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Ansible Configuration Guide

Ansible configuration controls how commands behave, where inventory is loaded from, and how connections are handled. A project-level ansible.cfg is usually the cleanest approach.

Configuration Precedence

When the same setting appears in multiple places, Ansible generally uses this order:

  1. Command-line options
  2. Environment variables
  3. ansible.cfg
  4. Built-in defaults

Common Config File Locations

Ansible looks for configuration in this order:

  1. ANSIBLE_CONFIG
  2. ./ansible.cfg
  3. ~/.ansible.cfg
  4. /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

Create ansible.cfg in the project root so the team shares the same behavior.

Example:

[defaults]
inventory = inventory.ini
host_key_checking = False
retry_files_enabled = False

Useful Settings

  • inventory: Default inventory file
  • host_key_checking: Useful in labs, but review carefully for production
  • retry_files_enabled: Disables retry file clutter
  • timeout: Controls SSH timeout behavior

Quick Check

ansible-config dump --only-changed
ansible --version