The ansible-playbook command can can be used to perform a number of different tasks. The which command can be used to determine where the ansible-playbook command is located.

~]$ which ansible
/usr/local/bin/ansible-playbook

The -v or --version option can be used to list the version of Ansible Playbook, the location of the Ansible configuration file, and the version of Python.

ansible-playbook --version

ansible-playbook 2.4.2.0
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = [u'/home/your_username/.ansible/plugins/modules', u'/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible playbook module location = /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/ansible
  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible-playbook
  python version = 2.7.5 (default, mm dd yyyy, hh:mm:ss) [GCC 4.8.5 yyyymmdd (Red Hat 4.8.5-39)]

playbook.yml

The ansible-playbook command uses a .yml or .yaml file to perform a series of tasks, thus you'll need to create the .yml or .yaml file before issuing the ansible-playbook command. Check out our article on creating your first playbook .yml or .yaml file.

A playbook can be executed using this command.

ansible-playbook playbook.yml

The following should be returned.

• Check out this article if you want to know what Gathering Facts is all about.
• Refer to could not resolve hostname name or service not known if UNREACHABLE is returned.

PLAY [all]

TASK [Gathering Facts]
ok: [server1.example.com]
ok: [server2.example.com]
ok: [server3.example.com]
ok: [server4.example.com]

TASK [ping test]
ok: [server1.example.com]
ok: [server2.example.com]
ok: [server3.example.com]
ok: [server4.example.com]

PLAY RECAP
server1.example.com : ok=2  changed=0  unreachable=0  failed=0
server2.example.com : ok=2  changed=0  unreachable=0  failed=0
server3.example.com : ok=0  changed=0  unreachable=1  failed=0
server4.example.com : ok=2  changed=0  unreachable=0  failed=0

Indentation matters in playbooks. For example, this will not work, as it does not have the expected indentation.

- hosts: all
tasks:
 - debug: msg="improper indentation"

This will work, as it has the proper indentation.

- hosts: all
  tasks:
    - debug: msg="proper indentation"