# How to define a base\_dir var so you can use {{ base\_dir }}/playbooks etc? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [August 1, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-define-a-base-dir-var-so-you-can-use-base-dir-playbooks-etc/22184 "2016-08-01T16:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-define-a-base-dir-var-so-you-can-use-base-dir-playbooks-etc/22184/1 "2016-08-01T16:56:47Z")
Hi, Ansible 2.1.1.0. Situation: Tim and Bob both deploy servers. Tim checks out the central ansible git repo to /home/tim/ansible while Bob checks it out to /home/bob/ansible. No special ansible.cfg is used by either. Problem: paths differ (/home/tim/ansible vs /home/bob/ansible) so you can not use static paths in the playbooks etc. Question: how do you solve that? How do you specify something like a base\_dir variable which is read early on so that all static paths can be replaced. \ $ grep base\_dir /home/tim/ansible/inventory/group\_vars/all base\_dir: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'git rev-parse --show-toplevel') }}" In Tim's case base\_dir should be "/home/tim/ansible". $ cat /home/tim/ansible/vars/global\_vars.yml roles: "{{ base\_dir}}/roles" handlersdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/handlers" tasksdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/tasks" playbooksdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/playbooks" includedir: "{{ base\_dir }}/playbooks/include" manualdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/playbooks/manual" varsdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/vars" $ cat /home/tim/ansible/playbooks/groups/dns - name: setup dns servers    hosts: dns    user: root    gather\_facts: True    vars\_files:   - "{{ base\_dir }}/vars/global\_vars.yml    roles:   - base   - dns TIA, Patrick ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:44am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-define-a-base-dir-var-so-you-can-use-base-dir-playbooks-etc/22184/2 "2016-08-03T07:44:17Z")
> Hi, > > Ansible 2.1.1.0. > > Situation: Tim and Bob both deploy servers. Tim checks out the central > ansible git repo to /home/tim/ansible while Bob checks it out to > /home/bob/ansible. No special ansible.cfg is used by either. This is a very common way to do it. You can also put the ansible.cfg in this folder so everybody shares the same ansible.cfg. > Problem: paths differ (/home/tim/ansible vs /home/bob/ansible) so you > can not use static paths in the playbooks etc. This is not a problem you always use relative paths and not absolute(static) path. > Question: how do you solve that? How do you specify something like a > base\_dir variable which is read early on so that all static paths can > be replaced. Relative path and Ansible has a directory layout that it understand, I recommend reading this page that explain the concept. [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks\_best\_practices.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks_best_practices.html) So when you run ansible or ansible-playbook Tim and Bob will always run them from within ~/ansible > \ > > $ grep base\_dir /home/tim/ansible/inventory/group\_vars/all > base\_dir: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'git rev-parse --show-toplevel') }}" > > In Tim's case base\_dir should be "/home/tim/ansible". > > $ cat /home/tim/ansible/vars/global\_vars.yml > > roles: "{{ base\_dir}}/roles" > handlersdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/handlers" > tasksdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/tasks" > playbooksdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/playbooks" > includedir: "{{ base\_dir }}/playbooks/include" > manualdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/playbooks/manual" > varsdir: "{{ base\_dir }}/vars" > > $ cat /home/tim/ansible/playbooks/groups/dns > > - name: setup dns servers >   hosts: dns >   user: root >   gather\_facts: True > >   vars\_files: >   - "{{ base\_dir }}/vars/global\_vars.yml > >   roles: >   - base >   - dns It looks like a very strange concept, I do recommend picking up a Ansible book to get basic knowledge of how Ansible works. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 12:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-define-a-base-dir-var-so-you-can-use-base-dir-playbooks-etc/22184/3 "2016-08-03T12:01:20Z")
Hi Kai, Thank you for your feedback. > > Hi, > > > > Ansible 2.1.1.0. > > > > Situation: Tim and Bob both deploy servers. Tim checks out the central > > ansible git repo to /home/tim/ansible while Bob checks it out to > > /home/bob/ansible. No special ansible.cfg is used by either. > > This is a very common way to do it. > You can also put the ansible.cfg in this folder so everybody shares the > same ansible.cfg. Got it. > > Problem: paths differ (/home/tim/ansible vs /home/bob/ansible) so you > > can not use static paths in the playbooks etc. > > This is not a problem you always use relative paths and not > absolute(static) path. Great. > > Question: how do you solve that? How do you specify something like a > > base\_dir variable which is read early on so that all static paths can > > be replaced. > > Relative path and Ansible has a directory layout that it understand, I > recommend reading this page that explain the concept. > [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks\_best\_practices.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks_best_practices.html) Will read that. > So when you run ansible or ansible-playbook Tim and Bob will always run > them from within ~/ansible [snip] \> > It looks like a very strange concept, I do recommend picking up a > Ansible book to get basic knowledge of how Ansible works. The concept is sorta used by the Fedora Infrastructure team. Looking at their setup I wondered about defining paths via vars hence my question to the list. Thanks again for your help! Best, Patrick