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I want to run tasks in ansible playbook in order of tags given in --tags
My ansible playbook
---
- hosts: all
remote_user: root
vars:
file_path: '{{filename}}'
tasks:
- name: Delete user
user:
name: "{{username}}"
state: absent
remove: yes
tags:
- delete_user
- name: Create user
user:
name: "{{username}}"
shell: /bin/bash
groups: "{{groupname}}"
password: "{{ password |password_hash('sha512') }}"
tags:
- create_user
- name: Add ssh key
authorized_key:
user: "{{username}}"
key: "{{lookup('file', 'file_path')}}"
exclusive: yes
tags:
- add_ssh_key
Run Ansible
ansible-playbook createuser.yml --extra-vars "username=hello password=helloworld groupname=something filename=/path/to/filename" --tags=create_user,add_ssh_key,delete_user
Expected Output
TASK: [Create user] ***********************************************************
changed: [ip address]
TASK: [Add ssh key] ***********************************************************
changed: [ip address]
TASK: [Delete user] ***********************************************************
ok: [ip address]
Output Comes
TASK: [Delete user] ***********************************************************
ok: [ip address]
TASK: [Create user] ***********************************************************
changed: [ip address]
TASK: [Add ssh key] ***********************************************************
changed: [ip address]
Order of tags given
create_user,add_ssh_key,delete_user
But Executed in order
delete_user,create_user,add_ssh_key,
504
Basically, the instruct Ansible to execute (or not to execute) specific tasks within the playbook file. Usually, tasks that are skipped have been carried out and hence there is no need to carry them out once again. This way, tags avoid repetition and optimize playbook execution time. They are handy when you want to run certain tasks on demand.
To select or skip tasks within the role, you must have tags set on individual tasks or blocks, use the dynamic include_role in your playbook, and add the same tag or tags to the include. When you use this approach, and then run your playbook with --tags foo, Ansible runs the include itself plus any tasks in the role that also have the tag foo.
If you do not know which tasks have the tags configuration and packages, you can pass those tags and add --list-tasks. Ansible lists the tasks but does not execute any of them. These command-line flags have one limitation: they cannot show tags or tasks within dynamically included files or roles.
New in version 2.5. If you assign the never tag to a task or play, Ansible will skip that task or play unless you specifically request it ( --tags never ). The rarely-used debug task in the example above only runs when you specifically request the debug or never tags.
That's not what tags are for and there is no way to do that within Ansible. Tasks always are execute in the order they have been defined in the tasks file(s) and/or in order roles have been added to a playbook/play.
If you want to target specific tasks in order you could call the playbook multiple times with a single tag applied.
ansible-playbook ... --tags=create_user
ansible-playbook ... --tags=add_ssh_key
ansible-playbook ... --tags=delete_user
You could write a simple bash script to automate that. (That's what one usually ends up with anyway when you have a more complex setup and have to deal with multiple tags)
55
Generally, all tasks are executed in the order they are in the playbook if no tags are given. I think because your tags cover all tasks in the playbook, they are just executed in the order as they would without any tags. So, a solution could be to rearrange the tasks in the playbook.
Example playbook:
- hosts: localhost
tasks:
- name: Third task
shell:
tags: "third"
- name: Second task
shell:
tags: "second"
- name: First task
shell:
tags: "first"
First run:
ansible-playbook -c 'local' test.yml --tags=first,second,third --list-tasks
Output:
playbook: test.yml
play #1 (localhost): localhost TAGS: []
tasks:
Third task TAGS: [third]
Second task TAGS: [second]
First task TAGS: [first]
Second run:
ansible-playbook -c 'local' test.yml --tags=third,first,second --list-tasks
Output(didn't change):
playbook: test.yml
play #1 (localhost): localhost TAGS: []
tasks:
Third task TAGS: [third]
Second task TAGS: [second]
First task TAGS: [first]
Now let's rearrange tasks in the playbook:
- hosts: localhost
tasks:
- name: First task
shell:
tags: "first"
- name: Second task
shell:
tags: "second"
- name: Third task
shell:
tags: "third"
Final run:
ansible-playbook -c 'local' test.yml --tags=third,first,second --list-tasks
Output (proper order):
playbook: test.yml
play #1 (localhost): localhost TAGS: []
tasks:
First task TAGS: [first]
Second task TAGS: [second]
Third task TAGS: [third]
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