Ansible Roles: Role Directory Structure

Introduction

Ansible roles are a way to organize playbooks and related files into reusable components. This lesson will focus on the directory structure of an Ansible role, which is crucial for maintaining order and ensuring high-quality automation.

Role Structure

The standard directory structure of an Ansible role is as follows:

my_role/
├── tasks/
│   └── main.yml
├── handlers/
│   └── main.yml
├── templates/
├── files/
├── vars/
│   └── main.yml
├── defaults/
│   └── main.yml
├── meta/
│   └── main.yml
└── README.md
            

Directory Components

• tasks/: Contains the main tasks for the role.
• handlers/: Contains handlers that can be called by tasks.
• templates/: Holds Jinja2 templates that can be deployed on managed nodes.
• files/: Contains static files that can be transferred to managed nodes.
• vars/: Contains variables for the role.
• defaults/: Holds default variables for the role.
• meta/: Contains metadata about the role (dependencies, author, etc.).
• README.md: Documentation for the role, explaining how to use it.

Best Practices

1. Always define a README.md file to document the role.
2. Use descriptive names for directories and files.
3. Keep role logic in tasks/main.yml and use includes to manage complexity.
4. Make use of defaults/main.yml to provide default values for variables.
5. Utilize meta/main.yml for defining role dependencies.

FAQ