role-builder

Role Builder

Quick Start

Create well-structured Ansible roles with proper organization, reusability, and idempotency.

Instructions

Step 1: Initialize role structure

# Create role using ansible-galaxy
ansible-galaxy init my_role

# Or create manually
mkdir -p roles/my_role/{tasks,handlers,templates,files,vars,defaults,meta}

Standard role structure:

my_role/
├── tasks/
│   └── main.yml          # Main task list
├── handlers/
│   └── main.yml          # Handlers
├── templates/
│   └── config.j2         # Jinja2 templates
├── files/
│   └── script.sh         # Static files
├── vars/
│   └── main.yml          # Role variables
├── defaults/
│   └── main.yml          # Default variables
├── meta/
│   └── main.yml          # Role metadata and dependencies
└── README.md             # Role documentation

Step 2: Define tasks

tasks/main.yml:

---
# Main task file for my_role

- name: Install required packages
  ansible.builtin.package:
    name: "{{ item }}"
    state: present
  loop: "{{ required_packages }}"
  tags: [packages]

- name: Create application directory
  ansible.builtin.file:
    path: "{{ app_directory }}"
    state: directory
    owner: "{{ app_user }}"
    group: "{{ app_group }}"
    mode: '0755'
  tags: [setup]

- name: Deploy configuration file
  ansible.builtin.template:
    src: config.j2
    dest: "{{ app_directory }}/config.yml"
    owner: "{{ app_user }}"
    group: "{{ app_group }}"
    mode: '0644'
  notify: restart application
  tags: [config]

- name: Ensure service is running
  ansible.builtin.service:
    name: "{{ service_name }}"
    state: started
    enabled: true
  tags: [service]

Step 3: Create handlers

handlers/main.yml:

---
# Handlers for my_role

- name: restart application
  ansible.builtin.service:
    name: "{{ service_name }}"
    state: restarted

- name: reload application
  ansible.builtin.service:
    name: "{{ service_name }}"
    state: reloaded

- name: validate configuration
  ansible.builtin.command:
    cmd: "{{ app_binary }} --validate-config"
  changed_when: false