Ansible Modules

Shardul | Jun 20, 2025 min read
Ansible Modules

Here’s a list of the most commonly used Ansible modules by DevOps engineers, organized by function — from infrastructure setup and configuration to CI/CD and cloud provisioning.

1. System & Package Management
Module Description
apt, yum, dnf Manage packages on Debian/RedHat systems
package OS-agnostic wrapper for package installs
service Manage services (start, stop, restart)
systemd Manage systemd units more precisely
cron Manage cron jobs
user / group Manage users and groups on systems
2. File & Directory Management
Module Description
copy Copy files from local or inline to remote
template Copy Jinja2-rendered templates to remote
file Manage file permissions, ownership, etc.
fetch Copy files from remote to local
assemble Combine multiple files into one (e.g., configs)
synchronize Rsync wrapper (great for backups or mirrors)
3. Networking & Web
Module Description
uri Call REST APIs (GET/POST/PUT/etc.)
get_url Download files from a URL
iptables, ufw, firewalld Manage firewalls
lineinfile Edit configuration lines in files
4. Cloud Modules
Cloud Modules
AWS ec2, ec2_instance, s3, iam, route53, etc.
Azure azure_rm_* modules (e.g., azure_rm_virtualmachine)
GCP gcp_compute_instance, gcp_storage_bucket, etc.
Generic community.general.* (used for multi-cloud workflows)
5. Security & Access
Module Description
authorized_key Add/remove SSH keys for users
seboolean Manage SELinux booleans
firewalld Manage firewalld rules
ansible-vault Encrypt secrets (CLI tool, not a module)
6. DevOps / CI/CD Workflow Modules
Module Description
git Clone and update git repositories
pip Install Python packages
docker_container Manage Docker containers
docker_image Manage Docker images
command / shell Run shell commands (use wisely)
include_tasks, import_tasks Dynamically include task files
7. Testing & Debugging
Module Description
debug Print variables or messages
assert Ensure conditions are true
fail Explicitly fail the playbook
wait_for Wait for a condition (port, file, etc.)

Index of all Modules

https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/index_module.html