Playbooks

A playbook is a YAML file describing a list of tasks to run. Each task invokes a module with parameters and an optional with: block of modifiers.

---
- name: Set up a web server
  hosts: webservers
  tasks:
    - !package
      name: nginx
      state: present

    - !template
      src: nginx.conf.j2
      dest: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

    - !service
      name: nginx
      state: started
      enabled: true

Templating

Playbooks support {{variable}} substitution and conditionals throughout. Variables come from inventory, --extra-vars, facts, and registered task results.

- !file
  path: "/home/{{ JET_USERNAME }}/.ssh/authorized_keys"
  state: present

Validating playbooks

Before applying a playbook, validate it:

jetpack syntax-check --playbook site.yml
jetpack full-check --playbook site.yml --inventory production

See Usage for the full set of check modes.

Local bootstrap

jetpack local supports a convention-based bootstrap flow from the current working directory. If you run it from a repository root, Jetpack first checks for ./.jetpack.yml; if absent, it falls back to:

• deploy/playbooks/bootstrap.yml
• deploy/roles
• deploy/inventory

This lets a bootstrap repo expose a trivial install path:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
jetpack local

Optional .jetpack.yml

Override the local bootstrap defaults:

local:
  playbook: deploy/playbooks/bootstrap.yml
  roles: deploy/roles
  inventory: deploy/inventory

Paths resolve relative to the repository root.

Built-in bootstrap variables

When jetpack local runs, Jetpack injects these variables:

• JET_CWD
• JET_AUTOMATION_ROOT
• JET_PLAYBOOK_DIR
• JET_ROLES_DIR
• JET_INVENTORY_DIR
• JET_USERNAME
• JET_USER_HOME (when HOME is available)