Atlas Ansible Station

01What's in the station

The station adds Projects, Playbooks, Variables and Collections to the sidebar, plus the Project Playbook and Saved Playbook tabs in Command Station. Core items in the mock link back to the main guide.

Hosts always come from an Atlas inventory. Inventory files in a project are ignored.

02Projects

Click a row to open it. Launch opens Command Station with the project selected; Sync pulls from git.

New Project

+ New Project has three sources.

• Upload zip unpacks the archive, dropping a single wrapper folder if there is one (macOS and GitHub downloads have one). 50 MB limit.
• Clone from git takes an https address, optional branch and optional access token for private repos. Saving starts the clone as a run and opens its log.
• Empty creates a blank project for the file editor.

What goes in the zip

In the app, the ? next to the Projects title or the What goes in the zip? link opens this.

my-project.zip
├── site.yml                 # entry playbook, shows up in Launch
├── playbooks/
│   ├── deploy.yml           # more playbooks, also picked up
│   └── rollback.yml
├── ansible.cfg              # roles_path, callbacks, become… honoured
├── requirements.yml         # collections + roles, "Install requirements"
├── inventory/
│   └── hosts.yml            # ignored, hosts come from an Atlas inventory
├── group_vars/
│   ├── all/main.yml
│   └── all/vault.yml        # ansible-vault encrypted is fine
├── host_vars/
│   └── nfs01.acme.lab.yml
├── roles/
│   └── nfs_server/
│       ├── tasks/main.yml
│       ├── handlers/main.yml
│       ├── templates/nfs.conf.j2
│       ├── files/
│       └── defaults/main.yml
├── files/                   # anything copy: / script: refers to
│   └── import-data.sh
├── templates/
│   └── motd.j2
└── README.md

cd my-project
zip -r ../my-project.zip . -x '.git/*' '*.retry' '.venv/*'

Files and editor

Playbooks carry a ▶ playbook marker and get a Launch this playbook button in the editor. Save with the button or ctrl/cmd+S; ● unsaved marks pending changes.

Binary files and files over 2 MB won't open. Leaving a file with unsaved changes asks Discard unsaved changes?

Git projects

Created from a shallow clone of the named branch. Sync pulls new commits but won't overwrite conflicting local edits, so editor changes can make a sync fail. A stored token shows as (token stored, leave blank to keep) when editing. Zip projects refresh with Upload zip instead.

03Saved playbooks

For short jobs like patch-and-reboot. Anything with roles, templates or extra files belongs in a project.

---
- name: Patch and reboot
  hosts: all
  become: true
  serial: 1
  tasks:
    - name: Upgrade packages
      ansible.builtin.apt:
        upgrade: dist
        update_cache: true
    - name: Reboot
      ansible.builtin.reboot:

• New playbooks start from a template that pings every host, so they launch as-is.
• Names are fixed once saved. To rename, copy under the new name and delete the old one.
• Launch opens Command Station on the Saved Playbook tab with that playbook selected.

04Variable sets

Extra vars you'd otherwise retype each launch: proxy settings, a feature flag, a release version. Lists and nested data need YAML.

Later sources win. Sets apply in the order picked and the launch form's Extra vars applies last.

05Vault credentials

Vault passwords are stored on Credentials as type Ansible Vault password. They show a violet avatar and ansible-vault in the list, and never appear where a login is expected.

06Collections

Shared by every project and saved playbook on the tile. Enter a name like community.general, or pin a version with community.general:==8.0.0, and press Install.

Search Galaxy

Installs also land in Runs as kind galaxy.

07Launching a playbook

Project Playbook takes a project and one of its playbooks, preselected when there's an entry playbook or only one. Saved Playbook takes a saved playbook. Ping Test, Gather Facts and output work as in the core Command Station.

Options

Play targets and groups

A play with hosts: app_servers only runs if the inventory has an app_servers group, and borrowed projects often name groups yours lacks. With target all inventory hosts ticked, each missing group is filled with every host in the inventory. The log's first line says so:

atlas: play targets 'app_servers' are not groups in inventory 'web-tier', pointing them at all 2 of its hosts

Existing groups are untouched, as are all, localhost, wildcards and exclusions. Untick it when plays for different groups (web, db) should each hit only their own hosts.

08Reading a playbook run

Project runs get a Project button that opens the project's files.

Colours in the log

Run kinds from the station

Re-run uses the project's current files, so edits made since the first run are picked up.

09Things to know

• Hosts come from Atlas, always. Group variables go in the project's group_vars/ or on the Atlas inventory's groups.
• The project's ansible.cfg applies. roles_path, interpreter_python, become defaults and the rest are honoured. Any inventory line is not.
• Collections are shared. Installs and removals affect every project and saved playbook on the tile.
• Start with a dry run. Use Dry run (--check) with show diff the first time a playbook meets a set of hosts.
• Watch the first log line. atlas: play targets means a play is about to hit more hosts than its author intended.
• Secrets belong in vault or variable sets. Plain-text passwords in a project end up in exports and backups.
• Saved playbooks run on their own. No access to project files, templates or roles.