Group statements with common items/conditions

This module executes all modules just like a top-level play but allows all normal task attributes (e.g. with_items). It is useful as a replacement of include when it would be awkward (e.g. creating one/two line included files), factoring out repetitive task attributes (when/sudo/remote_user etc.) including the unsupported include/with_items combination.

All variables set (by e.g. register) are propagated outside the play and may be used in subsequent tasks

Note: gather_facts defaults to false in embedded plays

Note: This module (ab)uses internal Ansible APIs and is not guaranteed to work across all possible versions. Currently tested and working with 1.7.x (should work with many other versions too)

Supported constructs (as play parameters):

• tasks, pre_tasks (also with embedded include)
• roles
• gather_facts (defaults to false)
• hosts (but please don't use it)
• include of whole plays

Unsupported constructs

• handlers, notify (only notify on the play task itself is supported)
• vars
• vars_prompt
• tags (tags are applied to the play task as a whole)

Installation

Simply copy (or symlink) the two files into your playbook directory (preserving directory structure), for example:

mkdir -p ~/playbooks/library ~/playbooks/action_plugins
ln -s `pwd`/action_plugins/play.py ~/playbooks/action_plugins/
ln -s `pwd`/library/play ~/playbooks/library/

EXAMPLES

Run a couple of tasks as a different user

- play:
    tasks:
    - postgresql_user: name=someuser
    - postgresql_db: name=somedb owner=someuser
  sudo: true
  sudo_user: postgres

Loop over a couple of tasks

- play:
    tasks:
    - git: repo=http://example.com/{{ item.git }} dest=/usr/local/src/{{ item }}
    - command: make install chdir=/usr/local/src/{{ item }}
  with_items:
  - foo
  - bar

The elusive include with_items

- play:
    tasks:
    - include: install.yml pkg={{ item }}
  with_items:
  - foo
  - bar