Playbook Keywords — Ansible Documentation

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# Playbook Keywords

These are the keywords available on common playbook objects. Keywords are one of several sources for configuring Ansible behavior. See Controlling how Ansible behaves: precedence rules for details on the relative precedence of each source.

Note

Please note:

- Aliases for the directives are not reflected here, nor are mutable one. For example, action in task can be substituted by the name of any Ansible module.
- The keywords do not have `version_added` information at this time
- Some keywords set defaults for the objects inside of them rather than for the objects themselves

- Play
- Role
- Block
- Task

## Play

any_errors_fatal
  Force any un-handled task errors on any host to propagate to all hosts and end the play.
become
  Boolean that controls if privilege escalation is used or not on Task execution.
become_exe
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
become_flags
  A string of flag(s) to pass to the privilege escalation program when become is True.
become_method
  Which method of privilege escalation to use (such as sudo or su).
become_user
  User that you ‘become’ after using privilege escalation. The remote/login user must have permissions to become this user.
check_mode

  A boolean that controls if a task is executed in ‘check’ mode

  See also

  Check Mode (“Dry Run”)

collections
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
connection

  Allows you to change the connection plugin used for tasks to execute on the target.

  See also

  Using connection plugins

debugger
  Enable debugging tasks based on state of the task result. See Playbook Debugger
diff
  Toggle to make tasks return ‘diff’ information or not.
environment
  A dictionary that gets converted into environment vars to be provided for the task upon execution. This cannot affect Ansible itself nor its configuration, it just sets the variables for the code responsible for executing the task.
fact_path
  Set the fact path option for the fact gathering plugin controlled by gather_facts.
force_handlers
  Will force notified handler execution for hosts even if they failed during the play. Will not trigger if the play itself fails.
gather_facts
  A boolean that controls if the play will automatically run the ‘setup’ task to gather facts for the hosts.
gather_subset
  Allows you to pass subset options to the fact gathering plugin controlled by gather_facts.
gather_timeout
  Allows you to set the timeout for the fact gathering plugin controlled by gather_facts.
handlers
  A section with tasks that are treated as handlers, these won’t get executed normally, only when notified after each section of tasks is complete. A handler’s listen field is not templatable.
hosts
  A list of groups, hosts or host pattern that translates into a list of hosts that are the play’s target.
ignore_errors
  Boolean that allows you to ignore task failures and continue with play. It does not affect connection errors.
ignore_unreachable
  Boolean that allows you to ignore unreachable hosts and continue with play. This does not affect other task errors (see ignore_errors) but is useful for groups of volatile/ephemeral hosts.
max_fail_percentage
  can be used to abort the run after a given percentage of hosts in the current batch has failed.
module_defaults
  Specifies default parameter values for modules.
name
  Identifier. Can be used for documentation, in or tasks/handlers.
no_log
  Boolean that controls information disclosure.
order
  Controls the sorting of hosts as they are used for executing the play. Possible values are inventory (default), sorted, reverse_sorted, reverse_inventory and shuffle.
port
  Used to override the default port used in a connection.
post_tasks
  A list of tasks to execute after the tasks section.
pre_tasks
  A list of tasks to execute before roles.
remote_user
  User used to log into the target via the connection plugin.
roles
  List of roles to be imported into the play
run_once
  Boolean that will bypass the host loop, forcing the task to attempt to execute on the first host available and afterwards apply any results and facts to all active hosts in the same batch.
serial

  Explicitly define how Ansible batches the execution of the current play on the play’s target

  See also

  Rolling Update Batch Size

strategy
  Allows you to choose the connection plugin to use for the play.
tags
  Tags applied to the task or included tasks, this allows selecting subsets of tasks from the command line.
tasks
  Main list of tasks to execute in the play, they run after roles and before post_tasks.
throttle
  Limit number of concurrent task runs on task, block and playbook level. This is independent of the forks and serial settings, but cannot be set higher than those limits. For example, if forks is set to 10 and the throttle is set to 15, at most 10 hosts will be operated on in parallel.
vars
  Dictionary/map of variables
vars_files
  List of files that contain vars to include in the play.
vars_prompt
  list of variables to prompt for.

## Role

any_errors_fatal
  Force any un-handled task errors on any host to propagate to all hosts and end the play.
become
  Boolean that controls if privilege escalation is used or not on Task execution.
become_exe
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
become_flags
  A string of flag(s) to pass to the privilege escalation program when become is True.
become_method
  Which method of privilege escalation to use (such as sudo or su).
become_user
  User that you ‘become’ after using privilege escalation. The remote/login user must have permissions to become this user.
check_mode

  A boolean that controls if a task is executed in ‘check’ mode

  See also

  Check Mode (“Dry Run”)

collections
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
connection

  Allows you to change the connection plugin used for tasks to execute on the target.

  See also

  Using connection plugins

debugger
  Enable debugging tasks based on state of the task result. See Playbook Debugger
delegate_facts
  Boolean that allows you to apply facts to a delegated host instead of inventory_hostname.
delegate_to
  Host to execute task instead of the target (inventory_hostname). Connection vars from the delegated host will also be used for the task.
diff
  Toggle to make tasks return ‘diff’ information or not.
environment
  A dictionary that gets converted into environment vars to be provided for the task upon execution. This cannot affect Ansible itself nor its configuration, it just sets the variables for the code responsible for executing the task.
ignore_errors
  Boolean that allows you to ignore task failures and continue with play. It does not affect connection errors.
ignore_unreachable
  Boolean that allows you to ignore unreachable hosts and continue with play. This does not affect other task errors (see ignore_errors) but is useful for groups of volatile/ephemeral hosts.
module_defaults
  Specifies default parameter values for modules.
name
  Identifier. Can be used for documentation, in or tasks/handlers.
no_log
  Boolean that controls information disclosure.
port
  Used to override the default port used in a connection.
remote_user
  User used to log into the target via the connection plugin.
run_once
  Boolean that will bypass the host loop, forcing the task to attempt to execute on the first host available and afterwards apply any results and facts to all active hosts in the same batch.
tags
  Tags applied to the task or included tasks, this allows selecting subsets of tasks from the command line.
throttle
  Limit number of concurrent task runs on task, block and playbook level. This is independent of the forks and serial settings, but cannot be set higher than those limits. For example, if forks is set to 10 and the throttle is set to 15, at most 10 hosts will be operated on in parallel.
vars
  Dictionary/map of variables
when
  Conditional expression, determines if an iteration of a task is run or not.

## Block

always
  List of tasks, in a block, that execute no matter if there is an error in the block or not.
any_errors_fatal
  Force any un-handled task errors on any host to propagate to all hosts and end the play.
become
  Boolean that controls if privilege escalation is used or not on Task execution.
become_exe
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
become_flags
  A string of flag(s) to pass to the privilege escalation program when become is True.
become_method
  Which method of privilege escalation to use (such as sudo or su).
become_user
  User that you ‘become’ after using privilege escalation. The remote/login user must have permissions to become this user.
block
  List of tasks in a block.
check_mode

  A boolean that controls if a task is executed in ‘check’ mode

  See also

  Check Mode (“Dry Run”)

collections
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
connection

  Allows you to change the connection plugin used for tasks to execute on the target.

  See also

  Using connection plugins

debugger
  Enable debugging tasks based on state of the task result. See Playbook Debugger
delegate_facts
  Boolean that allows you to apply facts to a delegated host instead of inventory_hostname.
delegate_to
  Host to execute task instead of the target (inventory_hostname). Connection vars from the delegated host will also be used for the task.
diff
  Toggle to make tasks return ‘diff’ information or not.
environment
  A dictionary that gets converted into environment vars to be provided for the task upon execution. This cannot affect Ansible itself nor its configuration, it just sets the variables for the code responsible for executing the task.
ignore_errors
  Boolean that allows you to ignore task failures and continue with play. It does not affect connection errors.
ignore_unreachable
  Boolean that allows you to ignore unreachable hosts and continue with play. This does not affect other task errors (see ignore_errors) but is useful for groups of volatile/ephemeral hosts.
module_defaults
  Specifies default parameter values for modules.
name
  Identifier. Can be used for documentation, in or tasks/handlers.
no_log
  Boolean that controls information disclosure.
port
  Used to override the default port used in a connection.
remote_user
  User used to log into the target via the connection plugin.
rescue
  List of tasks in a block that run if there is a task error in the main block list.
run_once
  Boolean that will bypass the host loop, forcing the task to attempt to execute on the first host available and afterwards apply any results and facts to all active hosts in the same batch.
tags
  Tags applied to the task or included tasks, this allows selecting subsets of tasks from the command line.
throttle
  Limit number of concurrent task runs on task, block and playbook level. This is independent of the forks and serial settings, but cannot be set higher than those limits. For example, if forks is set to 10 and the throttle is set to 15, at most 10 hosts will be operated on in parallel.
vars
  Dictionary/map of variables
when
  Conditional expression, determines if an iteration of a task is run or not.

## Task

action
  The ‘action’ to execute for a task, it normally translates into a C(module) or action plugin.
any_errors_fatal
  Force any un-handled task errors on any host to propagate to all hosts and end the play.
args
  A secondary way to add arguments into a task. Takes a dictionary in which keys map to options and values.
async
  Run a task asynchronously if the C(action) supports this; value is maximum runtime in seconds.
become
  Boolean that controls if privilege escalation is used or not on Task execution.
become_exe
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
become_flags
  A string of flag(s) to pass to the privilege escalation program when become is True.
become_method
  Which method of privilege escalation to use (such as sudo or su).
become_user
  User that you ‘become’ after using privilege escalation. The remote/login user must have permissions to become this user.
changed_when
  Conditional expression that overrides the task’s normal ‘changed’ status.
check_mode

  A boolean that controls if a task is executed in ‘check’ mode

  See also

  Check Mode (“Dry Run”)

collections
  UNDOCUMENTED!!
connection

  Allows you to change the connection plugin used for tasks to execute on the target.

  See also

  Using connection plugins

debugger
  Enable debugging tasks based on state of the task result. See Playbook Debugger
delay
  Number of seconds to delay between retries. This setting is only used in combination with until.
delegate_facts
  Boolean that allows you to apply facts to a delegated host instead of inventory_hostname.
delegate_to
  Host to execute task instead of the target (inventory_hostname). Connection vars from the delegated host will also be used for the task.
diff
  Toggle to make tasks return ‘diff’ information or not.
environment
  A dictionary that gets converted into environment vars to be provided for the task upon execution. This cannot affect Ansible itself nor its configuration, it just sets the variables for the code responsible for executing the task.
failed_when
  Conditional expression that overrides the task’s normal ‘failed’ status.
ignore_errors
  Boolean that allows you to ignore task failures and continue with play. It does not affect connection errors.
ignore_unreachable
  Boolean that allows you to ignore unreachable hosts and continue with play. This does not affect other task errors (see ignore_errors) but is useful for groups of volatile/ephemeral hosts.
local_action
  Same as action but also implies `delegate_to: localhost`
loop
  Takes a list for the task to iterate over, saving each list element into the `item` variable (configurable via loop_control)
loop_control

  Several keys here allow you to modify/set loop behaviour in a task.

  See also

  Adding controls to loops

module_defaults
  Specifies default parameter values for modules.
name
  Identifier. Can be used for documentation, in or tasks/handlers.
no_log
  Boolean that controls information disclosure.
notify
  List of handlers to notify when the task returns a ‘changed=True’ status.
poll
  Sets the polling interval in seconds for async tasks (default 10s).
port
  Used to override the default port used in a connection.
register
  Name of variable that will contain task status and module return data.
remote_user
  User used to log into the target via the connection plugin.
retries
  Number of retries before giving up in a until loop. This setting is only used in combination with until.
run_once
  Boolean that will bypass the host loop, forcing the task to attempt to execute on the first host available and afterwards apply any results and facts to all active hosts in the same batch.
tags
  Tags applied to the task or included tasks, this allows selecting subsets of tasks from the command line.
throttle
  Limit number of concurrent task runs on task, block and playbook level. This is independent of the forks and serial settings, but cannot be set higher than those limits. For example, if forks is set to 10 and the throttle is set to 15, at most 10 hosts will be operated on in parallel.
until
  This keyword implies a ‘retries loop’ that will go on until the condition supplied here is met or we hit the retries limit.
vars
  Dictionary/map of variables
when
  Conditional expression, determines if an iteration of a task is run or not.
with_<lookup_plugin>
  The same as `loop` but magically adds the output of any lookup plugin to generate the item list.