diff --git a/pkg/ansibleserver/models/ansibleplaybooks.go b/pkg/ansibleserver/models/ansibleplaybooks.go
index 912e4a385e..797953eed1 100644
--- a/pkg/ansibleserver/models/ansibleplaybooks.go
+++ b/pkg/ansibleserver/models/ansibleplaybooks.go
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ type SAnsiblePlaybook struct {
 	EndTime   time.Time         `list:"user"`
 }
 
+const (
+	OutputMaxBytes = 64*1024*1024 - 1
+)
+
 type SAnsiblePlaybookManager struct {
 	db.SVirtualResourceBaseManager
 
@@ -218,6 +222,7 @@ func (apb *SAnsiblePlaybook) runPlaybook(ctx context.Context, userCred mcclient.
 	} else {
 		pb.PrivateKey = []byte(k)
 	}
+	pb.OutputWriter(&ansiblePlaybookOutputRecorder{apb})
 
 	man.sessions.Add(apb.Id, pb)
 
@@ -251,13 +256,6 @@ func (apb *SAnsiblePlaybook) runPlaybook(ctx context.Context, userCred mcclient.
 				apb.Status = AnsiblePlaybookStatusSucceeded
 			}
 			apb.EndTime = time.Now()
-			// truncate to preserve the tail
-			output := pb.Output()
-			textMax := 64*1024*1024 - 1
-			if len(output) > textMax {
-				output = output[len(output)-textMax:]
-			}
-			apb.Output = string(output)
 			return nil
 		})
 		if err != nil {
@@ -278,3 +276,27 @@ func (apb *SAnsiblePlaybook) stopPlaybook(ctx context.Context, userCred mcclient
 	man.sessions.Stop(apb.Id)
 	return nil
 }
+
+type ansiblePlaybookOutputRecorder struct {
+	apb *SAnsiblePlaybook
+}
+
+func (w *ansiblePlaybookOutputRecorder) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
+	apb := w.apb
+	_, err = db.Update(apb, func() error {
+		cur := apb.Output
+		i := len(p) + len(cur) - OutputMaxBytes
+		if i > 0 {
+			// truncate to preserve the tail
+			apb.Output = cur[:len(cur)-i] + string(p)
+		} else {
+			apb.Output += string(p)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("ansibleplaybook %s(%s): record output: %v", apb.Name, apb.Id, err)
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	return len(p), nil
+}