# How do you specify an inventory file? **URL:** \ **Category:** AWX Project\ **Tags:** awx\ **Created:** [May 17, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178 "2021-05-17T14:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brandon\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Brandon\_Ellis](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brandon_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/1 "2021-05-17T14:33:44Z")
I’m using AWX 17.1. As it is, when trying to specify an inventory file, there is a dropdown list prepopulated. ![Screenshot 2021-05-17 103159.png](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/7/76c3c0a436058f4663e38b5243f8dd804404816e.png) I don’t want to use the prepopulated value but instead type in my own value. I’m trying to specify the config file for a custom inventory plugin. I’ve seen tutorials saying you can (and should) do this, but the drop-down box was replaced with a text box. Is there any way in the UI to override this drop-down? Or do I need to use the API? ---
**Author:** ![Wei-Yen\_Tan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/wei-yen_tan/32/4111_2.png) [@Wei-Yen\_Tan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Wei-Yen_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/2 "2021-05-17T14:35:04Z")
If you want to use a inventory file you pull it from a project > **(attachments)** > > ![Screenshot 2021-05-17 103159.png](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/7/76c3c0a436058f4663e38b5243f8dd804404816e.png) ---
**Author:** ![Wei-Yen\_Tan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/wei-yen_tan/32/4111_2.png) [@Wei-Yen\_Tan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Wei-Yen_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/3 "2021-05-17T14:35:48Z")
Or is that another option you are looking at? Under sources I think there is a choice. > **(attachments)** > > ![Screenshot 2021-05-17 103159.png](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/7/76c3c0a436058f4663e38b5243f8dd804404816e.png) ---
**Author:** ![Brandon\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Brandon\_Ellis](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brandon_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/4 "2021-05-17T14:42:28Z")
I’m pulling from a project, ansible refuses to list all of the \*.yml files in the “inventory file” dropdown and I have no way to specify the inventory file I want: ![Screenshot 2021-05-17 104214.png](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/4/4a179cc297d923e83571a2736d29417607b87cc8.png) ---
**Author:** ![Brandon\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Brandon\_Ellis](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brandon_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/5 "2021-05-17T14:44:31Z")
![Screenshot 2021-05-17 104412.png](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/7/7360a8c7ca65713599cdacfa965cdf3c3bc5e797.png)This doesn’t even look like the intended behavior of the form… It says I can “Enter a file within the input” if I don’t select from the dropdown Can anyone confirm if this is on other versions than 17.1? ---
**Author:** ![Bubba\_Shrimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Bubba\_Shrimp](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Bubba_Shrimp)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/6 "2021-05-17T15:05:01Z")
In case you are facing the same problem as me, I learned that inventory files need to have an extension. After I appended .ini to my inventory file name, it was populated. ---
**Author:** ![Greens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@Greens](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Greens)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-do-you-specify-an-inventory-file/35178/7 "2021-05-17T23:38:40Z")
Unfortunately, this is a Known Issue with AWX v17 [https://github.com/ansible/awx/issues/9043](https://github.com/ansible/awx/issues/9043) I’m staying with v15 for now while I figure out how to install v18