ansible-styleguide.md

Ansible Styleguide

This is mostly a summary from this styleguide. Don't hesitate to ask any questions if you don't get or disagree with something here. If you're confused about something because it is underspecified, please add an example after you figured it out.

Summary

1. Start your .yml scripts with three dashes (---).
2. End all your .yml files with a newline (\n).
3. Always double quote strings. Don't quote integers or booleans (e.g. 42 or true / false).
4. Only use true and false for boolean values.
5. Use one space after the colon in a key/value pair (e.g. key: value instead of key : value).
6. Always use the map syntax for dictionaries.
7. When files need to be transferred, use templates.
8. All templates should have the ansible_managed header and the .j2 file extension.
9. Use become instead of sudo.
10. Blank lines between two blocks and tasks.
11. snake_case for variables.
12. If you define multiple variables with the same prefix, put them in a map.

Examples

Map syntax

Good:

- name: "install htop"
  package:
    name: htop
    state: installed

Bad:

- name: "install htop"
  package: name=htop state=installed

Variables with shared prefix

Good:

koala:
  environment: production
  server: unicorn
  git_ref: ansible_test
  ruby_version: 2.3.0

Bad:

koala_environment: production
koala_server: unicorn
koala_git_ref: ansible_test
koala_ruby_version: 2.3.0