The technique I usually use for making a role work cross-distro is to do
two things:
*For variables*: Include a variables file named {{ ansible_os_family }}.yml
(then stick 'Debian.yml' and 'RedHat.yml', etc. into the role's vars folder.
*For tasks*: Add "when: ansible_os_family == 'Distribution'" to the task
(where 'Distribution' is Debian, RedHat, etc.).
This presents an issue; for normal variables that I want to let role users
override easily, I put the variables in the roles 'defaults/main.yml' file.
But for distribution-specific variables (for example, "java_packages" in my
Java
role <https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-java>), I have to put the
distro-specific vars include files in the main 'vars' folder, so those
variables have higher precedence than, say, group_vars.
I've bumped into this a few times, but could usually find other ways of
getting the variable I want to take hold. For some users, it's not
possible, thus I have bugs like: Openjdk-7 cannot be installed
<https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-java/issues/1>.
What are some possible fixes/other ways to do this?
I could set up a variable for each distro (like "java_redhat_packages" and
"java_debian_packages", but in some roles, where 5-10 of these would be
needed, I fear maintainability and simplicity would be sacrificed for
variable overridability...
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Ansible Project" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to ansible-project+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to ansible-project@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ansible-project/d8e90023-a27d-4e71-962e-e8919aadfa83%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
