How to exclude specific host from inventory from a playbook run in Ansible?

Suppose you want to exclude a troublesome host (bad_host) from a particular playbook run. Try using a negated ‘limit’ option:

$ ansible-playbook --limit 'all:!bad_host' playbook.ymlCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

By using –limit argument with ansible-playbook command we can exclude a host from playbook execution. If hostname starts with “!” it will excluded from host execution.

Lets say if we want to exclude host1 and host2 from ansible-playbook execution use following command:

$ ansible-playbook --limit '!hoost1:!host2' yourPlaybook.ymlCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

To exclude only host1 from execution use following command:

$ ansible-playbook --limit '!hoost1' yourPlaybook.ymlCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

To execute only in host1 and host2 from execution use following command:

$ ansible-playbook --limit 'hoost1:host2' yourPlaybook.ymlCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

To execute only in host1 use following command:

$ ansible-playbook --limit 'hoost1' yourPlaybook.ymlCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

To exclude host1 and host2 from execution and allow execution only in host3:

$ ansible-playbook --limit '!hoost1:!host2:host3' yourPlaybook.ymlCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

Reference
https://s905060.gitbooks.io/site-reliability-engineer-handbook/ansible__exclude_host_from_playbook_execution.html#

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

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