Interpreter DiscoveryΒΆ
Most Ansible modules that execute under a POSIX environment require a Python interpreter on the target host. Unless configured otherwise, Ansible will attempt to discover a suitable Python interpreter on each target host the first time a Python module is executed for that host.
To control the discovery behavior:
for individual hosts and groups, use the
ansible_python_interpreter
inventory variableglobally, use the
interpreter_python
key in the[defaults]
section ofansible.cfg
Use one of the following values:
- auto_legacy(default in 2.8)
Detects the target OS platform, distribution, and version, then consults a table listing the correct Python interpreter and path for each platform/distribution/version. If an entry is found, and
/usr/bin/python
is absent, uses the discovered interpreter (and path). If an entry is found, and/usr/bin/python
is present, uses/usr/bin/python
and issues a warning. This exception provides temporary compatibility with previous versions of Ansible that always defaulted to/usr/bin/python
, so if you have installed Python and other dependencies at/usr/bin/python
on some hosts, Ansible will find and use them with this setting. If no entry is found, or the listed Python is not present on the target host, searches a list of common Python interpreter paths and uses the first one found; also issues a warning that future installation of another Python interpreter could alter the one chosen.- auto(future default in 2.12)
Detects the target OS platform, distribution, and version, then consults a table listing the correct Python interpreter and path for each platform/distribution/version. If an entry is found, uses the discovered interpreter. If no entry is found, or the listed Python is not present on the target host, searches a list of common Python interpreter paths and uses the first one found; also issues a warning that future installation of another Python interpreter could alter the one chosen.
- auto_legacy_silent
Same as
auto_legacy
, but does not issue warnings.- auto_silent
Same as
auto
, but does not issue warnings.
You can still set ansible_python_interpreter
to a specific path at any
variable level (for example, in host_vars, in vars files, in playbooks, and so on).
Setting a specific path completely disables automatic interpreter discovery; Ansible always uses the path specified.