Role Structure

A standard layout

A role is a directory with a fixed structure that Ansible knows how to load: tasks/ (the work, starting from main.yml), handlers/, templates/, files/, defaults/ (low-priority variables users can override), vars/ (higher-priority internal variables), meta/ (dependencies and metadata) and tests/. Playbooks then become short: they list which roles apply to which hosts. ansible-galaxy role init creates the skeleton.

Package your automation

Roles bundle tasks, templates, defaults and handlers into a reusable unit you can share across projects.

Scaffold a role, run

I ran this: Ansible created the role and these directories.

ansible-galaxy role init demo_role
ls demo_role

Output:

- Role demo_role was created successfully
defaults
files
handlers
meta
README.md
tasks
templates
tests
vars

Using the role in a playbook

The playbook stays short; the role holds the details. (Illustrative.)

---
- name: Web tier
  hosts: web
  become: true
  roles:
    - role: nginx
      vars:
        nginx_port: 8080
    - role: app_deploy

Quick check: Which role directory holds the low-priority variables users can override?

• handlers/
• files/
• defaults/
• tests/