Ansible Commands

Ansible has multiple commands, each serving different functions. Below are some commonly used commands and their parameters.

Common Commands

# Set the ansible configuration file
ansible-config

# View ansible related modules and module documentation
ansible-doc

# View ansible's inventory
ansible-inventory

# Execute ad-hoc tasks
ansible

# Execute ansible playbooks
ansible-playbook

# Set ansible roles
ansible-galaxy

# Encrypt or decrypt ansible related files
ansible-vault

Common Parameters for Ansible-config

# Generate an ansible configuration file with all configurations commented out
ansible-config init --disabled -t all > ./ansible.cfg

Common Parameters for Ansible-doc

# List all supported modules
ansible-doc -l

# View module parameters
ansible-doc -s <module_name>

# View module examples
ansible-doc <module_name>
# This can be quickly viewed by searching for EXAMPLE

# List modules by type
ansible-doc -t cache -l        # List all cache modules

Common Parameters for Ansible-inventory

# List all hosts
ansible-inventory -i inventory --list
-i        # Specify the inventory file
--list    # List all hosts

# View a specific host
ansible-inventory -i inventory --host server1

# Display in a tree format and show variables
ansible-inventory -i inventory --graph --vars

# Output inventory in toml format
ansible-inventory -i inventory --list --toml

# Output inventory in yaml format
ansible-inventory -i inventory --list --yaml

# Output content to a file
ansible-inventory -i inventory --list --output file

Common Parameters for Ansible

ansible all -u root -k -m command -a 'pwd chdir=/opt removes=/root/anaconda-ks.cfg'
all        # Indicates the hosts or host groups to execute tasks on
-m        # Followed by the module to use
command    # The module being used
-u root    # Specify the connection user
-k        # Manually input the password
-a        # Followed by the module parameters

Sometimes you may come across the term Ansible Ad-Hoc, which refers to the <span>ansible</span> command, used to execute simple tasks in an ad-hoc manner (using one module to perform one task at a time).

Common Parameters for Ansible-playbook

ansible-playbook --become --become-method sudo \
    --become-user root -i inventory \
    --ask-pass --ask-become-pass playbook.yaml
--become            # Enable privilege escalation
--become-method        # Set the method for privilege escalation
--become-user        # Specify the user to escalate to
--ask-pass            # Input the remote user password
--ask-become-pass    # Set the privilege escalation password

# Check if the playbook has syntax errors
ansible-playbook --syntax-check playbook.yaml

# Execute the playbook without making changes
ansible-playbook --check playbook.yaml

Common Options for Ansible-galaxy

# List all roles
ansible-galaxy role list

# Initialize a role named role1
ansible-galaxy role init role1

# Download collections
ansible-galaxy collection download

Common Options for Ansible-vault

# Create an encrypted file
ansible-vault create test1

# Encrypt an existing file
ansible-vault encrypt test

# Encrypt the string username=root
ansible-vault encrypt_string "username=root"

# Edit an encrypted file
ansible-vault edit test

# View an encrypted file
ansible-vault view test

# Change the file password
ansible-vault rekey test

# Decrypt a file
ansible-vault decrypt test2