# How to use --extra-vars option to pass host variables in ansible-playbook **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [February 25, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678 "2016-02-25T15:00:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DINESH\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DINESH\_S](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DINESH_S)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/1 "2016-02-25T15:00:19Z")
We have an requirement to pass the host variables defined in a file under host\_vars directory as an argument to the ansible playbook. So we have planned to use **–extra-vars** option to pass additional variables as key value pair. But we couldn’t able to pass the host variables as argument and I couldn’t find any proper documentation for this use case. Could anyone give me a solution for this problem. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/2 "2016-02-25T19:02:01Z")
host\_vars do not need to be passed, they are picked up automatically, you would be ‘double passing them’ by adding them to the command line. ---
**Author:** ![DINESH\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DINESH\_S](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DINESH_S)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/3 "2016-02-29T05:56:02Z")
Thanks Brain for your reply. We are not planning to have the yaml or json file under host\_vars directory. Instead we are passing as arguments in the command line. Could you please share me some examples or documentation to pass host variables. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Leonhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Alex\_Leonhardt](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Alex_Leonhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/4 "2016-02-29T07:07:45Z")
Then don’t they just become normal variables that you’d use in your playbooks? Alex ---
**Author:** ![DINESH\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DINESH\_S](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DINESH_S)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:41am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/5 "2016-02-29T07:41:01Z")
Yes. If I give the arguments as below, then it would be normal variables or global variables. ansible-playbook -i hosts xxxx.yaml --extra-vars ‘{“management\_interface”:{“int”: “em0”,“ip”: “192.168.56.3”}}’ But I’m looking for an option in ansible-playbook where we could pass the host variables specific to the particular host as follows. ansible-playbook -i hosts xxxx.yaml --extra-vars ‘{“hostvars[‘host1’]”:{“management\_interface”:{“int”: “em0”,“ip”: “192.168.56.3”}}}’ The content in hosts file is as below: [vdc1-host1] host1 [vdc1-host2] host2 [vdc1:children] vdc1-host1 vdc1-host2 [sites:children] vdc1 [all:children] sites Please let me know if you have any queries. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Bamford1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tom\_Bamford1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Tom_Bamford1)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/6 "2016-02-29T15:00:43Z")
Have you considered other ways of specifying that information, such as a dynamic inventory script, or a custom facts module? Tom ---
**Author:** ![DINESH\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DINESH\_S](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DINESH_S)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-to-use-extra-vars-option-to-pass-host-variables-in-ansible-playbook/20678/7 "2016-02-29T16:14:22Z")
No. I don’t have idea in specifying it as dynamic inventory script or custom facts module. Could you please provide me an examples or documentation.