Effective error handling is crucial for maintaining robust and reliable Ansible playbooks. Here are some best practices for handling errors in Ansible:
ignore_errors SparinglyWhile ignore_errors: yes can be useful, it should be used sparingly as it can mask underlying issues. Instead, consider using failed_when to provide more granular control over task failures.
- name: Ensure the service is running
service:
name: apache2
state: started
failed_when: result.rc != 0
block, rescue, and alwaysAnsible provides block, rescue, and always keywords to handle errors more gracefully.
- name: Example of block, rescue, and always
block:
- name: Attempt to start the service
service:
name: apache2
state: started
rescue:
- name: Handle the failure
debug:
msg: "Failed to start the service"
always:
- name: Ensure the service status is logged
debug:
msg: "Service start attempted"
Enable debug and verbose modes to get more detailed output, which can help in troubleshooting issues.
ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv
Use logging to keep track of playbook runs and errors. Configure Ansible to log output to a file.
# ansible.cfg
[defaults]
log_path = /var/log/ansible.log
Ensure that all inputs and variables are validated before use. This can prevent errors caused by unexpected values.
- name: Validate input variables
assert:
that:
- my_var is defined
- my_var in ['value1', 'value2']
By following these best practices, you can improve the reliability and maintainability of your Ansible playbooks.