# Plays against different server groups in playbook **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Tags:** windows\ **Created:** [October 1, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408 "2015-10-01T19:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dyioulos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dyioulos/32/8363_2.png) [@dyioulos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dyioulos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408/1 "2015-10-01T19:18:38Z")
I’m creating a playbook to update, then reboot, a group of windows servers (serversA). Prior to reboot, however, I have to stop a couple of services on another group of windows servers (serversB). This is what I’d like to happen when I run “ansible-playbook -l serversA playbook.yml”: where playbook.yml: - hosts: **serversA** gather\_facts: false tasks: - name: win update win\_updates: category: [‘SecurityUpdates’,‘CriticalUpdates’,‘Updates’,‘Tools’,‘DefinitionUpdates’,‘UpdateRollups’] register: reboot\_hint - hosts: **serversB** gather\_facts: false tasks: - name: check for XYZ service raw: sc query XYZ register: xyz\_hint failed\_when: xyz\_hint.rc not in [0,1060] - name: stop XYZ and ABC services ← if XYZ service is installed, so is ABC win\_service: name={{ item }} state=stopped with\_items: [“XYZ”, “ABC”] when: xyz\_hint.rc == 0 - hosts: **serversA** gather\_facts: false tasks: - name: reboot server raw: ‘cmd /c shutdown /r /t 0’ when: reboot\_hint.reboot\_required == true Can I do this in a single playbook? If not (or if this is set up incorrectly, and I’m sure it is), then how? Thanks! ---
**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:** [October 1, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408/2 "2015-10-01T20:16:10Z")
you can have multiple plays per playbook, that is actually how it is defined playbook = container for 1 or more plays. ---
**Author:** ![Josh\_Smift1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Josh\_Smift1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Josh_Smift1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408/3 "2015-10-01T20:22:54Z")
> you can have multiple plays per playbook, that is actually how it is > defined playbook = container for 1 or more plays. I was just thinking about something that this seems like an opportune time to ask about: It seems that if you have multiple plays, some of which target different hosts, and if all of the hosts in \*one play\* fail, that fails the entire playbook. Is that still true, and is there a way to overide that behavior? (I did a bit of searching, and saw some questions in the archive from a year or more ago which implied that there wasn't a way to override it.) Our particular use case is that we have a playbook to check that our systems are in synch with how we expect them to be, with a play for each type of system, and sometimes one of those plays will fail for some minor intermittent reason -- it only targets one host and that host is down, etc. It'd be nice if the rest of the playbook could continue in that case.                                       -Josh (jbs@care.com) This email is intended for the person(s) to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL. Any unauthorized use, distribution, copying, or disclosure by any person other than the addressee(s) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by return email and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---
**Author:** ![dyioulos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dyioulos/32/8363_2.png) [@dyioulos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dyioulos)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408/4 "2015-10-02T13:29:14Z")
Hi, Brian. Yes, I understand about the playbook running one or more plays. What I didn’t understand (and this is another of my embarrassing mistakes) is that I shouldn’t have identified any servers or groups when running the playbook, as in “ansible-playbook -l serversA playbook.yml” but, rather, run it thusly, “ansible-playbook playbook.yml”. That, of course, let’s Ansible apply the plays to the servers or groups that are specified in the plays. Arrgh. Hope I’m not using up all of my goodwill on the list. Dimitri ---
**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:** [October 2, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408/5 "2015-10-02T14:07:46Z")
Dimitri, not sure what you mean by "ansible-playbook -l serversA playbook.yml" don't worry about using up goodwill, i never had any to begin with .... ---
**Author:** ![dyioulos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dyioulos/32/8363_2.png) [@dyioulos](https://forum.ansible.com/u/dyioulos)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/plays-against-different-server-groups-in-playbook/19408/6 "2015-10-02T14:58:49Z")
Hey, Brian. I was using the “l” switch, thereby limiting the playbook run to a subset of servers. In this case, there was no need for such limiting (and, in fact, it caused the playbook to work incorrectly). How stupid of me. So, allow me to post the entire playbook: