ansible

Ansible Skill

Ansible automation reference for configuration management and application deployment.

Quick Reference

# Test connectivity
ansible all -m ping
ansible <group> -m ping

# Run playbook
ansible-playbook playbook.yml
ansible-playbook playbook.yml -l <host>    # Limit to host
ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check      # Dry-run
ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv         # Verbose

Tags

ansible-playbook playbook.yml --tags "deploy" ansible-playbook playbook.yml --skip-tags "backup" ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tags

Variables

ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "var=value" ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "@vars.yml"

Ad-hoc commands

ansible -m shell -a "command" ansible -m copy -a "src=file dest=/path" ansible -m apt -a "name=package state=present"

Galaxy

ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml ansible-galaxy role install

## Reference Files

Load on-demand based on task:

| Topic | File | When to Load |
|-------|------|--------------|
| Playbook Structure | [playbooks.md](references/playbooks.md) | Writing playbooks |
| Inventory | [inventory.md](references/inventory.md) | Host/group configuration |
| Variables | [variables.md](references/variables.md) | Variable precedence, facts |
| Modules | [modules.md](references/modules.md) | Common module reference |
| Troubleshooting | [troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md) | Common errors, debugging |

### Proxmox Integration

| Topic | File | When to Load |
|-------|------|--------------|
| Proxmox Modules | [proxmox/modules.md](references/proxmox/modules.md) | VM/LXC management via API |
| Proxmox Auth | [proxmox/authentication.md](references/proxmox/authentication.md) | API tokens, credentials |
| Proxmox Gotchas | [proxmox/gotchas.md](references/proxmox/gotchas.md) | Common issues, workarounds |
| Dynamic Inventory | [proxmox/dynamic-inventory.md](references/proxmox/dynamic-inventory.md) | Auto-discover VMs/containers |

### Docker Integration

| Topic | File | When to Load |
|-------|------|--------------|
| Docker Deployment | [docker/deployment.md](references/docker/deployment.md) | Containers, images, networks, volumes |
| Compose Patterns | [docker/compose-patterns.md](references/docker/compose-patterns.md) | Roles, templates, multi-service stacks |
| Docker Troubleshooting | [docker/troubleshooting.md](references/docker/troubleshooting.md) | Common errors, debugging |

## Playbook Quick Reference

```yaml
---
- name: Deploy application
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  vars:
    app_port: 8080

  pre_tasks:
    - name: Validate requirements
      ansible.builtin.assert:
        that:
          - app_secret is defined

  tasks:
    - name: Install packages
      ansible.builtin.apt:
        name: "{{ item }}"
        state: present
      loop:
        - nginx
        - python3

    - name: Deploy config
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: app.conf.j2
        dest: /etc/app/app.conf
      notify: Restart app

  handlers:
    - name: Restart app
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: app
        state: restarted

  post_tasks:
    - name: Verify deployment
      ansible.builtin.uri:
        url: "http://localhost:{{ app_port }}/health"

Variable Precedence (High to Low)

1. Extra vars (-e "var=value")
2. Task vars
3. Block vars
4. Role/include vars
5. Play vars
6. Host facts
7. host_vars/
8. group_vars/
9. Role defaults

Directory Structure

ansible/
├── ansible.cfg          # Configuration
├── inventory/
│   └── hosts.yml        # Inventory
├── group_vars/
│   ├── all.yml          # All hosts
│   └── webservers.yml   # Group-specific
├── host_vars/
│   └── server1.yml      # Host-specific
├── roles/
│   └── app/
│       ├── tasks/
│       ├── handlers/
│       ├── templates/
│       ├── files/
│       └── defaults/
├── playbooks/
│   └── deploy.yml
├── templates/
│   └── config.j2
└── requirements.yml     # Galaxy dependencies

Idempotency Checklist

• Tasks produce same result on repeated runs
• No changed_when: true unless necessary
• Use state: present/absent not shell commands
• Check mode (--check) shows accurate changes
• Second run shows all "ok" (no changes)