facts

The facts module gathers system information about a target host and exposes it as variables for subsequent tasks.

Usage

- !facts
  name: Gather system facts

With optional external fact gatherers:

- !facts
  name: Gather all facts
  facter: yes   # enable facter integration (if installed)
  ohai: yes     # enable ohai integration (if installed)

Variables provided

Core (always available)

Linux-specific

Common jet_os_release_* variables (read from /etc/os-release):

• jet_os_release_id — distribution ID (ubuntu, rocky, debian)
• jet_os_release_id_like — similar distributions (rhel centos fedora)
• jet_os_release_version_id — version (22.04, 9.3)
• jet_os_release_pretty_name — full name (Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS)

macOS-specific

External fact gathering

Example playbook

---
- name: Gather and use system facts
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - !facts
      name: Gather system facts

    - !assert
      name: Ensure we're on Linux
      true: (eq jet_os_type "Linux")

    - !echo
      msg: "Running on {{ jet_os_release_pretty_name }} ({{ jet_arch }})"

    - !package
      name: httpd
      with:
        condition: (eq jet_os_flavor "EL")

    - !package
      name: apache2
      with:
        condition: (eq jet_os_flavor "Debian")

Notes

1. Run facts before using any jet_* variables.
2. Not all /etc/os-release fields exist on every distribution.
3. jet_os_flavor defaults to Unknown if the family can’t be determined.
4. External gathering (facter/ohai) requires those tools on the target host.