Summary
Frequent task failures, seemingly mostly with copy module.
[ERROR]: A worker was found in a dead state
There are a lot of reports of this error message, seemingly revolving around:
- Master machine is a Mac. Not the case here.
- Very large files to copy. Not the case here. In the reported example, the file is 864 bytes.
- Small amounts of master machine RAM available. Seemingly not the case here:
Memory: 12G phys mem, 6358M free mem, 16G total swap, 16G free swap. This doesn't change significantly during the ansible run.
- Small amounts of target machine RAM available. Seemingly not the case here:
total: 130257356k bytes allocated + 2619760k reserved = 132877116k used, 270847148k available.
Issue Type
Bug Report
Component Name
copy
Ansible Version
$ ansible --version
ansible [core 2.20.4]
config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
configured module search path = ['/root/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
ansible python module location = /opt/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ansible
ansible collection location = /root/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
executable location = /opt/local/bin/ansible
python version = 3.12.13 (main, Apr 30 2026, 17:35:44) [GCC 13.4.0] (/opt/local/bin/python3.12)
jinja version = 3.1.3
pyyaml version = 6.0.3 (with libyaml v0.2.5)
Configuration
# if using a version older than ansible-core 2.12 you should omit the '-t all'
$ ansible-config dump --only-changed -t all
CONFIG_FILE() = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
PAGER(env: PAGER) = less
RETRY_FILES_SAVE_PATH(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = /tmp
GALAXY_SERVERS:
CONNECTION:
==========
paramiko_ssh (DEPRECATED):
_________________________
look_for_keys(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = True
private_key_file(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = /root/.ssh/capablanca_idkey
paramiko_ssh:
____________
look_for_keys(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = True
private_key_file(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = /root/.ssh/capablanca_idkey
ssh:
___
pipelining(/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg) = True
OS / Environment
OS: SunOS chess.h-net.org 5.11 joyent_20250206T001102Z i86pc i386 i86pc illumos
Ansible runs in a guest zone.
Python 3.12.13
Steps to Reproduce
- name: Copy out local image installer
copy: src={{ collpath }}/miscbin/install_local_zoneimages
dest=/opt/local/sbin/
owner=root group=root mode='2755'Expected Results
Successful copy.
Actual Results
TASK [Copy out local image installer] ******************************************
Exception ignored in: <function _after_fork at 0xcd46e0>
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/opt/local/lib/python3.12/threading.py", line 1649, in _after_fork
[ERROR]: A worker was found in a dead state
def _after_fork():
File "/opt/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ansible/executor/task_queue_manager.py", line 211, in _signal_handler
if worker is None or not worker.is_alive():
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/opt/local/lib/python3.12/multiprocessing/process.py", line 160, in is_alive
assert self._parent_pid == os.getpid(), 'can only test a child process'
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AssertionError: can only test a child processCode of Conduct
Summary
Frequent task failures, seemingly mostly with copy module.
[ERROR]: A worker was found in a dead state
There are a lot of reports of this error message, seemingly revolving around:
Memory: 12G phys mem, 6358M free mem, 16G total swap, 16G free swap. This doesn't change significantly during the ansible run.total: 130257356k bytes allocated + 2619760k reserved = 132877116k used, 270847148k available.Issue Type
Bug Report
Component Name
copy
Ansible Version
Configuration
OS / Environment
OS: SunOS chess.h-net.org 5.11 joyent_20250206T001102Z i86pc i386 i86pc illumos
Ansible runs in a guest zone.
Python 3.12.13
Steps to Reproduce
Expected Results
Successful copy.
Actual Results
Code of Conduct