Ansible

Automate IT infrastructure with playbooks, roles, and inventories. Configure servers, deploy apps, and orchestrate tasks.

69 commands

Browse by Topic

Getting Started

Quick setup and installation

3commands

Ad-Hoc

Ad-hoc commands

10commands

Playbook

Playbook execution

12commands

Galaxy

Roles & collections

12commands

Vault

Secrets encryption

9commands

Inventory

Host inventory

6commands

Config

Configuration

7commands

Navigator

Interactive UI

5commands

Automation

Controller & automation

5commands

Install Ansible (macOS)

$ brew install ansible

Install Ansible using Homebrew on macOS

Install Ansible (pip)

$ pip install ansible

Install Ansible using pip on any platform

Check Ansible version

$ ansible --version

Verify Ansible installation and display version info

Install Package (Apt)

$ ansible all -m apt -a "name=nginx state=present" -b

Install a package using apt with sudo

Run Shell Command

$ ansible all -a "uptime"

Execute a command on all hosts

Copy File to Hosts

$ ansible all -m copy -a "src=/local/file dest=/remote/path"

Copy a file to remote hosts

Gather Facts

$ ansible all -m setup

Collect system facts from hosts

Gather Filtered Facts

$ ansible all -m setup -a "filter=ansible_distribution*"

Collect specific facts from hosts

Ping All Hosts

$ ansible all -m ping

Test connectivity to all inventory hosts

Ping Host Group

$ ansible <group> -m ping

Test connectivity to a specific host group

Manage Service

$ ansible all -m service -a "name=nginx state=started" -b

Start/stop/restart a service

Run Shell with Pipes

$ ansible all -m shell -a "ps aux | grep nginx"

Execute shell command with pipes/redirects

Create User

$ ansible all -m user -a "name=deploy state=present" -b

Create a user on remote hosts

Dry Run (Check Mode)

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check --diff

Preview changes without applying

Limit to Hosts

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --limit "webservers"

Run playbook on specific hosts/groups

List Tasks

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tasks

Show all tasks without running

Run Playbook

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml

Execute an Ansible playbook

Skip Tags

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --skip-tags "test"

Skip tasks with specific tags

Start at Task

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --start-at-task="Deploy app"

Resume from a specific task

Step Through Tasks

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --step

Confirm each task before executing

Syntax Check

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --syntax-check

Validate playbook syntax

Run Specific Tags

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --tags "config,deploy"

Run only tasks with specific tags

Pass Extra Variables

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "env=production version=1.2.3"

Pass variables at runtime

Variables from File

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "@vars.yml"

Load variables from a file

Verbose Output

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv

Run with detailed debug output

Build Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection build

Build collection tarball from source

Download Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection download community.general

Download collection without installing

Install Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection install <namespace.collection>

Install a collection from Galaxy

Install Community Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection install community.general

Install community.general collection

List Installed Collections

$ ansible-galaxy collection list

Show installed collections

Publish Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection publish <tarball> --token=<token>

Publish collection to Ansible Galaxy

Create Role Skeleton

$ ansible-galaxy init <role-name>

Create a new role with directory structure

Install Role

$ ansible-galaxy install <namespace.role>

Install a role from Galaxy

Install from Requirements

$ ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml

Install roles/collections from requirements file

List Installed Roles

$ ansible-galaxy list

Show installed roles

Remove Role

$ ansible-galaxy remove <namespace.role>

Uninstall a role

Search Roles

$ ansible-galaxy search nginx

Search for roles on Galaxy

Run with Vault Password

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

Run playbook with vault password prompt

Run with Vault Password File

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --vault-password-file=.vault_pass

Run playbook with vault password from file

Create Encrypted File

$ ansible-vault create secrets.yml

Create a new encrypted file

Decrypt File

$ ansible-vault decrypt secrets.yml

Decrypt an encrypted file

Edit Encrypted File

$ ansible-vault edit secrets.yml

Edit an encrypted file in place

Encrypt Existing File

$ ansible-vault encrypt vars.yml

Encrypt an existing file

Encrypt String

$ ansible-vault encrypt_string 'secret_value' --name 'my_secret'

Encrypt a single variable value

Change Vault Password

$ ansible-vault rekey secrets.yml

Change the encryption password

View Encrypted File

$ ansible-vault view secrets.yml

View contents of encrypted file

Use Custom Inventory

$ ansible all -i inventory.yml -m ping

Specify a custom inventory file

Show Inventory Graph

$ ansible-inventory --graph

Display inventory hierarchy

Show Host Variables

$ ansible-inventory --host <hostname>

Display variables for a specific host

List Inventory

$ ansible-inventory --list

Display full inventory in JSON

Validate Inventory

$ ansible-inventory -i inventory.yml --list

Validate inventory file syntax

Export to YAML

$ ansible-inventory --list --yaml > inventory.yml

Export inventory to YAML format

Show Changed Settings

$ ansible-config dump --only-changed

Show only non-default settings

Dump Current Config

$ ansible-config dump

Show current configuration values

List All Settings

$ ansible-config list

Show all configuration options

View Config File

$ ansible-config view

Display the current config file

List All Modules

$ ansible-doc -l

List all available modules

Module Documentation

$ ansible-doc <module>

Show documentation for a module

Show Version

$ ansible --version

Display Ansible version and config file path

View Configuration

$ ansible-navigator config

Browse Ansible configuration interactively

View Module Documentation

$ ansible-navigator doc ansible.builtin.copy

Browse module docs in TUI interface

Inspect Inventory

$ ansible-navigator inventory -i hosts --host server1

Explore inventory with navigator interface

Run Playbook with TUI

$ ansible-navigator run playbook.yml

Execute playbook with text-based user interface

Run in Stdout Mode

$ ansible-navigator run playbook.yml --mode stdout

Run playbook with standard output (no TUI)

Dry Run with Diff

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check --diff

Preview changes in CI/CD before deployment

List All Tasks

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tasks

Display all tasks for pipeline documentation

Start at Specific Task

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --start-at-task='Install packages'

Resume playbook execution from specific task

Validate Playbook Syntax

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --syntax-check

Check playbook syntax for CI/CD pipelines

Load Variables from JSON

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --extra-vars '@vars.json'

Pass JSON variables for automated deployments

Discussion

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Ansible

Automate IT infrastructure with playbooks, roles, and inventories. Configure servers, deploy apps, and orchestrate tasks.

69 commands

Browse by Topic

Getting Started

Quick setup and installation

3commands

Ad-Hoc

Ad-hoc commands

10commands

Playbook

Playbook execution

12commands

Galaxy

Roles & collections

12commands

Vault

Secrets encryption

9commands

Inventory

Host inventory

6commands

Config

Configuration

7commands

Navigator

Interactive UI

5commands

Automation

Controller & automation

5commands

Install Ansible (macOS)

$ brew install ansible

Install Ansible using Homebrew on macOS

Install Ansible (pip)

$ pip install ansible

Install Ansible using pip on any platform

Check Ansible version

$ ansible --version

Verify Ansible installation and display version info

Install Package (Apt)

$ ansible all -m apt -a "name=nginx state=present" -b

Install a package using apt with sudo

Run Shell Command

$ ansible all -a "uptime"

Execute a command on all hosts

Copy File to Hosts

$ ansible all -m copy -a "src=/local/file dest=/remote/path"

Copy a file to remote hosts

Gather Facts

$ ansible all -m setup

Collect system facts from hosts

Gather Filtered Facts

$ ansible all -m setup -a "filter=ansible_distribution*"

Collect specific facts from hosts

Ping All Hosts

$ ansible all -m ping

Test connectivity to all inventory hosts

Ping Host Group

$ ansible <group> -m ping

Test connectivity to a specific host group

Manage Service

$ ansible all -m service -a "name=nginx state=started" -b

Start/stop/restart a service

Run Shell with Pipes

$ ansible all -m shell -a "ps aux | grep nginx"

Execute shell command with pipes/redirects

Create User

$ ansible all -m user -a "name=deploy state=present" -b

Create a user on remote hosts

Dry Run (Check Mode)

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check --diff

Preview changes without applying

Limit to Hosts

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --limit "webservers"

Run playbook on specific hosts/groups

List Tasks

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tasks

Show all tasks without running

Run Playbook

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml

Execute an Ansible playbook

Skip Tags

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --skip-tags "test"

Skip tasks with specific tags

Start at Task

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --start-at-task="Deploy app"

Resume from a specific task

Step Through Tasks

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --step

Confirm each task before executing

Syntax Check

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --syntax-check

Validate playbook syntax

Run Specific Tags

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --tags "config,deploy"

Run only tasks with specific tags

Pass Extra Variables

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "env=production version=1.2.3"

Pass variables at runtime

Variables from File

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e "@vars.yml"

Load variables from a file

Verbose Output

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv

Run with detailed debug output

Build Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection build

Build collection tarball from source

Download Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection download community.general

Download collection without installing

Install Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection install <namespace.collection>

Install a collection from Galaxy

Install Community Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection install community.general

Install community.general collection

List Installed Collections

$ ansible-galaxy collection list

Show installed collections

Publish Collection

$ ansible-galaxy collection publish <tarball> --token=<token>

Publish collection to Ansible Galaxy

Create Role Skeleton

$ ansible-galaxy init <role-name>

Create a new role with directory structure

Install Role

$ ansible-galaxy install <namespace.role>

Install a role from Galaxy

Install from Requirements

$ ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml

Install roles/collections from requirements file

List Installed Roles

$ ansible-galaxy list

Show installed roles

Remove Role

$ ansible-galaxy remove <namespace.role>

Uninstall a role

Search Roles

$ ansible-galaxy search nginx

Search for roles on Galaxy

Run with Vault Password

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

Run playbook with vault password prompt

Run with Vault Password File

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --vault-password-file=.vault_pass

Run playbook with vault password from file

Create Encrypted File

$ ansible-vault create secrets.yml

Create a new encrypted file

Decrypt File

$ ansible-vault decrypt secrets.yml

Decrypt an encrypted file

Edit Encrypted File

$ ansible-vault edit secrets.yml

Edit an encrypted file in place

Encrypt Existing File

$ ansible-vault encrypt vars.yml

Encrypt an existing file

Encrypt String

$ ansible-vault encrypt_string 'secret_value' --name 'my_secret'

Encrypt a single variable value

Change Vault Password

$ ansible-vault rekey secrets.yml

Change the encryption password

View Encrypted File

$ ansible-vault view secrets.yml

View contents of encrypted file

Use Custom Inventory

$ ansible all -i inventory.yml -m ping

Specify a custom inventory file

Show Inventory Graph

$ ansible-inventory --graph

Display inventory hierarchy

Show Host Variables

$ ansible-inventory --host <hostname>

Display variables for a specific host

List Inventory

$ ansible-inventory --list

Display full inventory in JSON

Validate Inventory

$ ansible-inventory -i inventory.yml --list

Validate inventory file syntax

Export to YAML

$ ansible-inventory --list --yaml > inventory.yml

Export inventory to YAML format

Show Changed Settings

$ ansible-config dump --only-changed

Show only non-default settings

Dump Current Config

$ ansible-config dump

Show current configuration values

List All Settings

$ ansible-config list

Show all configuration options

View Config File

$ ansible-config view

Display the current config file

List All Modules

$ ansible-doc -l

List all available modules

Module Documentation

$ ansible-doc <module>

Show documentation for a module

Show Version

$ ansible --version

Display Ansible version and config file path

View Configuration

$ ansible-navigator config

Browse Ansible configuration interactively

View Module Documentation

$ ansible-navigator doc ansible.builtin.copy

Browse module docs in TUI interface

Inspect Inventory

$ ansible-navigator inventory -i hosts --host server1

Explore inventory with navigator interface

Run Playbook with TUI

$ ansible-navigator run playbook.yml

Execute playbook with text-based user interface

Run in Stdout Mode

$ ansible-navigator run playbook.yml --mode stdout

Run playbook with standard output (no TUI)

Dry Run with Diff

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check --diff

Preview changes in CI/CD before deployment

List All Tasks

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --list-tasks

Display all tasks for pipeline documentation

Start at Specific Task

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --start-at-task='Install packages'

Resume playbook execution from specific task

Validate Playbook Syntax

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --syntax-check

Check playbook syntax for CI/CD pipelines

Load Variables from JSON

$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml --extra-vars '@vars.json'

Pass JSON variables for automated deployments

Discussion

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