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< li > < a class = "reference internal" href = "#" > The Inventory File, Patterns, and Groups< / a > < ul >
< li > < a class = "reference internal" href = "#inventory-file-format" > Inventory File Format< / a > < / li >
< li > < a class = "reference internal" href = "#selecting-targets" > Selecting Targets< / a > < / li >
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< span id = "patterns" > < / span > < h1 > The Inventory File, Patterns, and Groups< a class = "headerlink" href = "#the-inventory-file-patterns-and-groups" title = "Permalink to this headline" > ¶< / a > < / h1 >
< p > Ansible works against multiple systems in your infrastructure at the
same time. It does this by selecting portions of systems listed in
Ansible’ s inventory file, which defaults to /etc/ansible/hosts.< / p >
< div class = "section" id = "inventory-file-format" >
< span id = "inventoryformat" > < / span > < h2 > Inventory File Format< a class = "headerlink" href = "#inventory-file-format" title = "Permalink to this headline" > ¶< / a > < / h2 >
< p > The format for /etc/ansible/hosts looks like this:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < div class = "highlight" > < pre > < span class = "n" > mail< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > example< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > com< / span >
< span class = "p" > [< / span > < span class = "n" > webservers< / span > < span class = "p" > ]< / span >
< span class = "n" > foo< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > example< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > com< / span >
< span class = "n" > bar< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > example< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > com< / span >
< span class = "p" > [< / span > < span class = "n" > dbservers< / span > < span class = "p" > ]< / span >
< span class = "n" > one< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > example< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > com< / span >
< span class = "n" > two< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > example< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > com< / span >
< span class = "n" > three< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > example< / span > < span class = "o" > .< / span > < span class = "n" > com< / span >
< / pre > < / div >
< / div >
< p > The things in brackets are group names, you don’ t have to have them,
but they are useful.< / p >
< / div >
< div class = "section" id = "selecting-targets" >
< h2 > Selecting Targets< a class = "headerlink" href = "#selecting-targets" title = "Permalink to this headline" > ¶< / a > < / h2 >
< p > We’ ll go over how to use the command line in < a class = "reference internal" href = "examples.html" > < em > Command Line Examples< / em > < / a > section, however, basically it looks like this:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > ansible < pattern_goes_here> -m < module_name> -a < arguments> < / pre >
< / div >
< p > Such as:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > ansible webservers -m service -a "name=httpd state=restarted"< / pre >
< / div >
< p > Within < a class = "reference internal" href = "playbooks.html" > < em > Playbooks< / em > < / a > , these patterns can also be used, for even greater purposes.< / p >
< p > Anyway, to use Ansible, you’ ll first need to know how to tell Ansible which hosts in your inventory file to talk to.
This is done by designating particular host names or groups of hosts.< / p >
< p > The following patterns target all hosts in the inventory file:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > all
*< / pre >
< / div >
< p > Basically ‘ all’ is an alias for ‘ *’ . It is also possible to address a specific host or hosts:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > one.example.com
one.example.com:two.example.com
192.168.1.50
192.168.1.*< / pre >
< / div >
< p > The following patterns address one or more groups, which are denoted
with the aforementioned bracket headers in the inventory file:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > webservers
webservers:dbservers< / pre >
< / div >
< p > Individual host names (or IPs), but not groups, can also be referenced using
wildcards:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > *.example.com
*.com< / pre >
< / div >
< p > It’ s also ok to mix wildcard patterns and groups at the same time:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > one*.com:dbservers< / pre >
< / div >
< div class = "admonition note" >
< p class = "first admonition-title" > Note< / p >
< p class = "last" > It is not possible to target a host not in the inventory file. This is a safety feature.< / p >
< / div >
< p > Easy enough. Now see < a class = "reference internal" href = "examples.html" > < em > Command Line Examples< / em > < / a > and then < a class = "reference internal" href = "playbooks.html" > < em > Playbooks< / em > < / a > for how to do things to selected hosts.< / p >
< div class = "admonition-see-also admonition seealso" >
< p class = "first admonition-title" > See also< / p >
< dl class = "last docutils" >
< dt > < a class = "reference internal" href = "examples.html" > < em > Command Line Examples< / em > < / a > < / dt >
< dd > Examples of basic commands< / dd >
< dt > < a class = "reference internal" href = "playbooks.html" > < em > Playbooks< / em > < / a > < / dt >
< dd > Learning ansible’ s configuration management language< / dd >
< dt > < a class = "reference external" href = "http://groups.google.com/group/ansible-project" > Mailing List< / a > < / dt >
< dd > Questions? Help? Ideas? Stop by the list on Google Groups< / dd >
< dt > < a class = "reference external" href = "http://irc.freenode.net" > irc.freenode.net< / a > < / dt >
< dd > #ansible IRC chat channel< / dd >
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< p class = "pull-right" > < a href = "#" > Back to top< / a > < / p >
< p >
© Copyright 2012 Michael DeHaan.< br / >
Last updated on Apr 12, 2012.< br / >
Created using < a href = "http://sphinx.pocoo.org/" > Sphinx< / a > 1.0.8.< br / >
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