Delete all old files, but keep newest 3 files for same file name and different path - ansible

Question

Hi can i know how can i keep the latest 3 files based on file name and path. For instance i have
fileAbackup1.war, fileAbackup2.war, fileAbackup3.war, fileAbackup4.war
fileBbackup1.war, fileBbackup2.war, fileBbackup3.war, fileBbackup4.war
So i should keep
fileAbackup1.war, fileAbackup2.war, fileAbackup3.war
fileBbackup1.war, fileBbackup2.war, fileBbackup3.war
I know the part of finding files and deleting files older than x days. I already done the coding part. But i need have some filter to keep 3 backup files of same name of different path
Updated
Below is my ansible code
- name: Find files
find:
paths: "{{ remove_file_path }}"
use_regex: yes
patterns:
- '*.war.*.backup*'
- '{{ rar_file_name }}.rar.*.bakup*'
- '.*\..*\.\d+\.\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}#\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}~$'
age: 5d
recurse: yes
register: removeFile
- name: Delete files
file:
path: "{{ item.path }}"
state: absent
loop: "{{ removeFile.files }}"

Answer 1

The tasks below
- find:
paths: dir1
patterns: '*.war'
register: result
- set_fact:
my_files: "{{ result.files|
map(attribute='path')|
sort|
list }}"
- debug:
var: my_files[0:3]
give
my_files[0:3]:
- dir1/fileAbackup1.war
- dir1/fileAbackup2.war
- dir1/fileAbackup3.war
If you need the filenames only map the filter basename. For example
- set_fact:
my_files: "{{ result.files|
map(attribute='path')|
map('basename')|
sort|
list }}"
- debug:
var: my_files[0:3]
give
my_files[0:3]:
- fileAbackup1.war
- fileAbackup2.war
- fileAbackup3.war
Q: "Will it have file fileBbackup1.war, fileBbackup2.war, and fileBbackup3.war as well?"
A: Yes. It will. Create a dictionary of the lists. For example
- set_fact:
my_files: "{{ my_files|default({})|
combine({item: result.files|
map(attribute='path')|
map('basename')|
select('search', item)|
sort|
list}) }}"
loop:
- fileAbackup
- fileBbackup
- debug:
msg: "{{ item.value[0:3] }}"
loop: "{{ my_files|dict2items }}"
loop_control:
label: "{{ item.key }}"
give
ok: [localhost] => (item=fileAbackup) =>
msg:
- fileAbackup1.war
- fileAbackup2.war
- fileAbackup3.war
ok: [localhost] => (item=fileBbackup) =>
msg:
- fileBbackup1.war
- fileBbackup2.war
- fileBbackup3.war

Answer 2

This command will provide the information you need.
ls -1 *.war | sort -r | head -n -3
Explanation
ls -1 *.war | sort -r Performs a reverse sort and displays just the filenames
head -n -3 Displays all except the first 3
You can pipe this to the command that deletes the files or you can run the following
rm $(ls -1 | sort -r | head -n -3)