Hiera equivalent for Ansible

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1

Hi All,

Is there a Hiera equivalent for Ansible? For example I want to build an array of packages to install for a host which is made up of packages in host_vars, group_vars and perhaps some common packages that apply to all. If Hiera doesn’t exist, how could something like this be achieved?

Thanks.
GS

2

No tool currently and I think setting up such things in ansible is simple
enough that no equivalent tool will be made.

3

Do you have an example?

4

look at roles, but you can also do this with play playbooks (i did before roles came)

base.yml

  • common_packages.yml
  • removes_cruft.yml
  • setup_admin_accounts.yml
  • remove_old_admins.yml
5

External inventory scripts, see docs.

Ansible has a much more flexible classifier and way easier to understand!

– Michael

6

You are wrong Brian, external inventory and group classification are already there, and also lookup plugins :slight_smile:

– Michael

7

Roles are useful but what is being asked about is how playbooks map hosts to roles using the “hosts:” directive.

– Michael

8

Ah, sorry, yes, i was assuming dynamic inventory (ass == me) and then just use plays/roles to organize based on that.

9

Thanks Michael/Brian. I’ll look into using an external inventory script.

10

Look into group_by if you wish to make dynamic groups based on variables too!

– Michael