Playbooks and Modules

Updated Dec 10, 2020 ·

Overview

Modules perform actions. Playbooks arrange those actions into repeatable YAML workflows.

Use ad hoc commands for quick one-time work, and use playbooks when the task should be repeated, reviewed, or versioned.

Run a module directly from the command line.

ansible all -m ping
ansible webservers -m command -a "uptime"
ansible webservers -m yum -a "name=httpd state=present" --become

Useful flags:

Flag	Purpose
`-i`	Sets the inventory file.
`-m`	Selects the module.
`-a`	Passes module arguments.
`-b`	Runs with privilege escalation.
`-u`	Sets the remote user.

A playbook contains one or more plays. Each play targets hosts and runs tasks.

---
- name: Check host connectivity
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Ping hosts
      ansible.builtin.ping:

Run the playbook.

ansible-playbook sample-ping.yml

Module	Purpose
`ping`	Confirms Ansible can connect to a host.
`command`	Runs a command without shell processing.
`shell`	Runs a command through a shell.
`copy`	Copies local files to remote hosts.
`template`	Renders Jinja2 templates to remote hosts.
`service`	Starts, stops, restarts, and enables services.
`lineinfile`	Ensures a line exists or is changed in a file.
`yum`	Manages packages on RHEL-based systems.
`apt`	Manages packages on Debian-based systems.

Check syntax before running.

ansible-playbook --syntax-check playbooks/setup-app.yml

Run in check mode when a module supports it.

ansible-playbook playbooks/setup-app.yml --check

Limit a run to specific hosts.

ansible-playbook playbooks/setup-app.yml --limit webservers