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# Including and Importing

Topics

- Including and Importing
  - Includes vs. Imports
  - Importing Playbooks
  - Including and Importing Task Files
  - Including and Importing Roles

## Includes vs. Imports

As noted in Creating Reusable Playbooks, include and import statements are very similar, however the Ansible executor engine treats them very differently.

- All `import*` statements are pre-processed at the time playbooks are parsed.
- All `include*` statements are processed as they are encountered during the execution of the playbook.

Please refer to Creating Reusable Playbooks for documentation concerning the trade-offs one may encounter when using each type.

Also be aware that this behaviour changed in 2.4. Prior to Ansible 2.4, only `include` was available and it behaved differently depending on context.

New in version 2.4.

## Importing Playbooks

It is possible to include playbooks inside a master playbook. For example:

    - import_playbook: webservers.yml
    - import_playbook: databases.yml

The plays and tasks in each playbook listed will be run in the order they are listed, just as if they had been defined here directly.

Prior to 2.4 only `include` was available and worked for both playbooks and tasks as both import and include.

New in version 2.4.

## Including and Importing Task Files

Breaking tasks up into different files is an excellent way to organize complex sets of tasks or reuse them. A task file simply contains a flat list of tasks:

    # common_tasks.yml
    - name: placeholder foo
      command: /bin/foo
    - name: placeholder bar
      command: /bin/bar

You can then use `import_tasks` or `include_tasks` to execute the tasks in a file in the main task list:

    tasks:
    - import_tasks: common_tasks.yml
    # or
    - include_tasks: common_tasks.yml

You can also pass variables into imports and includes:

    tasks:
    - import_tasks: wordpress.yml
      vars:
        wp_user: timmy
    - import_tasks: wordpress.yml
      vars:
        wp_user: alice
    - import_tasks: wordpress.yml
      vars:
        wp_user: bob

See Variable precedence: Where should I put a variable? for more details on variable inheritance and precedence.

Task include and import statements can be used at arbitrary depth.

Note

- Static and dynamic can be mixed, however this is not recommended as it may lead to difficult-to-diagnose bugs in your playbooks.
- The `key=value` syntax for passing variables to import and include is deprecated. Use YAML `vars:` instead.

Includes and imports can also be used in the `handlers:` section. For instance, if you want to define how to restart Apache, you only have to do that once for all of your playbooks. You might make a `handlers.yml` that looks like:

    # more_handlers.yml
    - name: restart apache
      service:
        name: apache
        state: restarted

And in your main playbook file:

    handlers:
    - include_tasks: more_handlers.yml
    # or
    - import_tasks: more_handlers.yml

Note

Be sure to refer to the limitations/trade-offs for handlers noted in Creating Reusable Playbooks.

You can mix in includes along with your regular non-included tasks and handlers.

## Including and Importing Roles

Please refer to Roles for details on including and importing roles.

See also

YAML Syntax
  Learn about YAML syntax
Working With Playbooks
  Review the basic Playbook language features
Best Practices
  Various tips about managing playbooks in the real world
Using Variables
  All about variables in playbooks
Conditionals
  Conditionals in playbooks
Loops
  Loops in playbooks
all_modules
  Learn about available modules
Should you develop a module?
  Learn how to extend Ansible by writing your own modules
GitHub Ansible examples
  Complete playbook files from the GitHub project source
Mailing List
  Questions? Help? Ideas? Stop by the list on Google Groups