working on playbook to check file exists

[venkat velpuri]

I am new to ansible getting error 

ansible-playbook -vvvv -i apphosts file.yml

ERROR: parse error: playbooks must be formatted as a YAML list, got <type 'dict'>

 tasks:

  - name: Check that the somefile.conf exists

    stat: path=/etc/file.txt

    register: stat_result

  - name: Create the file, if it doesnt exist already

    file: path=/etc/file.txt state=touch

    when: stat_result.stat.exists == False

can any one please help me to sort this problem

[Kai Stian Olstad]

This is a task list not a playbook, I suggest reading this short intro
and you'll learn the difference.

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks_intro.html

--
Kai Stian Olstad

[Bill Carlson]

Assuming that is your full playbook file, it needs more than tasks.

Sample of a working file, read up for explanation of each portion:

---
- hosts: system1,system2
  tasks:
    - name: task1
      stat: path=something
      register: stat_something

There is also a method in a playbook that breaks tasks and other items into separate files in a directory structure, see the docs as mentioned.