What is a playbook in Ansible?

A playbook is a YAML file that defines one or more plays, each of which maps a group of hosts to an ordered list of tasks to run against them. It's the primary unit of automation in Ansible, describing what should happen and where.

---
- name: Configure web servers
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Install nginx
      ansible.builtin.package:
        name: nginx
        state: present
    - name: Start nginx
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: nginx
        state: started

Each task in a play calls a module (like package or service above) with specific arguments, and Ansible executes tasks in the order they're written, top to bottom, against every host in the play. Playbooks can include variables, conditionals, loops, and roles to handle more complex logic beyond a simple linear task list.

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