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ansible.builtin.import_playbook module – Import a playbook

Note

This module is part of ansible-core and included in all Ansible installations. In most cases, you can use the short module name import_playbook even without specifying the collections: keyword. However, we recommend you use the FQCN for easy linking to the module documentation and to avoid conflicting with other collections that may have the same module name.

New in version 2.4: of ansible.builtin

Synopsis

• Includes a file with a list of plays to be executed.

• Files with a list of plays can only be included at the top level.

• You cannot use this action inside a play.

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
free-form string	The name of the imported playbook is specified directly without any other option.

Attributes

Attribute	Support	Description
action	Support: none While this action executes locally on the controller it is not governed by an action plugin	Indicates this has a corresponding action plugin so some parts of the options can be executed on the controller
async	Support: none	Supports being used with the async keyword
become	Support: none	Is usable alongside become keywords
bypass_host_loop	Support: partial While the import can be host specific and runs per host it is not dealing with all available host variables, use an include instead for those cases	Forces a ‘global’ task that does not execute per host, this bypasses per host templating and serial, throttle and other loop considerations Conditionals will work as if run_once is being used, variables used will be from the first available host This action will not work normally outside of lockstep strategies
bypass_task_loop	Support: partial The task itself is not looped, but the loop is applied to each imported task	These tasks ignore the loop and with_ keywords
check_mode	Support: full	Can run in check_mode and return changed status prediction withought modifying target
connection	Support: none	Uses the target’s configured connection information to execute code on it
core	Support: full	This is a ‘core engine’ feature and is not implemented like most task actions, so it is not overridable in any way via the plugin system.
delegation	Support: none Since there are no connection nor facts, there is no sense in delegating imports	Can be used in conjunction with delegate_to and related keywords
diff_mode	Support: none	Will return details on what has changed (or possibly needs changing in check_mode), when in diff mode
ignore_conditional	Support: none While the action itself will ignore the conditional, it will be inherited by the imported tasks themselves	The action is not subject to conditional execution so it will ignore the when: keyword
platform	Platforms: all	Target OS/families that can be operated against
tags	Support: full Tags are not interpreted for this action, they are applied to the imported tasks	Allows for the ‘tags’ keyword to control the selection of this action for execution
until	Support: full	Denotes if this action objeys until/retry/poll keywords

Notes

Note

• This is a core feature of Ansible, rather than a module, and cannot be overridden like a module.

See Also

See also

ansible.builtin.import_role

The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.import_role module.

ansible.builtin.import_tasks

The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.import_tasks module.

ansible.builtin.include_role

The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.include_role module.

ansible.builtin.include_tasks

The official documentation on the ansible.builtin.include_tasks module.

Including and importing

More information related to including and importing playbooks, roles and tasks.

Examples

- hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - debug:
        msg: play1

- name: Include a play after another play
  import_playbook: otherplays.yaml

- name: Set variables on an imported playbook
  import_playbook: otherplays.yml
  vars:
    service: httpd

- name: This DOES NOT WORK
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - debug:
        msg: task1

    - name: This fails because I'm inside a play already
      import_playbook: stuff.yaml

Authors

• Ansible Core Team (@ansible)

Collection links

Issue Tracker Repository (Sources) Communication