CLI Cheat Sheet¶
ansible (ad-hoc)¶
ansible <pattern> -m <module> -a "<args>"
ansible web -m ping
ansible web -m command -a "uptime"
ansible web -m package -a "name=nginx state=present" -b
ansible-playbook¶
| Flag | Purpose |
|---|---|
--check |
Dry run — no changes made |
--diff |
Show before/after content diffs |
--limit <pattern> |
Restrict to a host subset |
--tags <tags> / --skip-tags <tags> |
Run/skip a subset of tagged tasks |
--start-at-task "<name>" |
Resume from a specific task |
-e "<var=val>" / -e @file.yml |
Extra vars — highest precedence |
--syntax-check |
Validate structure only, no connection |
--list-tasks / --list-hosts / --list-tags |
Inspect without running |
-f N / --forks N |
Parallelism ceiling |
-vvv / -vvvv |
Verbose / very verbose (shows raw SSH commands) |
-b / --become |
Escalate privilege |
-K / --ask-become-pass |
Prompt for the become password |
ansible-doc¶
ansible-doc -l # list all modules
ansible-doc ansible.builtin.copy # full docs for one module
ansible-doc -s ansible.builtin.copy # just a YAML snippet
ansible-vault¶
ansible-vault create secrets.yml
ansible-vault edit secrets.yml
ansible-vault encrypt secrets.yml
ansible-vault decrypt secrets.yml
ansible-vault view secrets.yml
ansible-vault encrypt_string 'secretvalue' --name 'db_password'
ansible-vault rekey secrets.yml
ansible-galaxy¶
ansible-galaxy role init myrole
ansible-galaxy collection init my_namespace.my_collection
ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml
ansible-galaxy collection build
ansible-galaxy collection publish my_namespace-my_collection-1.0.0.tar.gz
ansible-inventory¶
ansible-config¶
ansible-dev-tools¶
adt --version # show every bundled tool's version
ansible-creator init collection ns.name
ade install -e .[test] --venv .venv # editable local collection install
ansible-navigator run site.yml --mode stdout
ansible-sign project gpg-sign .
ansible-sign project gpg-verify .
Full explanation: ansible-dev-tools