# Ansible cloud module names

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-cloud-module-names/15680>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Tags:** aws\
**Created:** [July 15, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-cloud-module-names/15680 "2014-07-15T17:44:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kurt\_Yoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kurt\_Yoder](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kurt_Yoder)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-cloud-module-names/15680/1 "2014-07-15T17:44:29Z")

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Hello list,

I notice the Rackspace modules are prefixed with “rax”. However, other providers are more complicated:

- AWS modules mostly have an “ec2” prefix. Why “ec2”, and not “aws”? Why do some AWS modules start with “ec2”, but others have no prefix, e.g. “s3”?
- Openstack modules have no consistent prefix at all.

Is this intentional, or the result of organic growth?

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**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan1)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-cloud-module-names/15680/2 "2014-07-15T17:48:27Z")

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Mostly because this is how they are done originally, though I don’t really think they are wrong. ec2 is part of AWS, s3 is a different part, route53 is a third part.

aws\_ec2\_foo could have been a thing, but that’s a little verbose.

The easiest thing to do here in the future is probably to add a subcategory for the module docs generator, as we will not be supporting alias names or breaking existing modules.