.. _special_variables:

Special Variables
=================

Magic
-----
These variables cannot be set directly by the user; Ansible will always override them to reflect internal state.

ansible_check_mode
    Boolean that indicates if we are in check mode or not

ansible_dependent_role_names
    The names of the roles currently imported into the current play as dependencies of other plays

ansible_diff_mode
    Boolean that indicates if we are in diff mode or not

ansible_forks
    Integer reflecting the number of maximum forks available to this run

ansible_inventory_sources
    List of sources used as inventory

ansible_limit
    Contents of the ``--limit`` CLI option for the current execution of Ansible

ansible_loop
    A dictionary/map containing extended loop information when enabled via ``loop_control.extended``

ansible_play_batch
    List of active hosts in the current play run limited by the serial, aka 'batch'. Failed/Unreachable hosts are not considered 'active'.

ansible_play_hosts
    The same as ansible_play_batch

ansible_play_hosts_all
    List of all the hosts that were targeted by the play

ansible_play_role_names
    The names of the roles currently imported into the current play. This list does **not** contain the role names that are
    implicitly included via dependencies.

ansible_playbook_python
    The path to the python interpreter being used by Ansible on the controller

ansible_role_names
    The names of the roles currently imported into the current play, or roles referenced as dependencies of the roles
    imported into the current play.

ansible_run_tags
    Contents of the ``--tags`` CLI option, which specifies which tags will be included for the current run.

ansible_search_path
    Current search path for action plugins and lookups, i.e where we search for relative paths when you do ``template: src=myfile``

ansible_skip_tags
    Contents of the ``--skip_tags`` CLI option, which specifies which tags will be skipped for the current run.

ansible_verbosity
    Current verbosity setting for Ansible

ansible_version
   Dictionary/map that contains information about the current running version of ansible, it has the following keys: full, major, minor, revision and string.

group_names
    List of groups the current host is part of

groups
    A dictionary/map with all the groups in inventory and each group has the list of hosts that belong to it

hostvars
    A dictionary/map with all the hosts in inventory and variables assigned to them

inventory_hostname
    The inventory name for the 'current' host being iterated over in the play

inventory_hostname_short
    The short version of `inventory_hostname`

inventory_dir
    The directory of the inventory source in which the `inventory_hostname` was first defined

inventory_file
    The file name of the inventory source in which the `inventory_hostname` was first defined

omit
    Special variable that allows you to 'omit' an option in a task, i.e ``- user: name=bob home={{ bobs_home|default(omit) }}``

play_hosts
    Deprecated, the same as ansible_play_batch

ansible_play_name
    The name of the currently executed play. Added in ``2.8``.

playbook_dir
    The path to the directory of the playbook that was passed to the ``ansible-playbook`` command line.

role_name
    The name of the currently executed role

role_names
    Deprecated, the same as ansible_play_role_names

role_path
    The path to the dir of the currently running role

Facts
-----
These are variables that contain information pertinent to the current host (`inventory_hostname`). They are only available if gathered first.

ansible_facts
    Contains any facts gathered or cached for the `inventory_hostname`
    Facts are normally gathered by the :ref:`setup <setup_module>` module automatically in a play, but any module can return facts.

ansible_local
    Contains any 'local facts' gathered or cached for the `inventory_hostname`.
    The keys available depend on the custom facts created.
    See the :ref:`setup <setup_module>` module for more details.

Connection variables
---------------------
Connection variables are normally used to set the specifics on how to execute actions on a target. Most of them correspond to connection plugins, but not all are specific to them; other plugins like shell, terminal and become are normally involved.
Only the common ones are described as each connection/become/shell/etc plugin can define its own overrides and specific variables.

ansible_become_user
    The user Ansible 'becomes' after using privilege escalation. This must be available to the 'login user'.

ansible_connection
    The connection plugin actually used for the task on the target host.

ansible_host
    The ip/name of the target host to use instead of `inventory_hostname`.

ansible_python_interpreter
    The path to the Python executable Ansible should use on the target host.

ansible_user
    The user Ansible 'logs in' as.
