansible/plugins/action/copy.py

If these files are incorrect, please update the component name section of the description or use the component bot command.

[sivel]

I think I see what is going on. Due to moving to shutil.copystat, we're preserving the atime and mtime of the dest also, which we probably shouldn't.

Can probably fix this by setting them in the dest_stat to int(time.time()).

[dkuji]

Hi, I am new to contributing to OSS but would like to work on this issue.