task.rst

Task

Tasks file

Syntax

YAML FILE

Templating

Jinja2

Content

A list of task definitions and task includes

Task include

Anywhere there can be a task definition, you can also use a task include:

- include: <path to tasks file> [options]

The path is relative to the :ref:`playbook-directory`, or the file is also searched for in the tasks directory of a role.

[options] is an optional list of additional variable settings, e.g.:

- include: tasks/footasks.yml vara=1 varb=2 varc=3

You can use an expanded syntax with a vars setting to set more complicated values:

- include: wordpress.yml
  vars:
      wp_user: timmy
      some_list_variable:
        - alpha
        - beta
        - gamma

Or use this more compact but apparently equivalent syntax:

- { include: wordpress.yml, wp_user: timmy, ssh_keys: [ 'keys/one.txt', 'keys/two.txt' ] }

You can do the equivalent of a conditional include by adding when:

- include: othertask.yml
  when: "'reticulating splines' in output"

This is implemented by including the task file but applying the when statement to every task in it, so you'll see all the individual tasks being skipped.

Task

A dictionary:

name: string      # optional but highly recommended
module: args      # required; the "action"
environment: dictionary
remote_user: username
sudo: yes|no
sudo_user: username
otheroption: othervalue   # depending on module

Required keys:

name

text

modulename

options

Optional keys that can be used on any task:

environment

dictionary (in YAML, or variable containing dictionary)

remote_user

user to login as remotely

sudo

yes|no

sudo_user

user to sudo to remotely

Additional keys might be required and optional depending on the module being used.

Handler

Same syntax as a :ref:`task`, it just gets triggered under different circumstances.