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About

Connection parameters to hosts are given through variable.

Connection Properties

Username

You can define the running user with the help of this two variable:

If the ansible_user is defined in a inventory file, the remote_user value will have no effect because of order of precedence. You need to become instead. See 20045

Example: 

hostName ansible_host=13.72.199.20 ansible_ssh_pass=Gam5sKZ8g6Q ansible_become_pass=GuCZWuGam5sKZ8g6Q


---
- hosts: all 
  become: yes
  become_user: install_user
  • Within a Playbook where the login user are defined with remote_user (Don't set the ansible_user)
---
- hosts: all 
  remote_user: login_user
  become: yes
  become_user: install_user


ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i hosts.ini

Connection Type

The variable is ansible_connection by default ssh

Ssh

  • ansible_connection=ssh

See ansible/ansible/tree/devel/lib/ansible/plugins/connection

Windows WinRm

  • ansible_port: 5986
  • ansible_connection: winrm
  • ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation: ignore
  • ansible_winrm_transport: ntlm
  • ansible_user: user@windows_domain.com
  • ansible_password: xxxxxxx

Make sure you have ran ConfigureRemotingForAnsible.ps1 on your windows host

Authentication code

Private Key

Ansible get the private key:

  • from the ssh-agent. (You need to add them first)
  • from the ansible_ssh_private_key_file variable
  • or from the --private-key cli option.

There is no option to store passphrase-protected private key. See the note in List of Behavioral Inventory Parameters.

You need to:

Password

Passing password at the command line: 

ansible-playbook playbook.yml -i inventory.ini  --extra-vars "ansible_sudo_pass=yourPassword"

Authorization escalation

  • for authorization escalation during the run
    • ansible_become=yes
    • ansible_become_user=install_user
    • ansible_become_pass=welcome1
    • ansible_become_method=sudo
    • ansible_sudo_pass=password

Host definition

The hosts are generally defined as an inventory group name in the playbook 

- hosts: hostnamepattern

Single host:

  • ansible_host=192.0.2.50
  • ansible_host=hostname

Port:

  • ansible_port=22

Variable Order of precedence

The connection variable defined at the command line have a lower priority that the connection variables defined elsewehere (such as playbook,…).See Playbook Variable

Example:

  • The playbook defines ramon as connection user.
---
- hosts: all
  remote_user: ramon # connection user must be ramon
  • At the command line, we set the connection user to lola
ansible -u lola myhost
  • but the connection is still made as ramon because the value from the variable takes priority. See Playbook Variable

Documentation / Reference