Ansible Ad-hoc

Ansible adhoc uses ansible command to perform simple tasks on multiple nodes:-

ansible [pattern] -m [module] -a [module_options] -i <inventory_file/server_list> -u <user for ssh proxy>

Full list of ansible modules is available here.

Example 1:- 

# example of ping module:-
ansible all -m ping -i ssh_server, -u ssh_user
  • Note a comma after server name list. When passing server list with -i option (not in a file), a comma is needed at the end of the list.
  • all means, all servers listed as part of inventory.

Example 2:- 

# example of shell module:-
ansible all -m shell -i ssh_server, -u ssh_user -a 'date'

Example 3:- 

# example of script module:-
ansible all -m script -i ssh_server, -u ssh_user -a '/tmp/script1.ksh'

Example 4:- 

# example of find module:-
ansible all -m find -i ssh_server, -u ssh_user -a 'paths=~'