# understanding local connection

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/understanding-local-connection/12881>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Tags:** ansible-project\
**Created:** [May 29, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/understanding-local-connection/12881 "2013-05-29T11:35:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/understanding-local-connection/12881/1 "2013-05-29T11:35:52Z")

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If you want to do something on behalf of other hosts, you wouldn’t use a local connection. Local connection is used mainly with “hosts: localhost” or just for testing.

Rather, you’d use “local\_action: ” which is a shorthand for delegate\_to as described in [http://ansible.cc/docs/playbooks2.html#delegation](http://ansible.cc/docs/playbooks2.html#delegation)

Hope this helps! If you need more info, let us know!