Job Templates

A job template is a definition and set of parameters for running an Ansible job. Job templates are useful to run the same job many times.

Variables

Along with any extra variables set in the job template and survey, Automation Controller automatically adds some special variables to the job environment.

For compatibility, all variables are given an awx prefix, they are defined by the system and cannot be overridden.

awx_job_template_id: The job template ID that this job run uses.
awx_project_revision: The revision identifier for the source tree that this particular job uses (it is also the same as the job’s field scm_revision).
awx_user_id: The user ID of the automation controller user that started this job. This is not available for callback or scheduled jobs.

Info

These are just some examples, take a look at the full list of Job environment variables

These variables could also be used to determine if a playbook was run in AAP/AWX or locally!

Surveys

Surveys provide a way to prompt users for input when launching a job from a job template.
A survey can consist of any number of questions. For each question, choose an appropriate type:

Type	Description
`text`	To provide a textual answer in a single line. You can set the minimum and maximum length (in characters).
`textarea`	A multi-line text field. You can set the minimum and maximum length (in characters).
`password`	To provide a password or other sensitive information.
`integer`	To provide a whole number answer.
`float`	To Provide a decimal number.
`multiplechoice`	To provide a list of options, only a single element can be chosen.
`multiselect`	To provide a list where multiple elements can be selected.

Mimic survey input during development

Survey variables are extra-vars, gather all survey variables in a file and provide the file in the ansible-playbook call:

survey_input.yml

survey_input_overwrite_ssh_keys_boolean: true
survey_input_selinux_mode: enforcing

ansible-playbook playbook.yml -e @survey_input.yml

Otherwise, you'll need to provide -e (or --extra-vars) multiple times for every input variable.

Booleans

It is not possible to provide a boolean type in a survey, you'll need to workaround this by using the multiplechoice type and later use the bool filter in the playbook.

name: Basic Survey
description: Survey Spec for question to provide a boolean value
spec:
  - question_name: Overwrite SSH authorized keys?
    question_description: Should all other non-specified keys from the authorized_keys file be removed?
    type: multiplechoice
    required: true
    choices: true\nfalse
    default: "false"
    variable: survey_input_overwrite_ssh_keys_boolean

In the task (or variable) itself, use the survey variable and add the bool filter.

- name: Add public key for Ansible user
  ansible.posix.authorized_key:
    user: ansible
    key: "{{ lookup('file', 'ansible_key.pub') }}"
    exclusive: "{{ survey_input_overwrite_ssh_keys_boolean | bool }}"
    state: present