Ansible

Ansible Commands Cheat Sheet

Practical Ansible commands for inventory management, connectivity, ad-hoc commands, playbooks and troubleshooting.

Essential Ansible Commands

ansible --version

Check the installed Ansible version.

ansible-inventory -i inventory.ini --list

Display the inventory in JSON format.

ansible all -i inventory.ini -m ping

Test connectivity to all inventory hosts.

ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m ping

Test connectivity to hosts in the servers group.

ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m command -a 'uptime'

Run a command on remote servers.

ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m shell -a 'df -h'

Execute a shell command on remote servers.

ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m setup

Collect system facts from remote hosts.

ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini site.yml

Run an Ansible playbook.

ansible-playbook --syntax-check site.yml

Check a playbook for syntax errors without executing it.

ansible-playbook --check site.yml

Run a playbook in check mode to preview changes.

ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini site.yml -v

Run a playbook with verbose output.

ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m shell -a 'free -h'

Check memory usage on remote servers.

ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m shell -a 'df -h /'

Check root filesystem disk usage.

ansible-galaxy collection list

List installed Ansible collections.

Ansible Troubleshooting Workflow

# Check Ansible installation
  ansible --version
  
  # Check inventory
  ansible-inventory -i inventory.ini --list
  
  # Test connectivity
  ansible all -i inventory.ini -m ping
  
  # Check server facts
  ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m setup
  
  # Test disk usage
  ansible servers -i inventory.ini -m shell -a "df -h"
  
  # Check playbook syntax
  ansible-playbook --syntax-check site.yml
  
  # Preview playbook changes
  ansible-playbook --check site.yml

DevOpsToolbox Tip

When troubleshooting Ansible, first verify the inventory and SSH connectivity with theping module. If connectivity works, check facts, permissions and the playbook syntax before investigating the individual task.