Where can I get a list of Ansible pre-defined variables? - ansible

Question

I see that Ansible provide some pre-defined variables that we can use in playbooks and template files. For example, the host IP address is ansible_eth0.ipv4.address. Googleing and searching the docs I couldn't find a list of all available variables.
Would someone list them for me?

Answer 1

From the FAQ:
How do I see a list of all of the ansible_ variables?
Ansible by default gathers “facts” about the machines under management, and these facts can be accessed in playbooks and in templates. To see a list of all of the facts that are available about a machine, you can run the setup module as an ad hoc action:
ansible -m setup hostname
This will print out a dictionary of all of the facts that are available for that particular host. You might want to pipe the output to a pager.This does NOT include inventory variables or internal ‘magic’ variables. See the next question if you need more than just ‘facts’.
Here is the output for my vagrant virtual machine called scdev:
scdev | success >> {
"ansible_facts": {
"ansible_all_ipv4_addresses": [
"10.0.2.15",
"192.168.10.10"
],
"ansible_all_ipv6_addresses": [
"fe80::a00:27ff:fe12:9698",
"fe80::a00:27ff:fe74:1330"
],
"ansible_architecture": "i386",
"ansible_bios_date": "12/01/2006",
"ansible_bios_version": "VirtualBox",
"ansible_cmdline": {
"BOOT_IMAGE": "/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic-pae",
"quiet": true,
"ro": true,
"root": "/dev/mapper/precise32-root"
},
"ansible_date_time": {
"date": "2013-09-17",
"day": "17",
"epoch": "1379378304",
"hour": "00",
"iso8601": "2013-09-17T00:38:24Z",
"iso8601_micro": "2013-09-17T00:38:24.425092Z",
"minute": "38",
"month": "09",
"second": "24",
"time": "00:38:24",
"tz": "UTC",
"year": "2013"
},
"ansible_default_ipv4": {
"address": "10.0.2.15",
"alias": "eth0",
"gateway": "10.0.2.2",
"interface": "eth0",
"macaddress": "08:00:27:12:96:98",
"mtu": 1500,
"netmask": "255.255.255.0",
"network": "10.0.2.0",
"type": "ether"
},
"ansible_default_ipv6": {},
"ansible_devices": {
"sda": {
"holders": [],
"host": "SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 02)",
"model": "VBOX HARDDISK",
"partitions": {
"sda1": {
"sectors": "497664",
"sectorsize": 512,
"size": "243.00 MB",
"start": "2048"
},
"sda2": {
"sectors": "2",
"sectorsize": 512,
"size": "1.00 KB",
"start": "501758"
},
},
"removable": "0",
"rotational": "1",
"scheduler_mode": "cfq",
"sectors": "167772160",
"sectorsize": "512",
"size": "80.00 GB",
"support_discard": "0",
"vendor": "ATA"
},
"sr0": {
"holders": [],
"host": "IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)",
"model": "CD-ROM",
"partitions": {},
"removable": "1",
"rotational": "1",
"scheduler_mode": "cfq",
"sectors": "2097151",
"sectorsize": "512",
"size": "1024.00 MB",
"support_discard": "0",
"vendor": "VBOX"
},
"sr1": {
"holders": [],
"host": "IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)",
"model": "CD-ROM",
"partitions": {},
"removable": "1",
"rotational": "1",
"scheduler_mode": "cfq",
"sectors": "2097151",
"sectorsize": "512",
"size": "1024.00 MB",
"support_discard": "0",
"vendor": "VBOX"
}
},
"ansible_distribution": "Ubuntu",
"ansible_distribution_release": "precise",
"ansible_distribution_version": "12.04",
"ansible_domain": "",
"ansible_eth0": {
"active": true,
"device": "eth0",
"ipv4": {
"address": "10.0.2.15",
"netmask": "255.255.255.0",
"network": "10.0.2.0"
},
"ipv6": [
{
"address": "fe80::a00:27ff:fe12:9698",
"prefix": "64",
"scope": "link"
}
],
"macaddress": "08:00:27:12:96:98",
"module": "e1000",
"mtu": 1500,
"type": "ether"
},
"ansible_eth1": {
"active": true,
"device": "eth1",
"ipv4": {
"address": "192.168.10.10",
"netmask": "255.255.255.0",
"network": "192.168.10.0"
},
"ipv6": [
{
"address": "fe80::a00:27ff:fe74:1330",
"prefix": "64",
"scope": "link"
}
],
"macaddress": "08:00:27:74:13:30",
"module": "e1000",
"mtu": 1500,
"type": "ether"
},
"ansible_form_factor": "Other",
"ansible_fqdn": "scdev",
"ansible_hostname": "scdev",
"ansible_interfaces": [
"lo",
"eth1",
"eth0"
],
"ansible_kernel": "3.2.0-23-generic-pae",
"ansible_lo": {
"active": true,
"device": "lo",
"ipv4": {
"address": "127.0.0.1",
"netmask": "255.0.0.0",
"network": "127.0.0.0"
},
"ipv6": [
{
"address": "::1",
"prefix": "128",
"scope": "host"
}
],
"mtu": 16436,
"type": "loopback"
},
"ansible_lsb": {
"codename": "precise",
"description": "Ubuntu 12.04 LTS",
"id": "Ubuntu",
"major_release": "12",
"release": "12.04"
},
"ansible_machine": "i686",
"ansible_memfree_mb": 23,
"ansible_memtotal_mb": 369,
"ansible_mounts": [
{
"device": "/dev/mapper/precise32-root",
"fstype": "ext4",
"mount": "/",
"options": "rw,errors=remount-ro",
"size_available": 77685088256,
"size_total": 84696281088
},
{
"device": "/dev/sda1",
"fstype": "ext2",
"mount": "/boot",
"options": "rw",
"size_available": 201044992,
"size_total": 238787584
},
{
"device": "/vagrant",
"fstype": "vboxsf",
"mount": "/vagrant",
"options": "uid=1000,gid=1000,rw",
"size_available": 42013151232,
"size_total": 484145360896
}
],
"ansible_os_family": "Debian",
"ansible_pkg_mgr": "apt",
"ansible_processor": [
"Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5300 # 2.60GHz"
],
"ansible_processor_cores": "NA",
"ansible_processor_count": 1,
"ansible_product_name": "VirtualBox",
"ansible_product_serial": "NA",
"ansible_product_uuid": "NA",
"ansible_product_version": "1.2",
"ansible_python_version": "2.7.3",
"ansible_selinux": false,
"ansible_swapfree_mb": 766,
"ansible_swaptotal_mb": 767,
"ansible_system": "Linux",
"ansible_system_vendor": "innotek GmbH",
"ansible_user_id": "neves",
"ansible_userspace_architecture": "i386",
"ansible_userspace_bits": "32",
"ansible_virtualization_role": "guest",
"ansible_virtualization_type": "virtualbox"
},
"changed": false
}
The current documentation now has a complete chapter about Discovering variables: facts and magic variables.

Answer 2

ansible -m setup hostname
Only gets the facts gathered by the setup module.
Gilles Cornu posted a template trick to list all variables for a specific host.
Template (later called dump_variables):
HOSTVARS (ANSIBLE GATHERED, group_vars, host_vars) :
{{ hostvars[inventory_hostname] | to_yaml }}
PLAYBOOK VARS:
{{ vars | to_yaml }}
Playbook to use it:
- hosts: all
tasks:
- template:
src: templates/dump_variables
dest: /tmp/ansible_variables
- fetch:
src: /tmp/ansible_variables
dest: "{{inventory_hostname}}_ansible_variables"
After that you have a dump of all variables on every host, and a copy of each text dump file on your local workstation in your tmp folder. If you don't want local copies, you can remove the fetch statement.
This includes gathered facts, host variables and group variables.
Therefore you see ansible default variables like group_names, inventory_hostname, ansible_ssh_host and so on.

Answer 3

There are 3 sources of variables in Ansible:
Variables gathered from facts. You can get them by running command: ansible -m setup hostname
Built-in (pre-defined) Ansible variables (AKA 'magic' variables). They are documented in Ansible documentation: http://docs.ansible.com/playbooks_variables.html#magic-variables-and-how-to-access-information-about-other-hosts
Here is the list extracted from Ansible 1.9 documentation:
group_names
groups
inventory_hostname
ansible_hostname
inventory_hostname_short
play_hosts
delegate_to
inventory_dir
inventory_file
Variables passed to ansible via command line. But obviously you know what they are

Answer 4

I use this simple playbook:
---
# vars.yml
#
# Shows the value of all variables/facts.
#
# Example:
#
# ansible-playbook vars.yml -e 'hosts=localhost'
#
- hosts: localhost
tasks:
- fail: "You must specify a value for `hosts` variable - e.g.: ansible-playbook vars.yml -e 'hosts=localhost'"
when: hosts is not defined
- hosts: "{{ hosts }}"
tasks:
- debug: var=vars
- debug: var=hostvars[inventory_hostname]

Answer 5

There is lot of variables defined as Facts -- http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/playbooks_variables.html#information-discovered-from-systems-facts
"ansible_all_ipv4_addresses": [
"REDACTED IP ADDRESS"
],
"ansible_all_ipv6_addresses": [
"REDACTED IPV6 ADDRESS"
],
"ansible_architecture": "x86_64",
"ansible_bios_date": "09/20/2012",
"ansible_bios_version": "6.00",
"ansible_cmdline": {
"BOOT_IMAGE": "/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-23-generic",
"quiet": true,
"ro": true,
"root": "UUID=4195bff4-e157-4e41-8701-e93f0aec9e22",
"splash": true
},
"ansible_date_time": {
"date": "2013-10-02",
"day": "02",
"epoch": "1380756810",
"hour": "19",
"iso8601": "2013-10-02T23:33:30Z",
"iso8601_micro": "2013-10-02T23:33:30.036070Z",
"minute": "33",
"month": "10",
"second": "30",
"time": "19:33:30",
"tz": "EDT",
"year": "2013"
},
"ansible_default_ipv4": {
"address": "REDACTED",
"alias": "eth0",
"gateway": "REDACTED",
"interface": "eth0",
"macaddress": "REDACTED",
"mtu": 1500,
"netmask": "255.255.255.0",
"network": "REDACTED",
"type": "ether"
},
"ansible_default_ipv6": {},
"ansible_devices": {
"fd0": {
"holders": [],
"host": "",
"model": null,
"partitions": {},
"removable": "1",
"rotational": "1",
"scheduler_mode": "deadline",
"sectors": "0",
"sectorsize": "512",
"size": "0.00 Bytes",
"support_discard": "0",
"vendor": null
},
"sda": {
"holders": [],
"host": "SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI (rev 01)",
"model": "VMware Virtual S",
"partitions": {
"sda1": {
"sectors": "39843840",
"sectorsize": 512,
"size": "19.00 GB",
"start": "2048"
},
"sda2": {
"sectors": "2",
"sectorsize": 512,
"size": "1.00 KB",
"start": "39847934"
},
"sda5": {
"sectors": "2093056",
"sectorsize": 512,
"size": "1022.00 MB",
"start": "39847936"
}
},
"removable": "0",
"rotational": "1",
"scheduler_mode": "deadline",
"sectors": "41943040",
"sectorsize": "512",
"size": "20.00 GB",
"support_discard": "0",
"vendor": "VMware,"
},
"sr0": {
"holders": [],
"host": "IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)",
"model": "VMware IDE CDR10",
"partitions": {},
"removable": "1",
"rotational": "1",
"scheduler_mode": "deadline",
"sectors": "2097151",
"sectorsize": "512",
"size": "1024.00 MB",
"support_discard": "0",
"vendor": "NECVMWar"
}
},
"ansible_distribution": "Ubuntu",
"ansible_distribution_release": "precise",
"ansible_distribution_version": "12.04",
"ansible_domain": "",
"ansible_env": {
"COLORTERM": "gnome-terminal",
"DISPLAY": ":0",
"HOME": "/home/mdehaan",
"LANG": "C",
"LESSCLOSE": "/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s",
"LESSOPEN": "| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s",
"LOGNAME": "root",
"LS_COLORS": "rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.axv=01;35:*.anx=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.axa=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:",
"MAIL": "/var/mail/root",
"OLDPWD": "/root/ansible/docsite",
"PATH": "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
"PWD": "/root/ansible",
"SHELL": "/bin/bash",
"SHLVL": "1",
"SUDO_COMMAND": "/bin/bash",
"SUDO_GID": "1000",
"SUDO_UID": "1000",
"SUDO_USER": "mdehaan",
"TERM": "xterm",
"USER": "root",
"USERNAME": "root",
"XAUTHORITY": "/home/mdehaan/.Xauthority",
"_": "/usr/local/bin/ansible"
},
"ansible_eth0": {
"active": true,
"device": "eth0",
"ipv4": {
"address": "REDACTED",
"netmask": "255.255.255.0",
"network": "REDACTED"
},
"ipv6": [
{
"address": "REDACTED",
"prefix": "64",
"scope": "link"
}
],
"macaddress": "REDACTED",
"module": "e1000",
"mtu": 1500,
"type": "ether"
},
"ansible_form_factor": "Other",
"ansible_fqdn": "ubuntu2.example.com",
"ansible_hostname": "ubuntu2",
"ansible_interfaces": [
"lo",
"eth0"
],
"ansible_kernel": "3.5.0-23-generic",
"ansible_lo": {
"active": true,
"device": "lo",
"ipv4": {
"address": "127.0.0.1",
"netmask": "255.0.0.0",
"network": "127.0.0.0"
},
"ipv6": [
{
"address": "::1",
"prefix": "128",
"scope": "host"
}
],
"mtu": 16436,
"type": "loopback"
},
"ansible_lsb": {
"codename": "precise",
"description": "Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS",
"id": "Ubuntu",
"major_release": "12",
"release": "12.04"
},
"ansible_machine": "x86_64",
"ansible_memfree_mb": 74,
"ansible_memtotal_mb": 991,
"ansible_mounts": [
{
"device": "/dev/sda1",
"fstype": "ext4",
"mount": "/",
"options": "rw,errors=remount-ro",
"size_available": 15032406016,
"size_total": 20079898624
}
],
"ansible_nodename": "ubuntu2.example.com",
"ansible_os_family": "Debian",
"ansible_pkg_mgr": "apt",
"ansible_processor": [
"Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 # 2.80GHz"
],
"ansible_processor_cores": 1,
"ansible_processor_count": 1,
"ansible_processor_threads_per_core": 1,
"ansible_processor_vcpus": 1,
"ansible_product_name": "VMware Virtual Platform",
"ansible_product_serial": "REDACTED",
"ansible_product_uuid": "REDACTED",
"ansible_product_version": "None",
"ansible_python_version": "2.7.3",
"ansible_selinux": false,
"ansible_ssh_host_key_dsa_public": "REDACTED KEY VALUE"
"ansible_ssh_host_key_ecdsa_public": "REDACTED KEY VALUE"
"ansible_ssh_host_key_rsa_public": "REDACTED KEY VALUE"
"ansible_swapfree_mb": 665,
"ansible_swaptotal_mb": 1021,
"ansible_system": "Linux",
"ansible_system_vendor": "VMware, Inc.",
"ansible_user_id": "root",
"ansible_userspace_architecture": "x86_64",
"ansible_userspace_bits": "64",
"ansible_virtualization_role": "guest",
"ansible_virtualization_type": "VMware"

Answer 6

The debug module can be used to analyze variables. Be careful running the following command. In our setup it generates 444709 lines with 16MB:
ansible -m debug -a 'var=hostvars' localhost
I am not sure but it might be necessary to enable facts caching.
If you need just one host use the host name as a key for the hostvars hash:
ansible -m debug -a 'var=hostvars.localhost' localhost
This command will display also group and host variables.

Answer 7

Note the official docs on connection configuration variables or "behavioral" variables - which aren't listed in host vars, appears to be List of Behavioral Inventory Parameters in the Inventory documentation.
P.S. The sudo option is undocumented there (yes its sudo not ansible_sudo as you'd expect ...) and probably a couple more aren't, but thats best doc I've found on em.

Answer 8

Some variables are not available on every host, e.g. ansible_domain and domain. If the situation needs to be debugged, I login to the server and issue:
user#server:~$ ansible -m setup localhost | grep domain
[WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available
"ansible_domain": "prd.example.com",

Answer 9

I know this question has been answered already, but I feel like there are a whole other set of pre-defined variables not covered by the ansible_* facts. This documentation page covers the directives (variables that modify Ansible's behavior), which I was looking for when I came across this page.
This includes some common and some specific use-case directives:
become: Controls privilege escalation (sudo)
delegate_to: run task on another host (like running on localhost)
serial: allows you to run a play across a specific number/percentage of hosts before moving onto next set

Answer 10

https://github.com/f500/ansible-dumpall
FYI: this github project shows you how to list 90% of variables across all hosts. I find it more globally useful than single host commands. The README includes instructions for building a simple inventory report. It's even more valuable to run this at the end of a playbook to see all the Facts. To also debug Task behaviour use register:
The result is missing a few items:
- included YAML file variables
- extra-vars
- a number of the Ansible internal vars described here: Ansible Behavioural Params