Ansible Galaxy¶

roles_path¶

Be aware that by default Ansible downloads roles to the path specified by the environment variable ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH. This can be set to a series of directories (i.e. /etc/ansible/roles:~/.ansible/roles), in which case the first writable path will be used. When Ansible is first installed it defaults to /etc/ansible/roles, which requires root privileges.

You can override this by setting the environment variable in your session, defining roles_path in an ansible.cfg file, or by using the –roles-path option. The following provides an example of using –roles-path to install the role into the current working directory:

$ ansible-galaxy install --roles-path . geerlingguy.apache

version¶

You can install a specific version of a role from Galaxy by appending a comma and the value of a GitHub release tag. For example:

$ ansible-galaxy install geerlingguy.apache,v1.0.0

It’s also possible to point directly to the git repository and specify a branch name or commit hash as the version. For example, the following will install a specific commit:

$ ansible-galaxy install git+https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-apache.git,0b7cd353c0250e87a26e0499e59e7fd265cc2f25

Installing multiple roles from a file¶

Beginning with Ansible 1.8 it is possible to install multiple roles by including the roles in a requirements.yml file. The format of the file is YAML, and the file extension must be either .yml or .yaml.

Use the following command to install roles included in requirements.yml:

$ ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml

Again, the extension is important. If the .yml extension is left off, the ansible-galaxy CLI assumes the file is in an older, now deprecated, “basic” format.

Each role in the file will have one or more of the following attributes:

src

The source of the role. Use the format username.role_name, if downloading from Galaxy; otherwise, provide a URL pointing to a repository within a git based SCM. See the examples below. This is a required attribute.

scm

Specify the SCM. As of this writing only git or hg are supported. See the examples below. Defaults to git.

version:

The version of the role to download. Provide a release tag value, commit hash, or branch name. Defaults to master.

name:

Download the role to a specific name. Defaults to the Galaxy name when downloading from Galaxy, otherwise it defaults to the name of the repository.

Use the following example as a guide for specifying roles in requirements.yml:

# from galaxy
- src: yatesr.timezone

# from GitHub
- src: https://github.com/bennojoy/nginx

# from GitHub, overriding the name and specifying a specific tag
- src: https://github.com/bennojoy/nginx
  version: master
  name: nginx_role

# from a webserver, where the role is packaged in a tar.gz
- src: https://some.webserver.example.com/files/master.tar.gz
  name: http-role

# from Bitbucket
- src: git+http://bitbucket.org/willthames/git-ansible-galaxy
  version: v1.4

# from Bitbucket, alternative syntax and caveats
- src: http://bitbucket.org/willthames/hg-ansible-galaxy
  scm: hg

# from GitLab or other git-based scm
- src: git@gitlab.company.com:mygroup/ansible-base.git
  scm: git
  version: "0.1"  # quoted, so YAML doesn't parse this as a floating-point value

Installing multiple roles from multiple files¶

At a basic level, including requirements files allows you to break up bits of roles into smaller files. Role includes pull in roles from other files.

Use the following command to install roles includes in requirements.yml + webserver.yml

ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml

Content of the requirements.yml file:

# from galaxy
- src: yatesr.timezone

- include: <path_to_requirements>/webserver.yml

Content of the webserver.yml file:

# from github
- src: https://github.com/bennojoy/nginx

# from Bitbucket
- src: git+http://bitbucket.org/willthames/git-ansible-galaxy
  version: v1.4

Dependencies¶

Roles can also be dependent on other roles, and when you install a role that has dependencies, those dependencies will automatically be installed.

You specify role dependencies in the meta/main.yml file by providing a list of roles. If the source of a role is Galaxy, you can simply specify the role in the format username.role_name. The more complex format used in requirements.yml is also supported, allowing you to provide src, scm, version, and name.

Tags are inherited down the dependency chain. In order for tags to be applied to a role and all its dependencies, the tag should be applied to the role, not to all the tasks within a role.

Roles listed as dependencies are subject to conditionals and tag filtering, and may not execute fully depeneding on what tags and conditinoals are applied.

Dependencies found in Galaxy can be specified as follows:

dependencies:
  - geerlingguy.apache
  - geerlingguy.ansible

The complex form can also be used as follows:

dependencies:
  - src: geerlingguy.ansible
  - src: git+https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-composer.git
    version: 775396299f2da1f519f0d8885022ca2d6ee80ee8
    name: composer

When dependencies are encountered by ansible-galaxy, it will automatically install each dependency to the roles_path. To understand how dependencies are handled during play execution, see Roles.

Force¶

If a directory matching the name of the role already exists in the current working directory, the init command will result in an error. To ignore the error use the –force option. Force will create the above subdirectories and files, replacing anything that matches.

Container Enabled¶

If you are creating a Container Enabled role, use the –container-enabled option. This will create the same directory structure as above, but populate it with default files appropriate for a Container Enabled role. For instance, the README.md has a slightly different structure, the .travis.yml file tests the role using Ansible Container, and the meta directory includes a container.yml file.

Using a Custom Role Skeleton¶

A custom role skeleton directory can be supplied as follows:

$ ansible-galaxy init --role-skeleton=/path/to/skeleton role_name

When a skeleton is provided, init will:

• copy all files and directories from the skeleton to the new role
• any .j2 files found outside of a templates folder will be rendered as templates. The only useful variable at the moment is role_name
• The .git folder and any .git_keep files will not be copied

Alternatively, the role_skeleton and ignoring of files can be configured via ansible.cfg

[galaxy]
role_skeleton = /path/to/skeleton
role_skeleton_ignore = ^.git$,^.*/.git_keep$

Branch¶

Use the –branch option to import a specific branch. If not specified, the default branch for the repo will be used.

Role name¶

By default the name given to the role will be derived from the GitHub repository name. However, you can use the –role-name option to override this and set the name.

No wait¶

If the –no-wait option is present, the command will not wait for results. Results of the most recent import for any of your roles is available on the Galaxy web site by visiting My Imports.

List Travis integrations¶

Use the –list option to display your Travis integrations:

$ ansible-galaxy setup --list


ID         Source     Repo
---------- ---------- ----------
2          travis     github_user/github_repo
1          travis     github_user/github_repo

Remove Travis integrations¶

Use the –remove option to disable and remove a Travis integration:

$ ansible-galaxy setup --remove ID

Provide the ID of the integration to be disabled. You can find the ID by using the –list option.