add_host - add a host (and alternatively a group) to the ansible-playbook in-memory inventory

Synopsis

• Use variables to create new hosts and groups in inventory for use in later plays of the same playbook. Takes variables so you can define the new hosts more fully.
• This module is also supported for Windows targets.

Parameters

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
groups		The groups to add the hostname to, comma separated. aliases: groupname, group
name required		The hostname/ip of the host to add to the inventory, can include a colon and a port number. aliases: hostname, host

Notes

Note

• This module bypasses the play host loop and only runs once for all the hosts in the play, if you need it to iterate use a with_ directive.
• Windows targets are supported by this module.
• The alias ‘host’ of the parameter ‘name’ is only available on >=2.4
• Since Ansible version 2.4, the inventory_dir variable is now set to None instead of the ‘global inventory source’, because you can now have multiple sources. An example was added that shows how to partially restore the previous behaviour.

Examples

- name: add host to group 'just_created' with variable foo=42
  add_host:
    name: "{{ ip_from_ec2 }}"
    groups: just_created
    foo: 42

- name: add host to multiple groups
  add_host:
    hostname: "{{ new_ip }}"
    groups:
      - group1
      - group2

- name: add a host with a non-standard port local to your machines
  add_host:
    name: "{{ new_ip }}:{{ new_port }}"

- name: add a host alias that we reach through a tunnel (Ansible <= 1.9)
  add_host:
    hostname: "{{ new_ip }}"
    ansible_ssh_host: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
    ansible_ssh_port: "{{ new_port }}"

- name: add a host alias that we reach through a tunnel (Ansible >= 2.0)
  add_host:
    hostname: "{{ new_ip }}"
    ansible_host: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
    ansible_port: "{{ new_port }}"

- name: Ensure inventory vars are set to the same value as the inventory_hostname has (close to pre 2.4 behaviour)
  add_host:
    hostname: charlie
    inventory_dir: "{{inventory_dir}}"

Status

This module is flagged as stableinterface which means that the maintainers for this module guarantee that no backward incompatible interface changes will be made.

Maintenance

This module is flagged as core which means that it is maintained by the Ansible Core Team. See Module Maintenance & Support for more info.

For a list of other modules that are also maintained by the Ansible Core Team, see here.

Support

For more information about Red Hat’s support of this module, please refer to this Knowledge Base article

Author

• Ansible Core Team
• Seth Vidal

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