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< li > < a class = "reference internal" href = "#" > The Inventory File, Patterns, and Groups< / a > < ul >
< li > < a class = "reference internal" href = "#basic-inventory-file-format" > Basic Inventory File Format< / a > < / li >
< li > < a class = "reference internal" href = "#selecting-targets" > Selecting Targets< / a > < / li >
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< a href = "http://github.com/ansible/ansible" > < img style = "position: absolute; right: 0; border: 0;" src = "https://a248.e.akamai.net/assets.github.com/img/e6bef7a091f5f3138b8cd40bc3e114258dd68ddf/687474703a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f6769746875622f726962626f6e732f666f726b6d655f72696768745f7265645f6161303030302e706e67" alt = "Fork me on GitHub" > < / a >
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< div class = "section" id = "the-inventory-file-patterns-and-groups" >
< 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 = "basic-inventory-file-format" >
< span id = "inventoryformat" > < / span > < h2 > Basic Inventory File Format< a class = "headerlink" href = "#basic-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 >
< p > If you have hosts that run on non-standard SSH ports you can put the port number
after the hostname with a colon. This requires Ansible 0.3 (integration branch):< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > four.example.com:5309< / pre >
< / div >
< / 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. 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 >
< div class = "section" id = "advanced-inventory-file-format" >
< h2 > Advanced Inventory File Format< a class = "headerlink" href = "#advanced-inventory-file-format" title = "Permalink to this headline" > ¶< / a > < / h2 >
< p > (This features requires the integration branch of Ansible, soon to be release 0.3)< / p >
< p > Once you read about playbooks you’ ll quickly see how useful it will be to assign particular variables
to particular hosts and groups of hosts. While the default INI-style host format doesn’ t allow this,
switching to the YAML inventory format can add some compelling capabilities. Just replace your INI
style file with a YAML one.:< / p >
< div class = "highlight-python" > < pre > ---
# some ungrouped hosts, either use the short string form or the "host: " prefix
- host: jupiter
- mars
# variables can be assigned like this...
- host: saturn
vars:
- moon: titan
# groups can also set variables to all hosts in the group
# here are a bunch of hosts using a non-standard SSH port
# and also defining a variable 'ntpserver'
- group: greek
hosts:
- zeus
- hera
- poseidon
vars:
- ansible_ssh_port: 3000
- ntp_server: olympus.example.com
# individual hosts can still set variables inside of groups too
# so you aren't limited to just group variables and host variables.
- group: norse
hosts:
- host: thor
vars:
- hammer: True
- odin
- loki
vars:
- asdf: 1234< / pre >
< / div >
< p > Tip: Be sure to start your YAML file with the YAML record designator “ — ” .< / p >
< p > NOTE: variables specified in playbooks will override variables specified
in the host file. Further, if a host is in multiple groups, currently, the
variables set by the last loaded group will win over variables set in other
groups. This behavior may be refined in future releases.< / 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 >
© Copyright 2012 Michael DeHaan.< br / >
Last updated on Apr 27, 2012.< br / >
Created using < a href = "http://sphinx.pocoo.org/" > Sphinx< / a > 1.0.8.< br / >
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