Ansible sysctl Module: Set Linux Kernel Parameters (Persistent) — Video Tutorial

How to set the sysctl kernel parameters with Ansible? I'm going to show you a live Playbook and some simple Ansible code. I'm Luca Berton and welcome to today's episode of Ansible Pilot. Ansible set sysctl kernel parameters - ansible.posix.sysctl - Manage entries in sysctl.conf Today we're talking about the Ansible module sysctl. The full name is `ansible.posix.sysctl`, which means that is part of the collection of modules "ansible.posix" to interact with POSIX platforms. The purpose of the module is to manage entries in the `sysctl.conf` file. Parameters - name string (key) - Parameter name - value string - Parameter value - reload boolean - yes/no - state string - present/absent - sysctl_file string - "/etc/sysctl.conf" - sysctl_set string - no/yes - sysctl -w - ignoreerrors boolean - no/yes Let me summarize the parameters of sysctl module. The only required is "name", where you specify the parameter name to access or edit. The parameter "value" sets the value of the sysctl parameter. The parameter "reload", default to yes, reload the configuration file if any changes occur. The parameter "state" sets the presence or absence of the parameter in the sysctl file. The parameter "sysctl_file" allows specifying the configuration file for sysctl, default to "/etc/sysctl.conf". The parameter "sysctl_set" allows you to configure a parameter permanently, that survives after reboot. The parameter "ignoreerrors" allow you to ignore errors about unknown keys, default to "no". Links https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/posix/sysctl_module.html ## Playbook Ansible set sysctl kernel parameters. code ```yaml --- - name: sysctl module Playbook hosts: all become: true vars: sysctl_name: "vm.swappiness" sysctl_value: "5" tasks: - name: set sysctl ansible.posix.sysctl: name: "{{ sysctl_name }}" value: "{{ sysctl_value }}" state: present sysctl_set: true reload: true ``` execution ```bash $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory sysctl/sysctl.yml PLAY [sysctl module Playbook] ************************************************************************* TASK [Gathering Facts] **************************************************************************** ok: [demo.example.com] TASK [ansible.posix.sysctl] *********************************************************************** changed: [demo.example.com] PLAY RECAP **************************************************************************************** demo.example.com : ok=2 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0 ``` idempotency ```bash $ ansible-playbook -i virtualmachines/demo/inventory sysctl/sysctl.yml PLAY [sysctl module Playbook] ************************************************************************* TASK [Gathering Facts] **************************************************************************** ok: [demo.example.com] TASK [ansible.posix.sysct