.. _inventory:
Inventory
=========
.. contents :: Topics
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,
which defaults to being saved in the location `` /etc/ansible/hosts `` .
You can specify a different inventory file using the `` -i <path> `` option on the command line.
Not only is this inventory configurable, but you can also use multiple inventory files at the same time and
pull inventory from dynamic or cloud sources, as described in :doc: `intro_dynamic_inventory` .
Introduced in version 2.4, Ansible has inventory plugins to make this flexible and customizable.
.. _inventoryformat:
Hosts and Groups
++++++++++++++++
The inventory file can be in one of many formats, depending on the inventory plugins you have.
For this example, the format for `` /etc/ansible/hosts `` is an INI-like (one of Ansible's defaults) and looks like this:
.. code-block :: ini
mail.example.com
[webservers]
foo.example.com
bar.example.com
[dbservers]
one.example.com
two.example.com
three.example.com
The headings in brackets are group names, which are used in classifying systems
and deciding what systems you are controlling at what times and for what purpose.
It is ok to put systems in more than one group, for instance a server could be both a webserver and a dbserver.
If you do, note that variables will come from all of the groups they are a member of. Variable precedence is detailed in a later chapter.
If you have hosts that run on non-standard SSH ports you can put the port number
after the hostname with a colon. Ports listed in your SSH config file won't be used with the `paramiko`
connection but will be used with the `openssh`
To make things explicit, it is suggested that you set them if things are not running on the default port:
.. code-block :: ini
badwolf.example.com:5309
Suppose you have just static IPs and want to set up some aliases that live in your host file, or you are connecting through tunnels. You can also describe hosts like this:
.. code-block :: ini
jumper ansible_port=5555 ansible_host=192.0.2.50
In the above example, trying to ansible against the host alias "jumper" (which may not even be a real hostname) will contact 192.0.2.50 on port 5555. Note that this is using a feature of the inventory file to define some special variables. Generally speaking this is not the best
way to define variables that describe your system policy, but we'll share suggestions on doing this later. We're just getting started.
Adding a lot of hosts? If you have a lot of hosts following similar patterns you can do this rather than listing each hostname:
.. code-block :: ini
[webservers]
www[01:50].example.com
For numeric patterns, leading zeros can be included or removed, as desired. Ranges are inclusive. You can also define alphabetic ranges:
.. code-block :: ini
[databases]
db-[a:f].example.com
.. include :: ../rst_common/ansible_ssh_changes_note.rst
You can also select the connection type and user on a per host basis:
.. code-block :: ini
[targets]
localhost ansible_connection=local
other1.example.com ansible_connection=ssh ansible_user=mpdehaan
other2.example.com ansible_connection=ssh ansible_user=mdehaan
As mentioned above, setting these in the inventory file is only a shorthand, and we'll discuss how to store them in individual files
in the 'host_vars' directory a bit later on.
.. _host_variables:
Host Variables
++++++++++++++
As alluded to above, it is easy to assign variables to hosts that will be used later in playbooks:
.. code-block :: ini
[atlanta]
host1 http_port=80 maxRequestsPerChild=808
host2 http_port=303 maxRequestsPerChild=909
.. _group_variables:
Group Variables
+++++++++++++++
Variables can also be applied to an entire group at once::
[atlanta]
host1
host2
[atlanta:vars]
ntp_server=ntp.atlanta.example.com
proxy=proxy.atlanta.example.com
Be aware that this is only a convenient way to apply variables to multiple hosts at once; even though you can target hosts by group, variables are always flattened to the host level before a play is executed.
.. _subgroups:
Groups of Groups, and Group Variables
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is also possible to make groups of groups using the `` :children `` suffix. Just like above, you can apply variables using `` :vars `` ::
[atlanta]
host1
host2
[raleigh]
host2
host3
[southeast:children]
atlanta
raleigh
[southeast:vars]
some_server=foo.southeast.example.com
halon_system_timeout=30
self_destruct_countdown=60
escape_pods=2
[usa:children]
southeast
northeast
southwest
northwest
If you need to store lists or hash data, or prefer to keep host and group specific variables separate from the inventory file, see the next section.
Child groups have a couple of properties to note:
- First, any host that is member of a child group is automatically a member of the parent group.
- Second, a child group's variables will have higher precedence (override) a parent group's variables.
.. _default_groups:
Default groups
++++++++++++++
There are two default groups: `` all `` and `` ungrouped `` . `` all `` contains every host.
`` ungrouped `` contains all hosts that don't have another group aside from `` all `` .
.. _splitting_out_vars:
Splitting Out Host and Group Specific Data
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The preferred practice in Ansible is actually not to store variables in the main inventory file.
In addition to storing variables directly in the INI file, host
and group variables can be stored in individual files relative to the
inventory file.
These variable files are in YAML format. Valid file extensions include '.yml', '.yaml', '.json',
or no file extension. See :doc: `YAMLSyntax` if you are new to YAML.
Assuming the inventory file path is::
/etc/ansible/hosts
If the host is named 'foosball', and in groups 'raleigh' and 'webservers', variables
in YAML files at the following locations will be made available to the host::
/etc/ansible/group_vars/raleigh # can optionally end in '.yml', '.yaml', or '.json'
/etc/ansible/group_vars/webservers
/etc/ansible/host_vars/foosball
For instance, suppose you have hosts grouped by datacenter, and each datacenter
uses some different servers. The data in the groupfile '/etc/ansible/group_vars/raleigh' for
the 'raleigh' group might look like::
---
ntp_server: acme.example.org
database_server: storage.example.org
It is ok if these files do not exist, as this is an optional feature.
As an advanced use-case, you can create *directories* named after your groups or hosts, and
Ansible will read all the files in these directories. An example with the 'raleigh' group::
/etc/ansible/group_vars/raleigh/db_settings
/etc/ansible/group_vars/raleigh/cluster_settings
All hosts that are in the 'raleigh' group will have the variables defined in these files
available to them. This can be very useful to keep your variables organized when a single
file starts to be too big, or when you want to use :doc: `Ansible Vault<playbooks_vault>` on a part of a group's
variables. Note that this only works on Ansible 1.4 or later.
Tip: In Ansible 1.2 or later the `` group_vars/ `` and `` host_vars/ `` directories can exist in
the playbook directory OR the inventory directory. If both paths exist, variables in the playbook
directory will override variables set in the inventory directory.
Tip: Keeping your inventory file and variables in a git repo (or other version control)
is an excellent way to track changes to your inventory and host variables.
.. _behavioral_parameters:
List of Behavioral Inventory Parameters
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As alluded to above, setting the following variables controls how ansible interacts with remote hosts.
Host connection:
ansible_connection
Connection type to the host. This can be the name of any of ansible's connection plugins. SSH protocol types are `` smart `` , `` ssh `` or `` paramiko `` . The default is smart. Non-SSH based types are described in the next section.
.. include :: ../rst_common/ansible_ssh_changes_note.rst
General for all connections:
ansible_host
The name of the host to connect to, if different from the alias you wish to give to it.
ansible_port
The ssh port number, if not 22
ansible_user
The default ssh user name to use.
Specific to the SSH connection:
ansible_ssh_pass
The ssh password to use (never store this variable in plain text; always use a vault. See :ref: `best_practices_for_variables_and_vaults` )
ansible_ssh_private_key_file
Private key file used by ssh. Useful if using multiple keys and you don't want to use SSH agent.
ansible_ssh_common_args
This setting is always appended to the default command line for :command: `sftp` , :command: `scp` ,
and :command: `ssh` . Useful to configure a `` ProxyCommand `` for a certain host (or
group).
ansible_sftp_extra_args
This setting is always appended to the default :command: `sftp` command line.
ansible_scp_extra_args
This setting is always appended to the default :command: `scp` command line.
ansible_ssh_extra_args
This setting is always appended to the default :command: `ssh` command line.
ansible_ssh_pipelining
Determines whether or not to use SSH pipelining. This can override the `` pipelining `` setting in :file: `ansible.cfg` .
ansible_ssh_executable (added in version 2.2)
This setting overrides the default behavior to use the system :command: `ssh` . This can override the `` ssh_executable `` setting in :file: `ansible.cfg` .
Privilege escalation (see :doc: `Ansible Privilege Escalation<become>` for further details):
ansible_become
Equivalent to `` ansible_sudo `` or `` ansible_su `` , allows to force privilege escalation
ansible_become_method
Allows to set privilege escalation method
ansible_become_user
Equivalent to `` ansible_sudo_user `` or `` ansible_su_user `` , allows to set the user you become through privilege escalation
ansible_become_pass
Equivalent to `` ansible_sudo_pass `` or `` ansible_su_pass `` , allows you to set the privilege escalation password (never store this variable in plain text; always use a vault. See :ref: `best_practices_for_variables_and_vaults` )
Remote host environment parameters:
ansible_shell_type
The shell type of the target system. You should not use this setting unless you have set the `` ansible_shell_executable `` to a non-Bourne (sh) compatible shell.
By default commands are formatted using `` sh `` -style syntax.
Setting this to `` csh `` or `` fish `` will cause commands executed on target systems to follow those shell's syntax instead.
ansible_python_interpreter
The target host python path. This is useful for systems with more
than one Python or not located at :command: `/usr/bin/python` such as \*BSD, or where :command: `/usr/bin/python`
is not a 2.X series Python. We do not use the :command: `/usr/bin/env` mechanism as that requires the remote user's
path to be set right and also assumes the :program: `python` executable is named python, where the executable might
be named something like :program: `python2.6` .
ansible_*_interpreter
Works for anything such as ruby or perl and works just like `` ansible_python_interpreter `` .
This replaces shebang of modules which will run on that host.
.. versionadded :: 2.1
ansible_shell_executable
This sets the shell the ansible controller will use on the target machine,
overrides `` executable `` in :file: `ansible.cfg` which defaults to
:command: `/bin/sh` . You should really only change it if is not possible
to use :command: `/bin/sh` (i.e. :command: `/bin/sh` is not installed on the target
machine or cannot be run from sudo.).
Examples from an Ansible-INI host file::
some_host ansible_port=2222 ansible_user=manager
aws_host ansible_ssh_private_key_file=/home/example/.ssh/aws.pem
freebsd_host ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/local/bin/python
ruby_module_host ansible_ruby_interpreter=/usr/bin/ruby.1.9.3
Non-SSH connection types
++++++++++++++++++++++++
As stated in the previous section, Ansible executes playbooks over SSH but it is not limited to this connection type.
With the host specific parameter `` ansible_connection=<connector> `` , the connection type can be changed.
The following non-SSH based connectors are available:
**local**
This connector can be used to deploy the playbook to the control machine itself.
**docker**
This connector deploys the playbook directly into Docker containers using the local Docker client. The following parameters are processed by this connector:
ansible_host
The name of the Docker container to connect to.
ansible_user
The user name to operate within the container. The user must exist inside the container.
ansible_become
If set to `` true `` the `` become_user `` will be used to operate within the container.
ansible_docker_extra_args
Could be a string with any additional arguments understood by Docker, which are not command specific. This parameter is mainly used to configure a remote Docker daemon to use.
Here is an example of how to instantly deploy to created containers::
- name: create jenkins container
docker_container:
docker_host: myserver.net:4243
name: my_jenkins
image: jenkins
- name: add container to inventory
add_host:
name: my_jenkins
ansible_connection: docker
ansible_docker_extra_args: "--tlsverify --tlscacert=/path/to/ca.pem --tlscert=/path/to/client-cert.pem --tlskey=/path/to/client-key.pem -H=tcp://myserver.net:4243"
ansible_user: jenkins
changed_when: false
- name: create directory for ssh keys
delegate_to: my_jenkins
file:
path: "/var/jenkins_home/.ssh/jupiter"
state: directory
.. seealso ::
:doc: `intro_dynamic_inventory`
Pulling inventory from dynamic sources, such as cloud providers
:doc: `intro_adhoc`
Examples of basic commands
:doc: `playbooks`
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