NAME

ansible-playbook - Runs Ansible playbooks, executing the defined tasks on the targeted hosts.

SYNOPSIS

usage: ansible-playbook [-h] [--version] [-v] [-k]: [--private-key PRIVATE_KEY_FILE] [-u REMOTE_USER] [-c CONNECTION] [-T TIMEOUT] [--ssh-common-args SSH_COMMON_ARGS] [--sftp-extra-args SFTP_EXTRA_ARGS] [--scp-extra-args SCP_EXTRA_ARGS] [--ssh-extra-args SSH_EXTRA_ARGS] [--force-handlers] [--flush-cache] [-b] [--become-method BECOME_METHOD] [--become-user BECOME_USER] [-K] [-t TAGS] [--skip-tags SKIP_TAGS] [-C] [--syntax-check] [-D] [-i INVENTORY] [--list-hosts] [-l SUBSET] [-e EXTRA_VARS] [--vault-id VAULT_IDS] [--ask-vault-pass | --vault-password-file VAULT_PASSWORD_FILES] [-f FORKS] [-M MODULE_PATH] [--list-tasks] [--list-tags] [--step] [--start-at-task START_AT_TASK] playbook [playbook ...]

DESCRIPTION

the tool to run Ansible playbooks, which are a configuration and multinode deployment system. See the project home page (https://docs.ansible.com) for more information.

COMMON OPTIONS

Playbook(s)

--ask-vault-pass

ask for vault password

--become-method 'BECOME_METHOD'

privilege escalation method to use (default=%(default)s), use ansible-doc -t become -l to list valid choices.

--become-user 'BECOME_USER'

run operations as this user (default=root)

--flush-cache

clear the fact cache for every host in inventory

--force-handlers

run handlers even if a task fails

--list-hosts

outputs a list of matching hosts; does not execute anything else

--list-tags

list all available tags

--list-tasks

list all tasks that would be executed

--private-key 'PRIVATE_KEY_FILE', --key-file 'PRIVATE_KEY_FILE'

use this file to authenticate the connection

--scp-extra-args 'SCP_EXTRA_ARGS'

specify extra arguments to pass to scp only (e.g. -l)

--sftp-extra-args 'SFTP_EXTRA_ARGS'

specify extra arguments to pass to sftp only (e.g. -f, -l)

--skip-tags

only run plays and tasks whose tags do not match these values

--ssh-common-args 'SSH_COMMON_ARGS'

specify common arguments to pass to sftp/scp/ssh (e.g. ProxyCommand)

--ssh-extra-args 'SSH_EXTRA_ARGS'

specify extra arguments to pass to ssh only (e.g. -R)

--start-at-task 'START_AT_TASK'

start the playbook at the task matching this name

--step

one-step-at-a-time: confirm each task before running

--syntax-check

perform a syntax check on the playbook, but do not execute it

--vault-id

the vault identity to use

--vault-password-file

vault password file

--version

show program's version number, config file location, configured module search path, module location, executable location and exit

-C, --check

don't make any changes; instead, try to predict some of the changes that may occur

-D, --diff

when changing (small) files and templates, show the differences in those files; works great with --check

-K, --ask-become-pass

ask for privilege escalation password

-M, --module-path

prepend colon-separated path(s) to module library (default=~/.ansible/plugins/modules:/usr/local/share/py38-ansible/plugins/modules)

-T 'TIMEOUT', --timeout 'TIMEOUT'

override the connection timeout in seconds (default=10)

-b, --become

run operations with become (does not imply password prompting)

-c 'CONNECTION', --connection 'CONNECTION'

connection type to use (default=smart)

-e, --extra-vars

set additional variables as key=value or YAML/JSON, if filename prepend with @

-f 'FORKS', --forks 'FORKS'

specify number of parallel processes to use (default=5)

-h, --help

show this help message and exit

-i, --inventory, --inventory-file

specify inventory host path or comma separated host list. --inventory-file is deprecated

-k, --ask-pass

ask for connection password

-l 'SUBSET', --limit 'SUBSET'

further limit selected hosts to an additional pattern

-t, --tags

only run plays and tasks tagged with these values

-u 'REMOTE_USER', --user 'REMOTE_USER'

connect as this user (default=None)

-v, --verbose

verbose mode (-vvv for more, -vvvv to enable connection debugging)

ENVIRONMENT

The following environment variables may be specified.

ANSIBLE_CONFIG -- Specify override location for the ansible config file

Many more are available for most options in ansible.cfg

For a full list check https://docs.ansible.com/. or use the ansible-config command.

FILES

/usr/local/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg -- Config file, used if present

~/.ansible.cfg -- User config file, overrides the default config if present

./ansible.cfg -- Local config file (in current working directory) assumed to be 'project specific' and overrides the rest if present.

As mentioned above, the ANSIBLE_CONFIG environment variable will override all others.

AUTHOR

Ansible was originally written by Michael DeHaan.