CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ansible
ahawkins
ahawkins

Reputation: 1174

Playbook dependencies vs Role Dependency

I've started out using ansible and I'm wondering what the best practice is for using multiple roles in a playbook or specifying multiple role dependencies. Example: consider a role name common. This role exists to share common config across all things in the site. Then there are roles like web, db, or mail etc. In practice these require the common role. So the question is: Should such a thing be expressed in a playbook that creates machines for the different roles or specified as role dependencies? Is there any trade-offs which one approach or the other. I lean towards specifying them as role dependencies.

How have you done it before?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 2766

Answers (1)

udondan
udondan

Reputation: 59989

A role dependency is appropriate if a role really is depending on that other role, like installing some requirements first, before they can be used etc. So if common indeed installs requirements then it qualifies for a role dependency. It should not be a role dependency if it does completely unrelated things.

The name common suggests it might actually be doing multiple things that just happen to be executed on all hosts. Instead I suggest you really think in roles. All hosts might have Apache, MySQL and PHP installed. That does not mean it all has to be stuffed into a single role. Make it 3 roles, small packages. It then should get obvious which role is a dependency of another role or if it should be added on the playbook level.

Upvotes: 2

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