# Ansible fails to execute a playbook when the value for 'hosts' is defined somewhere in inventory **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [July 11, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953 "2017-07-11T14:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ishan\_jain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dc4da7/32.png) [@ishan\_jain](https://forum.ansible.com/u/ishan_jain)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953/1 "2017-07-11T14:48:39Z")
I want to define the target hosts for my playbooks somewhere in the inventory itself. But apparently, Ansible is resolving target hosts before it is finished loading the inventory. When i ‘include’ the file with these vars, it works just fine. **inventoryFile.yaml** ` [machines] one ansible\_host=000 two ansible\_host=000 three ansible\_host=000 ` **group\_vars/all/targets.yaml** ` hostList1: - one - two hostList2: - two - three ` **playbook.yaml** ` ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953/2 "2017-07-11T17:26:50Z")
The 'hostList1' inventory variable is not available until AFTER the hosts: is processed, this is a chicken/egg issue. Inventory variables are flattened per host, so only once you have a host can you query the value of the variable. `hosts:` defines which hosts are available, as such it cannot depend on a host nor a variable associated to a host. ---
**Author:** ![ishan\_jain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dc4da7/32.png) [@ishan\_jain](https://forum.ansible.com/u/ishan_jain)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 7:17am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953/3 "2017-07-12T07:17:07Z")
So is there no way to define something like ‘global’ variables along with the inventory ? I thought the implicit ‘all’ group can be treated like global variables. ---
**Author:** ![chafik\_bel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@chafik\_bel](https://forum.ansible.com/u/chafik_bel)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 9:18am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953/4 "2017-07-12T09:18:17Z")
Why don’t you simply use the power of the inventory file itself: [group:children] child1 child2 [child1] host1 host2 [child2] host3 host4 and use global vars or per host vars in the appropriate files? N.B: the inventory is an “ini” file not a “yaml” one [**inventoryFile.yaml**]. ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953/5 "2017-07-12T16:22:01Z")
No, inventory vars are always flattened to the host, 'all' is a way to assign a variable to all hosts, but it is still 'host level'. Use vars/vars\_files or extra\_vars instead. ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-fails-to-execute-a-playbook-when-the-value-for-hosts-is-defined-somewhere-in-inventory/24953/6 "2017-07-13T23:06:54Z")
> N.B: the inventory is an "ini" file not a "yaml" one [inventoryFile.yaml]. it can be either, Ansible support YAML format for inventory also