Ryfujk

WOW air has ceased operation, can I get my tickets refunded?

How can I get through very long and very dry, but also very useful technical documents when learning a new tool?

How to write papers efficiently when English isn't my first language?

If the heap is initialized for security, then why is the stack uninitialized?

Why were Madagascar and New Zealand discovered so late?

Anatomically Correct Mesopelagic Aves

Increase performance creating Mandelbrot set in python

What do "high sea" and "carry" mean in this sentence?

Robert Sheckley short story about vacation spots being overwhelmed

When airplanes disconnect from a tanker during air to air refueling, why do they bank so sharply to the right?

Customer Requests (Sometimes) Drive Me Bonkers!

Natural language into sentence logic

How to write the block matrix in LaTex?

Return the Closest Prime Number

Is HostGator storing my password in plaintext?

Was a professor correct to chastise me for writing "Prof. X" rather than "Professor X"?

How to safely derail a train during transit?

How can I quit an app using Terminal?

How to make a variable always equal to the result of some calculations?

Why didn't Khan get resurrected in the Genesis Explosion?

Inappropriate reference requests from Journal reviewers

Need some help with wall behind rangetop

Why does standard notation not preserve intervals (visually)

Why doesn't a table tennis ball float on the surface? How do we calculate buoyancy here?

What is the Ansible policy for defining variables and constants in the vars, defaults or tasks directory?

0

I have read multiple documents including this one and checked multiple ansible roles on GitHub, but it is unclear to me when to define a variable and when one is defined where to put it, i.e. in the defaults, tasks or vars directory.

I would like to receive guidelines so that I do not have to spend a lot of time about thinking whether a variable is required and if that is the case where to put it.

defaults

sensu_host: localhost

sensu_home: /etc/sensu

sensu_conf_d: "{{ sensu_home }}/conf.d"

tasks

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    - build-essential

    - ntp

or should the items be defined in a variable:

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    {{ packages }}

vars

__sensu_repo_url: deb http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt sensu main

__sensu_repo_key_url: http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt/pubkey.gp

Is there a certain checklist, e.g.

If a, b, c then the variable needs to be declared in defaults

if d, e, f then the v

if g, h, i then define it in tasks

╔═══════════╦═════════════════╗

║ directory ║ characteristics ║

╠═══════════╬═════════════════╣

║ defaults  ║ constants, e.g. ║

║ tasks     ║ bla, e.g.       ║

║ vars      ║ variables       ║

╚═══════════╩═════════════════╝

ansible ansible-playbook

share|improve this question

edited Aug 21 '16 at 12:55

030

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 5 mins ago

This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @techraf Question has been updated. It is an example of putting the packages in the tasks instead of defining it as a variable
  
  – 030
  Aug 21 '16 at 12:56
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I think you are mixing two things. You can define a variable in a task using set_fact. Now, to an already too-broad-question "where should the variables be defined?" you added "should I use variables at all?" Ansible is a collaborative, open, elastic project; the fact that 16 places for defining variables evolved over time is because of the needs of different users and different approaches. There's no "one and only way", depending on the problem you want to solve you use different tools.
  
  – techraf
  Aug 21 '16 at 13:05
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

0

I have read multiple documents including this one and checked multiple ansible roles on GitHub, but it is unclear to me when to define a variable and when one is defined where to put it, i.e. in the defaults, tasks or vars directory.

I would like to receive guidelines so that I do not have to spend a lot of time about thinking whether a variable is required and if that is the case where to put it.

defaults

sensu_host: localhost

sensu_home: /etc/sensu

sensu_conf_d: "{{ sensu_home }}/conf.d"

tasks

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    - build-essential

    - ntp

or should the items be defined in a variable:

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    {{ packages }}

vars

__sensu_repo_url: deb http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt sensu main

__sensu_repo_key_url: http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt/pubkey.gp

Is there a certain checklist, e.g.

If a, b, c then the variable needs to be declared in defaults

if d, e, f then the v

if g, h, i then define it in tasks

╔═══════════╦═════════════════╗

║ directory ║ characteristics ║

╠═══════════╬═════════════════╣

║ defaults  ║ constants, e.g. ║

║ tasks     ║ bla, e.g.       ║

║ vars      ║ variables       ║

╚═══════════╩═════════════════╝

ansible ansible-playbook

share|improve this question

edited Aug 21 '16 at 12:55

030

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 5 mins ago

This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @techraf Question has been updated. It is an example of putting the packages in the tasks instead of defining it as a variable
  
  – 030
  Aug 21 '16 at 12:56
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I think you are mixing two things. You can define a variable in a task using set_fact. Now, to an already too-broad-question "where should the variables be defined?" you added "should I use variables at all?" Ansible is a collaborative, open, elastic project; the fact that 16 places for defining variables evolved over time is because of the needs of different users and different approaches. There's no "one and only way", depending on the problem you want to solve you use different tools.
  
  – techraf
  Aug 21 '16 at 13:05
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

I have read multiple documents including this one and checked multiple ansible roles on GitHub, but it is unclear to me when to define a variable and when one is defined where to put it, i.e. in the defaults, tasks or vars directory.

I would like to receive guidelines so that I do not have to spend a lot of time about thinking whether a variable is required and if that is the case where to put it.

defaults

sensu_host: localhost

sensu_home: /etc/sensu

sensu_conf_d: "{{ sensu_home }}/conf.d"

tasks

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    - build-essential

    - ntp

or should the items be defined in a variable:

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    {{ packages }}

vars

__sensu_repo_url: deb http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt sensu main

__sensu_repo_key_url: http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt/pubkey.gp

Is there a certain checklist, e.g.

If a, b, c then the variable needs to be declared in defaults

if d, e, f then the v

if g, h, i then define it in tasks

╔═══════════╦═════════════════╗

║ directory ║ characteristics ║

╠═══════════╬═════════════════╣

║ defaults  ║ constants, e.g. ║

║ tasks     ║ bla, e.g.       ║

║ vars      ║ variables       ║

╚═══════════╩═════════════════╝

ansible ansible-playbook

share|improve this question

edited Aug 21 '16 at 12:55

030

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

sensu_host: localhost

sensu_home: /etc/sensu

sensu_conf_d: "{{ sensu_home }}/conf.d"

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    - build-essential

    - ntp

- name: be sure {{ item }} is installed

  apt:

    name: "{{ item }}"

    state: latest

  with_items:

    {{ packages }}

__sensu_repo_url: deb http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt sensu main

__sensu_repo_key_url: http://sensu.global.ssl.fastly.net/apt/pubkey.gp

╔═══════════╦═════════════════╗

║ directory ║ characteristics ║

╠═══════════╬═════════════════╣

║ defaults  ║ constants, e.g. ║

║ tasks     ║ bla, e.g.       ║

║ vars      ║ variables       ║

╚═══════════╩═════════════════╝

share|improve this question

edited Aug 21 '16 at 12:55

030

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

share|improve this question

edited Aug 21 '16 at 12:55

030

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

asked Aug 21 '16 at 10:57

030030

3,79964087

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

0

There are no policies for defining variables and constants in the vars and defaults directory.

Variables in the role/defaults directory have the lowest priority. So it makes sense to put all the variables defined in the role in role/defaults/main.yml for reference. If a variable default value depends on the distribution I put it under vars/{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml and include it like this:

# Variable setup.

- name: Include OS-specific variables.

  include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"

I also put variables which are kind of constant like urls under vars as well.

But again there are no real policies. It is up to you how to do things. I personally orientate my role structure and playbook style by geerlingguy.

share|improve this answer

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430

add a comment | 

Your Answer

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "2"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});

draft saved

draft discarded

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name

Email

Required, but never shown

StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fserverfault.com%2fquestions%2f798164%2fwhat-is-the-ansible-policy-for-defining-variables-and-constants-in-the-vars-def%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest

Name

Email

Required, but never shown

0

There are no policies for defining variables and constants in the vars and defaults directory.

Variables in the role/defaults directory have the lowest priority. So it makes sense to put all the variables defined in the role in role/defaults/main.yml for reference. If a variable default value depends on the distribution I put it under vars/{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml and include it like this:

# Variable setup.

- name: Include OS-specific variables.

  include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"

I also put variables which are kind of constant like urls under vars as well.

But again there are no real policies. It is up to you how to do things. I personally orientate my role structure and playbook style by geerlingguy.

share|improve this answer

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430

add a comment | 

0

There are no policies for defining variables and constants in the vars and defaults directory.

Variables in the role/defaults directory have the lowest priority. So it makes sense to put all the variables defined in the role in role/defaults/main.yml for reference. If a variable default value depends on the distribution I put it under vars/{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml and include it like this:

# Variable setup.

- name: Include OS-specific variables.

  include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"

I also put variables which are kind of constant like urls under vars as well.

But again there are no real policies. It is up to you how to do things. I personally orientate my role structure and playbook style by geerlingguy.

share|improve this answer

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430

add a comment | 

There are no policies for defining variables and constants in the vars and defaults directory.

Variables in the role/defaults directory have the lowest priority. So it makes sense to put all the variables defined in the role in role/defaults/main.yml for reference. If a variable default value depends on the distribution I put it under vars/{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml and include it like this:

# Variable setup.

- name: Include OS-specific variables.

  include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"

I also put variables which are kind of constant like urls under vars as well.

But again there are no real policies. It is up to you how to do things. I personally orientate my role structure and playbook style by geerlingguy.

share|improve this answer

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430

# Variable setup.

- name: Include OS-specific variables.

  include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"

share|improve this answer

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430

answered Aug 22 '16 at 13:50

Henrik PingelHenrik Pingel

4,52521430