Configuration

Volant reads the same ansible.cfg as ansible-playbook, and stops at the first file it finds:

the file named by ANSIBLE_CONFIG
./ansible.cfg
~/.ansible.cfg
/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

For each setting, the environment variable beats the file, and the command-line option beats both. Keys Volant does not use are ignored, as Ansible ignores the ones it does not use.

A file that exists but cannot be read is skipped, and the run continues with the defaults. Volant prints a warning first, which Ansible does not: a file you wrote that the process cannot open deserves a line, and a warning does not change the exit code.

[defaults]

inventory

The inventory file. Only INI inventories are read.

Option: -i
Environment: ANSIBLE_INVENTORY

timeout

Seconds to wait for a connection. It becomes ConnectTimeout on the ssh command line.

Default: 10
Option: -T
Environment: ANSIBLE_TIMEOUT

remote_user

The user to log in as. Without it, ssh picks one.

Option: -u
Environment: ANSIBLE_REMOTE_USER

private_key_file

The private key ssh authenticates with.

Option: --private-key
Environment: ANSIBLE_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE

host_key_checking

With it on, an unknown host key makes the host unreachable. With it off, Volant adds StrictHostKeyChecking=no and UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null, so an unknown key is accepted and not recorded.

Default: true
Environment: ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING

remote_tmp

The directory on each host that holds the agent cache.

Default: ~/.ansible/tmp
Environment: ANSIBLE_REMOTE_TMP

forks

How many hosts a play works on at once. Zero or a value that is not a number is rejected before the run starts. Playbooks read the current value as ansible_forks.

Default: 5
Option: -f
Environment: ANSIBLE_FORKS

force_handlers

Run notified handlers even on hosts that failed.

Default: false
Option: --force-handlers
Environment: ANSIBLE_FORCE_HANDLERS

roles_path

Where roles are looked for, after <playbook_dir>/roles and before <playbook_dir> itself. See Roles.

Default: ~/.ansible/roles:/usr/share/ansible/roles:/etc/ansible/roles
Environment: ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH

collections_path

Where a three-part role name such as acme.demo.hello is looked for. A collection’s modules are found by the controller’s ansible-core, in the paths it is configured with: see Modules from collections.

Default: ~/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
Environment: ANSIBLE_COLLECTIONS_PATH

[privilege_escalation]

become

Escalate by default. Playbook keywords and host variables take priority, see Privilege escalation.

Default: false
Option: -b
Environment: ANSIBLE_BECOME

become_user

The user to escalate to.

Default: root
Option: --become-user
Environment: ANSIBLE_BECOME_USER

become_method

The escalation method. Only sudo is implemented.

Default: sudo
Option: --become-method
Environment: ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD

[tags]

run

Tags selected by default. --tags adds to this list rather than replacing it.

Option: --tags
Environment: ANSIBLE_RUN_TAGS

skip

Tags skipped by default. --skip-tags adds to this list.

Option: --skip-tags
Environment: ANSIBLE_SKIP_TAGS

[volant]

Ansible ignores this section, so one ansible.cfg can carry it and still drive both engines. ansible-config validate is the exception, see Cross-host batching.

batching

Let each host run ahead through tasks that do not depend on the others. See Cross-host batching.

Default: false
Environment: VOLANT_BATCHING