Ansible: Commands, Playbooks, Automation Guide

Basic Commands

Check Ansible Version
```
 ansible --version
```
Ping All Hosts
```
 ansible all -m ping
```
Run a Command on All Hosts
```
 ansible all -a "<command>"
```
List All Hosts in Inventory
```
 ansible all --list-hosts
```
Check Host Syntax
```
 ansible-inventory --list
```

Playbook Commands

Run a Playbook
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml
```

Run a Playbook with Tags

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --tags "tag1,tag2"

Run a Playbook and Start at a Specific Task

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --start-at-task "<task_name>"

Check Playbook Syntax

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --syntax-check

Dry Run (Simulate Changes)
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check
```
Run a Playbook with Verbose Output
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -v
```

Limit Playbook Execution to Specific Hosts

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --limit "host1,host2"

Ad-Hoc Commands

Copy a File

 ansible all -m copy -a "src=<source_path> dest=<destination_path>"

Create a Directory

 ansible all -m file -a "path=<directory_path> state=directory"

Delete a File or Directory

 ansible all -m file -a "path=<path> state=absent"

Install a Package

 ansible all -m apt -a "name=<package_name> state=present"

Start a Service

 ansible all -m service -a "name=<service_name> state=started"

Stop a Service

 ansible all -m service -a "name=<service_name> state=stopped"

Reboot Hosts
```
 ansible all -m reboot
```

Inventory Management

Specify a Custom Inventory File

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i <inventory_file>

Dynamic Inventory Script

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i <inventory_script>

Roles and Collections

Initialize a New Role
```
 ansible-galaxy init <role_name>
```
Install a Role from Ansible Galaxy
```
 ansible-galaxy install <role_name>
```

Install a Collection

 ansible-galaxy collection install <namespace.collection>

List Installed Roles
```
 ansible-galaxy list
```

Troubleshooting and Debugging

Increase Verbosity
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv
```
Test Connectivity
```
 ansible all -m ping
```
Check Host Variables
```
 ansible-inventory --host <hostname>
```

Debug a Specific Task

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --tags "debug_task"

Vault Commands

Encrypt a File
```
 ansible-vault encrypt <file>
```
Decrypt a File
```
 ansible-vault decrypt <file>
```
Edit an Encrypted File
```
 ansible-vault edit <file>
```

Run a Playbook with Vault

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --ask-vault-pass

Create an Encrypted Variable

 ansible-vault encrypt_string '<value>' --name '<variable_name>'

Miscellaneous

Generate a Crypted Password

 ansible localhost -m debug -a "msg={{ 'password' | password_hash('sha512') }}"

Run a Playbook as a Different User

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --user=<username> --ask-pass

Become Root (sudo)

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --become --ask-become-pass

Advanced Playbook Commands

Run a Playbook with Specific Variables

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "var1=value1 var2=value2"

Run a Playbook with Extra Variables from a File

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "@vars_file.yml"

Run a Playbook with a Custom Inventory and Extra Variables

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i inventory_file -e "var1=value1"

Run a Playbook with Parallel Execution (Forking)
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --forks=10
```

Run a Playbook and Skip Specific Tags

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --skip-tags "tag1,tag2"

Run a Playbook and Limit Execution to a Single Host
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --limit "host1"
```

Run a Playbook with a Specific Strategy

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --strategy=free

Ad-Hoc Commands (Advanced)

Check Disk Usage
```
 ansible all -m shell -a "df -h"
```
Check Memory Usage
```
 ansible all -m shell -a "free -m"
```
Check Uptime
```
 ansible all -m shell -a "uptime"
```

Run a Command with Sudo

 ansible all -m shell -a "sudo <command>" --become

Fetch Files from Remote Hosts

 ansible all -m fetch -a "src=<remote_path> dest=<local_path>"

Check if a File Exists

 ansible all -m stat -a "path=<file_path>"

Run a Command with Conditional Logic

 ansible all -m shell -a "if [ -f <file_path> ]; then echo 'File exists'; fi"

Inventory Management (Advanced)

Use a Dynamic Inventory Script with AWS

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i aws_ec2.yml

Group Hosts by Custom Criteria

 [webservers]
 host1
 host2

 [dbservers]
 host3
 host4

Use Variables in Inventory

 [webservers]
 host1 ansible_user=admin ansible_port=2222

Use Inventory Aliases

 host1 ansible_host=192.168.1.10 ansible_user=admin

Generate a Dynamic Inventory from a Script
```
 ./inventory_script.py --list
```

Roles and Collections (Advanced)

Install a Specific Version of a Role

 ansible-galaxy install <role_name>,<version>

Install a Role from a Private Repository

 ansible-galaxy install git+https://github.com/user/repo.git

Create a Custom Collection

 ansible-galaxy collection init <namespace.collection>

Publish a Collection to Ansible Galaxy

 ansible-galaxy collection publish <collection_file>

List Installed Collections
```
 ansible-galaxy collection list
```

Vault Commands (Advanced)

Create a New Encrypted File
```
 ansible-vault create <file>
```
Re-key an Encrypted File
```
 ansible-vault rekey <file>
```

Run a Playbook with Multiple Vault Passwords

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml --vault-id @prompt

View an Encrypted File
```
 ansible-vault view <file>
```

Encrypt a Variable in a Playbook

 ansible-vault encrypt_string '<value>' --name '<variable_name>'

Troubleshooting and Debugging (Advanced)

Check Playbook Execution Time
```
 time ansible-playbook playbook.yml
```
Run a Playbook with Debug Output
```
 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvvv
```

Test Connectivity with a Specific User

 ansible all -m ping -u <username> --ask-pass

Check for Syntax Errors in Roles
```
 ansible-lint <role_directory>
```

Use Debug Module for Variable Output

 - name: Debug a variable
   debug:
     var: my_variable

Miscellaneous (Advanced)

Generate a Password Hash

 ansible localhost -m debug -a "msg={{ 'password' | password_hash('sha512', 'my_salt') }}"

Run a Playbook with a Custom Config File

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -c <config_file>

Use Ansible Pull for Distributed Execution

 ansible-pull -U <repository_url> playbook.yml

Run a Playbook with a Specific Python Interpreter

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3"

Use Ansible with Docker

 ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i inventory -e "ansible_connection=docker"

Useful Tips

Use --diff to See Changes
```
  ansible-playbook playbook.yml --diff
```
Use --step for Interactive Playbook Execution
```
  ansible-playbook playbook.yml --step
```

Use --list-tasks to Preview Tasks in a Playbook

  ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tasks

Use --list-tags to List Tags in a Playbook

  ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tags

Use --force-handlers to Force Handler Execution

  ansible-playbook playbook.yml --force-handlers

Reference

Ansible Official Documentation
https://docs.ansible.com/
The official Ansible documentation, offering detailed explanations of Ansible core concepts, modules, playbooks, and advanced features.
Ansible Ad-Hoc Command Documentation
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/cli/ansible.html
Comprehensive guide on running ad-hoc commands using the ansible CLI to perform quick tasks without writing playbooks.
Ansible Playbook Documentation
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/cli/ansible-playbook.html
Details on running Ansible playbooks, with information about options like --tags, --limit, --check, and more.
Ansible Galaxy Documentation
https://galaxy.ansible.com/
A portal to discover, download, and share reusable Ansible roles and collections, along with installation and usage instructions.
Ansible Vault Documentation
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/vault.html
A detailed guide to using Ansible Vault for securing sensitive data such as passwords, keys, and other variables in playbooks.

Mastering Ansible: A Comprehensive Guide to Commands, Playbooks, and Automation

Your Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Ad-Hoc Tasks, Playbooks, Inventory, Roles, and Advanced Ansible Features

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