A collection is a distribution format for Ansible content. A typical collection contains modules and other plugins that address a set of related use cases. For example, a collection might automate administering a particular database. A collection can also contain roles and playbooks.
To distribute your collection and allow others to use it, you can publish your collection on one or more distribution servers. Distribution servers include:
Configure a connection to one or more distribution servers so you can publish collections there. You only need to configure each distribution server once. You must repeat the other steps (building your collection tarball, preparing to publish, and publishing your collection) every time you publish a new collection or a new version of an existing collection.
You must upload your collection into a namespace on each distribution server. If you have a login for Ansible Galaxy, your Ansible Galaxy username is usually also an Ansible Galaxy namespace.
..warning::
Namespaces on Ansible Galaxy cannot include hyphens. If you have a login for Ansible Galaxy that includes a hyphen, your Galaxy username is not also a Galaxy namespace. For example, ``awesome-user`` is a valid username for Ansible Galaxy, but it is not a valid namespace.
You can create additional namespaces on Ansible Galaxy if you choose. For Red Hat Automation Hub and private Automation Hub you must create a namespace before you can upload your collection. To create a namespace:
* To create a namespace on Galaxy, see `Galaxy namespaces <https://galaxy.ansible.com/docs/contributing/namespaces.html#galaxy-namespaces>`_ on the Galaxy docsite for details.
* To create a namespace on Red Hat Automation Hub, see the `Ansible Certified Content FAQ <https://access.redhat.com/articles/4916901>`_.
Specify the namespace in the :file:`galaxy.yaml` file for each collection. For more information on the :file:`galaxy.yaml` file, see :ref:`collections_galaxy_meta`.
An API token authenticates your connection to each distribution server. You need a separate API token for each distribution server. Use the correct API token to connect to each distribution server securely and protect your content.
* To get an API token for Galaxy, go to the `Galaxy profile preferences <https://galaxy.ansible.com/me/preferences>`_ page and click :guilabel:`API Key`.
* To get an API token for Automation Hub, go to `the token page <https://cloud.redhat.com/ansible/automation-hub/token/>`_ and click :guilabel:`Load token`.
Each time you publish a collection, you must specify the API token and the distribution server to create a secure connection. You have two options for specifying the token and distribution server:
* You can configure the token in configuration, as part of a ``galaxy_server_list`` entry in your :file:`ansible.cfg` file. Using configuration is the most secure option.
* You can pass the token at the command line as an argument to the ``ansible-galaxy`` command. If you pass the token at the command line, you can specify the server at the command line, by using the default setting, or by setting the server in configuration. Passing the token at the command line is insecure, because typing secrets at the command line may expose them to other users on the system.
By default, Ansible Galaxy is configured as the only distribution server. You can add other distribution servers and specify your API token or tokens in configuration by editing the ``galaxy_server_list`` section of your :file:`ansible.cfg` file. This is the most secure way to manage authentication for distribution servers. Specify a URL and token for each server. For example:
You cannot use ``apt-key`` with any servers defined in your :ref:`galaxy_server_list <galaxy_server_config>`. See :ref:`galaxy_server_config` for complete details.
.._galaxy_use_token_arg:
Specifying the token at the command line
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You can specify the API token at the command line using the ``--token`` argument of the :ref:`ansible-galaxy` command. There are three ways to specify the distribution server when passing the token at the command line:
* using the ``--server`` argument of the :ref:`ansible-galaxy` command
* relying on the default (https://galaxy.ansible.com)
* setting a server in configuration by creating a :ref:`GALAXY_SERVER` setting in your :file:`ansible.cfg` file
After configuring one or more distribution servers, build a collection tarball. The collection tarball is the published artifact, the object that you upload and other users download to install your collection. To build a collection tarball:
#. Review the version number in your :file:`galaxy.yaml` file. Each time you publish your collection, it must have a new version number. You cannot make changes to existing versions of your collection on a distribution server. If you try to upload the same collection version more than once, the distribution server returns the error ``Code: conflict.collection_exists``. Collections follow semantic versioning rules. For more information on versions, see :ref:`collection_versions`. For more information on the :file:`galaxy.yaml` file, see :ref:`collections_galaxy_meta`.
#. Run ``ansible-galaxy collection build`` from inside the top-level directory of the collection. For example:
* To reduce the size of collections, certain files and folders are excluded from the collection tarball by default. See :ref:`ignoring_files_and_folders_collections` if your collection directory contains other files you want to exclude.
You can upload your tarball to one or more distribution servers. You can also distribute your collection locally by copying the tarball to install your collection directly on target systems.
To exclude other files and folders from your collection tarball, set a list of file glob-like patterns in the ``build_ignore`` key in the collection's ``galaxy.yml`` file. These patterns use the following special characters for wildcard matching:
For example, to exclude the :file:`sensitive` folder within the ``playbooks`` folder as well any ``.tar.gz`` archives, set the following in your ``galaxy.yml`` file:
Each time you publish your collection, you must create a :ref:`new version <collection_versions>` on the distribution server. After you publish a version of a collection, you cannot delete or modify that version. To avoid unnecessary extra versions, check your collection for bugs, typos, and other issues locally before publishing:
To install your collection locally from the tarball, run ``ansible-galaxy collection install`` and specify the collection tarball. You can optionally specify a location using the ``-p`` flag. For example:
Install the tarball into a directory configured in :ref:`COLLECTIONS_PATHS` so Ansible can easily find and load the collection. If you do not specify a path value, ``ansible-galaxy collection install`` installs the collection in the first path defined in :ref:`COLLECTIONS_PATHS`.
.._collections_scm_install:
Installing your collection locally from a git repository
* Run a playbook that uses the modules and plugins in your collection. Verify that new features and functionality work as expected. For examples and more details see :ref:`Using collections <using_collections>`.
* Check the documentation for typos.
* Check that the version number of your tarball is higher than the latest published version on the distribution server or servers.
* If you find any issues, fix them and rebuild the collection tarball.
The only way to change a collection is to release a new version. The latest version of a collection (by highest version number) is the version displayed everywhere in Galaxy and Automation Hub. Users can still download older versions.
* Increment the major version number, ``x`` of ``x.y.z``, for an incompatible API change.
* Increment the minor version number, ``y`` of ``x.y.z``, for new functionality in a backwards compatible manner (for example new modules/plugins, parameters, return values).
* Increment the patch version number, ``z`` of ``x.y.z``, for backwards compatible bug fixes.
The last step in distributing your collection is publishing the tarball to Ansible Galaxy, Red Hat Automation Hub, or a privately hosted Automation Hub instance. You can publish your collection in two ways:
The ``ansible-galaxy collection publish`` command triggers an import process, just as if you uploaded the collection through the Galaxy website. The command waits until the import process completes before reporting the status back. If you want to continue without waiting for the import result, use the ``--no-wait`` argument and manually look at the import progress in your `My Imports <https://galaxy.ansible.com/my-imports/>`_ page.
When you upload a collection, Ansible always uploads the tarball to the namespace specified in the collection metadata in the ``galaxy.yml`` file, no matter which namespace you select on the website. If you are not an owner of the namespace specified in your collection metadata, the upload request fails.
After Galaxy uploads and accepts a collection, the website shows you the **My Imports** page. This page shows import process information. You can review any errors or warnings about your upload there.
