Ansible Modules — How To Use Them Efficiently (Examples)

This article delves into Ansible modules, one of the core building blocks of Ansible. In this blog post, we will examine the purpose and usage of modules, along with information on how to build them and best practices.

If you are interested in other Ansible concepts, these Ansible tutorials posted on Spacelift’s blog might be helpful for you.

What Are Ansible Modules?

Modules represent distinct units of code, each one with specific functionality. Basically, they are standalone scripts written for a particular job and are used in tasks as their main functional layer.

We build Ansible modules to abstract complexity and provide end-users with an easier way to execute their automation tasks without needing all the details. This way, some of the cognitive load of more complex tasks is abstracted away from Ansible users by leveraging the appropriate modules.

Here’s an example of a task using the apt package manager module to install a specific version of Nginx.

- name: "Install Nginx to version {{ nginx_version }} with apt module"
   ansible.builtin.apt:
     name: "nginx={{ nginx_version }}"
     state: present