ansible ad hoc commands

Ansible ad-hoc commands are one-line Ansible commands that can be used to perform quick and simple tasks on remote hosts without the need for a playbook or script. They are useful for tasks that need to be performed immediately and don't require a lot of customization.

Here are some examples of Ansible ad-hoc commands:

1. Ping all hosts in the inventory:

ansible all -m ping

This command pings all the hosts in the inventory file to verify that Ansible can connect to them.

2. Check the disk space usage on a host:

ansible host1 -m shell -a 'df -h'

This command runs the df -h command on host1 and returns the disk space usage.

3. Install a package on a group of hosts:

ansible web_servers -m apt -a 'name=nginx state=latest' --become

This command installs the latest version of the nginx package on all hosts in the web_servers group using the apt module. The --become option is used to run the command with sudo privileges.

4. Restart a service on a group of hosts:

ansible database_servers -m service -a 'name=mysql state=restarted' --become

This command restarts the mysql service on all hosts in the database_servers group using the service module. The --become option is used to run the command with sudo privileges.

Ad-hoc commands can be very useful for quick and simple tasks, but for more complex tasks, it's recommended to use playbooks, which allow for more customization and reusability.