Special Variables

Magic variables

These variables cannot be set directly by the user; Ansible will always override them to reflect internal state.

ansible_check_mode

Boolean that indicates if we are in check mode or not

ansible_config_file

The full path of used Ansible configuration file

ansible_dependent_role_names

The names of the roles currently imported into the current play as dependencies of other plays

ansible_diff_mode

Boolean that indicates if we are in diff mode or not

ansible_forks

Integer reflecting the number of maximum forks available to this run

ansible_inventory_sources

List of sources used as inventory

ansible_limit

Contents of the --limit CLI option for the current execution of Ansible

ansible_loop

A dictionary/map containing extended loop information when enabled via loop_control.extended

ansible_loop_var

The name of the value provided to loop_control.loop_var. Added in 2.8

ansible_index_var

The name of the value provided to loop_control.index_var. Added in 2.9

ansible_parent_role_names

When the current role is being executed by means of an include_role or import_role action, this variable contains a list of all parent roles, with the most recent role (in other words, the role that included/imported this role) being the first item in the list. When multiple inclusions occur, this list lists the last role (in other words, the role that included this role) as the first item in the list. It is also possible that a specific role exists more than once in this list.

For example: When role A includes role B, inside role B, ansible_parent_role_names will equal to ['A']. If role B then includes role C, the list becomes ['B', 'A'].

ansible_parent_role_paths

When the current role is being executed by means of an include_role or import_role action, this variable contains a list of all parent roles, with the most recent role (in other words, the role that included/imported this role) being the first item in the list. Please refer to ansible_parent_role_names for the order of items in this list.

ansible_play_batch

List of active hosts in the current play run limited by the serial, aka ‘batch’. Failed/Unreachable hosts are not considered ‘active’.

ansible_play_hosts

List of hosts in the current play run, not limited by the serial. Failed/Unreachable hosts are included in this list.

ansible_play_hosts_all

List of all the hosts that were targeted by the play

ansible_play_role_names

The names of the roles currently imported into the current play. This list does not contain the role names that are implicitly included via dependencies.

ansible_playbook_python

The path to the python interpreter being used by Ansible on the controller

ansible_role_names

The names of the roles currently imported into the current play, or roles referenced as dependencies of the roles imported into the current play.

ansible_role_name

The fully qualified collection role name, in the format of namespace.collection.role_name

ansible_collection_name

The name of the collection the task that is executing is a part of. In the format of namespace.collection

ansible_run_tags

Contents of the --tags CLI option, which specifies which tags will be included for the current run.

ansible_search_path

Current search path for action plugins and lookups, in other words, where we search for relative paths when you do template: src=myfile

ansible_skip_tags

Contents of the --skip-tags CLI option, which specifies which tags will be skipped for the current run.

ansible_verbosity

Current verbosity setting for Ansible

ansible_version

Dictionary/map that contains information about the current running version of ansible, it has the following keys: full, major, minor, revision and string.

group_names

List of groups the current host is part of

groups

A dictionary/map with all the groups in inventory and each group has the list of hosts that belong to it

hostvars

A dictionary/map with all the hosts in inventory and variables assigned to them

inventory_hostname

The inventory name for the ‘current’ host being iterated over in the play

inventory_hostname_short

The short version of inventory_hostname

inventory_dir

The directory of the inventory source in which the inventory_hostname was first defined

inventory_file

The file name of the inventory source in which the inventory_hostname was first defined

omit

Special variable that allows you to ‘omit’ an option in a task, for example - user: name=bob home={{ bobs_home|default(omit) }}

play_hosts

Deprecated, the same as ansible_play_batch

ansible_play_name

The name of the currently executed play. Added in 2.8.

playbook_dir

The path to the directory of the playbook that was passed to the ansible-playbook command line.

role_name

The name of the role currently being executed.

role_names

Deprecated, the same as ansible_play_role_names

role_path

The path to the dir of the currently running role

Facts

These are variables that contain information pertinent to the current host (inventory_hostname). They are only available if gathered first. See Discovering variables: facts and magic variables for more information.

ansible_facts

Contains any facts gathered or cached for the inventory_hostname Facts are normally gathered by the setup module automatically in a play, but any module can return facts.

ansible_local

Contains any ‘local facts’ gathered or cached for the inventory_hostname. The keys available depend on the custom facts created. See the setup module and facts.d or local facts for more details.

Connection variables

Connection variables are normally used to set the specifics on how to execute actions on a target. Most of them correspond to connection plugins, but not all are specific to them; other plugins like shell, terminal and become are normally involved. Only the common ones are described as each connection/become/shell/etc plugin can define its own overrides and specific variables. See Controlling how Ansible behaves: precedence rules for how connection variables interact with configuration settings, command-line options, and playbook keywords.

ansible_become_user

The user Ansible ‘becomes’ after using privilege escalation. This must be available to the ‘login user’.

ansible_connection

The connection plugin actually used for the task on the target host.

ansible_host

The ip/name of the target host to use instead of inventory_hostname.

ansible_python_interpreter

The path to the Python executable Ansible should use on the target host.

ansible_user

The user Ansible ‘logs in’ as.