ansible-repository-template

From ansible best practices

Directory Layout

The top level of the directory would contain files and directories like so:

production                # inventory file for production servers
staging                   # inventory file for staging environment

group_vars/
   group1.yml             # here we assign variables to particular groups
   group2.yml
host_vars/
   hostname1.yml          # here we assign variables to particular systems
   hostname2.yml

library/                  # if any custom modules, put them here (optional)
module_utils/             # if any custom module_utils to support modules, put them here (optional)
filter_plugins/           # if any custom filter plugins, put them here (optional)

site.yml                  # master playbook
webservers.yml            # playbook for webserver tier
dbservers.yml             # playbook for dbserver tier

roles/
    common/               # this hierarchy represents a "role"
        tasks/            #
            main.yml      #  <-- tasks file can include smaller files if warranted
        handlers/         #
            main.yml      #  <-- handlers file
        templates/        #  <-- files for use with the template resource
            ntp.conf.j2   #  <------- templates end in .j2
        files/            #
            bar.txt       #  <-- files for use with the copy resource
            foo.sh        #  <-- script files for use with the script resource
        vars/             #
            main.yml      #  <-- variables associated with this role
        defaults/         #
            main.yml      #  <-- default lower priority variables for this role
        meta/             #
            main.yml      #  <-- role dependencies
        library/          # roles can also include custom modules
        module_utils/     # roles can also include custom module_utils
        lookup_plugins/   # or other types of plugins, like lookup in this case

    webtier/              # same kind of structure as "common" was above, done for the webtier role
    monitoring/           # ""
    fooapp/               # ""

Alternative Directory Layout

Alternatively you can put each inventory file with its group_vars/host_vars in a separate directory. This is particularly useful if your group_vars/host_vars don’t have that much in common in different environments. The layout could look something like this:

inventories/
   production/
      hosts               # inventory file for production servers
      group_vars/
         group1.yml       # here we assign variables to particular groups
         group2.yml
      host_vars/
         hostname1.yml    # here we assign variables to particular systems
         hostname2.yml

   staging/
      hosts               # inventory file for staging environment
      group_vars/
         group1.yml       # here we assign variables to particular groups
         group2.yml
      host_vars/
         stagehost1.yml   # here we assign variables to particular systems
         stagehost2.yml

library/
module_utils/
filter_plugins/

site.yml
webservers.yml
dbservers.yml

roles/
    common/
    webtier/
    monitoring/
    fooapp/

This layout gives you more flexibility for larger environments, as well as a total separation of inventory variables between different environments. The downside is that it is harder to maintain, because there are more files.