# Not able ping instances using dynamic inventory

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/not-able-ping-instances-using-dynamic-inventory/22502>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [September 6, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/not-able-ping-instances-using-dynamic-inventory/22502 "2016-09-06T21:09:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![challa.tek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@challa.tek](https://forum.ansible.com/u/challa.tek)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/not-able-ping-instances-using-dynamic-inventory/22502/1 "2016-09-06T21:09:05Z")

</div>

I have downloaded ec2.py and ec2.ini files and placed them under

```auto
/etc/ansible/inventory

```

and i have changed the ansible.cfg to

```auto
inventory = /etc/ansible/inventory/ec2.py

```

i have environment variables set up as

```auto
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-east-1"
export EC2_INI_PATH="/etc/ansible/inventory/ec2.ini"

```

now when i run ansible -m ping all i am getting

```auto
[WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available

```

instead of pinging all instances in my account

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![alexey.vazhnov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@alexey.vazhnov](https://forum.ansible.com/u/alexey.vazhnov)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/not-able-ping-instances-using-dynamic-inventory/22502/2 "2016-09-07T11:02:31Z")

</div>

What do you see when start ec2.py just as python application?  
If you see your instances, may be you need to use:

```auto
inventory = /etc/ansible/inventory/

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![challa.tek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@challa.tek](https://forum.ansible.com/u/challa.tek)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/not-able-ping-instances-using-dynamic-inventory/22502/3 "2016-09-09T15:04:32Z")

</div>

Thanks you so much for your help the issue has been resolved.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [September 13, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/not-able-ping-instances-using-dynamic-inventory/22502/4 "2016-09-13T23:09:25Z")

</div>

run the script /etc/ansible/inventory/ec2.py directly and see what output you get.