This playbook can be used to report the Linux Distribution, OS Family, Distribution Version, and Distribution Major Version. This can be helpful for verifying all operating systems are up to date, or for working out what to use in other playbooks.
You will need to already have an inventory file.
Playbook yaml file
The playbook is very simple. Copy and paste the following contents into a file named “os_info.yaml”
---
- hosts: all
gather_facts: yes
become: false
tasks:
- name: Distribution
debug: msg=" distribution {{ ansible_distribution }} - os_family {{ ansible_os_family}} - distribution_version {{ansible_distribution_version}} - distribution_major_version {{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}"
If we wanted to, we could break out each Ansible variable in its own debug line. I prefer having them all on a single line.
Running the Playbook
Run the playbook like any other playbook. Change inventory.ini to your inventory file. If your inventory file is encrypted, use the –ask-vault-pass option.
ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini os_info.yaml
Results
Here are some example results.
---------------------
< TASK [Distribution] >
---------------------
\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\
||----w |
|| ||
ok: [almalinux_server01] => {
"msg": " distribution AlmaLinux - os_family RedHat - distribution_version 9.3 - distribution_major_version 9"
}
ok: [fedora_server01] => {
"msg": " distribution Fedora - os_family RedHat - distribution_version 39 - distribution_major_version 39"
}
ok: [centos_server] => {
"msg": " distribution CentOS - os_family RedHat - distribution_version 7.9 - distribution_major_version 7"
}
ok: [ubuntu_serevr01] => {
"msg": " distribution Ubuntu - os_family Debian - distribution_version 20.04 - distribution_major_version 20"
}
