The configuration setting and environment variable take a colon-separated list, similar to $PATH. To load standalone local modules automatically and make them available to all playbooks and roles, use the DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH configuration setting or the ANSIBLE_LIBRARY environment variable. Adding standalone local modules for all playbooks and roles  Alternatively, you can make a non-collection local module available only to specific playbooks or roles. You can configure Ansible to load standalone local modules in a specified location or locations and make them available to all playbooks and roles. Adding a module outside of a collection  The rest of this page describes other methods of using local, standalone modules or plugins. You can share your collection easily at any time through Ansible Galaxy. With a collection, you can use custom modules and plugins in any playbook or role. You can add modules and plugins by creating a collection. Plugins offer options and extensions for the core features of Ansible - transforming data, logging output, connecting to inventory, and more.Īdding modules and plugins in collections  Plugins extend Ansible’s core functionality and execute on the control node within the /usr/bin/ansible process. Modules are technically plugins, but for historical reasons we do not usually talk about “module plugins”. Modules execute on the target system (usually that means on a remote system) in separate processes. Each module accepts arguments and returns information to Ansible by printing a JSON string to stdout before exiting. Modules are reusable, standalone scripts that can be used by the Ansible API, the ansible command, or the ansible-playbook command. Here is a quick overview to help you understand what you need: If you are looking to add functionality to Ansible, you might wonder whether you need a module or a plugin. Modules and plugins: what is the difference?  Using ansible.legacy to access custom versions of an ansible.builtin module Modules and plugins: what is the difference?Īdding modules and plugins in collectionsĪdding standalone local modules for all playbooks and rolesĪdding standalone local modules for selected playbooks or a single roleĪdding a non-module plugin locally outside of a collectionĪdding local non-module plugins for all playbooks and rolesĪdding standalone local plugins for selected playbooks or a single role Controlling how Ansible behaves: precedence rules.Virtualization and Containerization Guides.Migrating Roles to Roles in Collections on Galaxy.The lifecycle of an Ansible module or plugin.Guidelines for VMware REST module development.Guidelines for VMware module development.Guidelines for Ansible Amazon AWS module development.Contributing your module to an existing Ansible collection.Using ansible.legacy to access custom versions of an ansible.builtin module.Adding standalone local plugins for selected playbooks or a single role.Adding local non-module plugins for all playbooks and roles.Adding a non-module plugin locally outside of a collection.Adding standalone local modules for selected playbooks or a single role.Adding standalone local modules for all playbooks and roles.Adding a module outside of a collection.Adding modules and plugins in collections.Modules and plugins: what is the difference?.

Plugin galaxy