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What are Ansible roles, and what is the standard directory structure?

Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible) · Intermediate level

Answer

Ansible roles package tasks, handlers, templates, files, defaults, variables, and metadata into reusable units. The standard structure includes tasks/main.yml, handlers/main.yml, templates/, files/, defaults/main.yml, vars/main.yml, and meta/main.yml.

Technical explanation

defaults/main.yml is for low-precedence defaults callers can override.

vars/main.yml is higher precedence and should be used sparingly.

Roles become easier to test and version when each role has a clear responsibility.

Prefer idempotent modules over shell so repeated runs are safe and change reporting is meaningful.

Separate reusable role logic from inventory-specific variables so the same automation works across environments.

Run lint, syntax checks, check mode where useful, and staged rollouts before production-wide changes.

Hands-on example

1. Package reusable Ansible content for: What are Ansible roles, and what is the standard directory structure?

2. Create a role structure:

roles/web/

defaults/main.yml

tasks/main.yml

handlers/main.yml

templates/nginx.conf.j2

files/

meta/main.yml

3. Call the role from a playbook:

- name: Configure web tier

hosts: web

roles:

- role: web

vars:

web_listen_port: 8080

4. If distributing modules/plugins/roles together, package them as a collection and pin it in requirements.yml.

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