You can migrate any existing standalone role into a collection and host the collection on Galaxy. With Ansible collections, you can distribute many roles in a single cohesive unit of re-usable automation. Inside a collection, you can share custom plugins across all roles in the collection instead of duplicating them in each role's :file:`library/`` directory.
You must migrate roles to collections if you want to distribute them as certified Ansible content.
..note::
If you want to import your collection to Galaxy, you need a `Galaxy namespace <https://galaxy.ansible.com/docs/contributing/namespaces.html>`_.
See :ref:`developing_collections` for details on collections.
..contents::
:local:
:depth:1
Comparing standalone roles to collection roles
===============================================
:ref:`Standalone roles <playbooks_reuse_roles>` have the following directory structure:
..code-block:: bash
:emphasize-lines:5,7,8
role/
├── defaults
├── files
├── handlers
├── library
├── meta
├── module_utils
├── [*_plugins]
├── tasks
├── templates
├── tests
└── vars
The highlighted directories above will change when you migrate to a collection-based role. The collection directory structure includes a :file:`roles/` directory:
..code-block:: bash
mynamespace/
└── mycollection/
├── docs/
├── galaxy.yml
├── plugins/
│ ├── modules/
│ │ └── module1.py
│ ├── inventory/
│ └── .../
├── README.md
├── roles/
│ ├── role1/
│ ├── role2/
│ └── .../
├── playbooks/
│ ├── files/
│ ├── vars/
│ ├── templates/
│ └── tasks/
└── tests/
You will need to use the Fully Qualified Collection Name (FQCN) to use the roles and plugins when you migrate your role into a collection. The FQCN is the combination of the collection ``namespace``, collection ``name``, and the content item you are referring to.
So for example, in the above collection, the FQCN to access ``role1`` would be:
..code-block:: Python
mynamespace.mycollection.role1
A collection can contain one or more roles in the :file:`roles/` directory and these are almost identical to standalone roles, except you need to move plugins out of the individual roles, and use the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` in some places, as detailed in the next section.
..note::
In standalone roles, some of the plugin directories referenced their plugin types in the plural sense; this is not the case in collections.
.._simple_roles_in_collections:
Migrating a role to a collection
=================================
To migrate from a standalone role that contains no plugins to a collection role:
1. Create a local :file:`ansible_collections` directory and ``cd`` to this new directory.
2. Create a collection. If you want to import this collection to Ansible Galaxy, you need a `Galaxy namespace <https://galaxy.ansible.com/docs/contributing/namespaces.html>`_.
3. Copy the standalone role directory into the :file:`roles/` subdirectory of the collection. Roles in collections cannot have hyphens in the role name. Rename any such roles to use underscores instead.
4. Update ``galaxy.yml`` to include any role dependencies.
5. Update the collection README.md file to add links to any role README.md files.
.._complex_roles_in_collections:
Migrating a role with plugins to a collection
==============================================
To migrate from a standalone role that has plugins to a collection role:
1. Create a local :file:`ansible_collections directory` and ``cd`` to this new directory.
2. Create a collection. If you want to import this collection to Ansible Galaxy, you need a `Galaxy namespace <https://galaxy.ansible.com/docs/contributing/namespaces.html>`_.
3. Copy the standalone role directory into the :file:`roles/` subdirectory of the collection. Roles in collections cannot have hyphens in the role name. Rename any such roles to use underscores instead.
5. Move any other plugins to the appropriate :file:`plugins/PLUGINTYPE/` directory. See :ref:`migrating_plugins_collection` for additional steps that may be required.
6. Update ``galaxy.yml`` to include any role dependencies.
7. Update the collection README.md file to add links to any role README.md files.
8. Change any references to the role to use the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)`.
..code-block:: yaml
---
- name: example role by FQCN
hosts: some_host_pattern
tasks:
- name: import FQCN role from a collection
import_role:
name: mynamespace.mycollection.my_role
You can alternately use the ``collections`` keyword to simplify this:
..code-block:: yaml
---
- name: example role by FQCN
hosts: some_host_pattern
collections:
- mynamespace.mycollection
tasks:
- name: import role from a collection
import_role:
name: my_role
.._migrating_plugins_collection:
Migrating other role plugins to a collection
---------------------------------------------
To migrate other role plugins to a collection:
1. Move each nonmodule plugins to the appropriate :file:`plugins/PLUGINTYPE/` directory. The :file:`mynamespace/mycollection/plugins/README.md` file explains the types of plugins that the collection can contain within optionally created subdirectories.
2. Update documentation to use the FQCN. Plugins that use ``doc_fragments`` need to use FQCN (for example, ``mydocfrag`` becomes ``mynamespace.mycollection.mydocfrag``).
3. Update relative imports work in collections to start with a period. For example, :file:`./filename` and :file:`../asdfu/filestuff` works but :file:`filename` in same directory must be updated to :file:`./filename`.
If you have a custom ``module_utils`` or import from ``__init__.py``, you must also:
#. Change the Python namespace for custom ``module_utils`` to use the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` along with the ``ansible_collections`` convention. See :ref:`update_module_utils_role`.
#. Change how you import from ``__init__.py``. See :ref:`update_init_role`.
If any of your custom modules use a custom module utility, once you migrate to a collection you cannot address the module utility in the top level ``ansible.module_utils`` Python namespace. Ansible does not merge content from collections into the Ansible internal Python namespace. Update any Python import statements that refer to custom module utilities when you migrate your custom content to collections. See :ref:`module_utils in collections <collection_module_utils>` for more details.
When coding with ``module_utils`` in a collection, the Python import statement needs to take into account the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` along with the ``ansible_collections`` convention. The resulting Python import looks similar to the following example:
from ansible_collections.{namespace}.{collectionname}.plugins.module_utils.{util} import {something}
..note::
You need to follow the same rules in changing paths and using namespaced names for subclassed plugins.
The following example code snippets show a Python and a PowerShell module using both default Ansible ``module_utils`` and those provided by a collection. In this example the namespace is ``ansible_example`` and the collection is ``community``.
In the Python example the ``module_utils`` is ``helper`` and the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` is ``ansible_example.community.plugins.module_utils.helper``:
In the PowerShell example the ``module_utils`` is ``hyperv`` and the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` is ``ansible_example.community.plugins.module_utils.hyperv``:
Because of the way that the CPython interpreter does imports, combined with the way the Ansible plugin loader works, if your custom embedded module or plugin requires importing something from an :file:`__init__.py` file, that also becomes part of your collection. You can either originate the content inside a standalone role or use the file name in the Python import statement. The following example is an :file:`__init__.py` file that is part of a callback plugin found inside a collection named ``ansible_example.community``.
..code-block:: python
from ansible_collections.ansible_example.community.plugins.callback.__init__ import CustomBaseClass
Example: Migrating a standalone role with plugins to a collection
In this example we have a standalone role called ``my-standalone-role.webapp`` to emulate a standalone role that contains dashes in the name (which is not valid in collections). This standalone role contains a custom module in the ``library/`` directory called ``manage_webserver``.
..code-block:: bash
my-standalone-role.webapp
├── defaults
├── files
├── handlers
├── library
├── meta
├── tasks
├── templates
├── tests
└── vars
1. Create a new collection, for example, ``acme.webserver``:
..code-block:: bash
$ ansible-galaxy collection init acme.webserver
- Collection acme.webserver was created successfully
$ tree acme -d 1
acme
└── webserver
├── docs
├── plugins
└── roles
2. Create the ``webapp`` role inside the collection and copy all contents from the standalone role:
This example changed the original source file ``manage_webserver.py`` to the destination file ``manage.py``. This is optional but the :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` provides the ``webserver`` context as ``acme.webserver.manage``.
4. Change ``manage_webserver`` to ``acme.webserver.manage`` in :file:`tasks/` files in the role ( for example, ``my-standalone-role.webapp/tasks/main.yml``) and any use of the original module name.
..note::
This name change is only required if you changed the original module name, but illustrates content referenced by :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` can offer context and in turn can make module and plugin names shorter. If you anticipate using these modules independent of the role, keep the original naming conventions. Users can add the :ref:`collections keyword <collections_using_playbook>` in their playbooks. Typically roles are an abstraction layer and users won't use components of the role independently.
Example: Supporting standalone roles and migrated collection roles in a downstream RPM
A standalone role can co-exist with its collection role counterpart (for example, as part of a support lifecycle of a product). This should only be done for a transition period, but these two can exist in downstream in packages such as RPMs. For example, the RHEL system roles could coexist with an `example of a RHEL system roles collection <https://github.com/maxamillion/collection-rhel-system-roles>`_ and provide existing backwards compatibility with the downstream RPM.
This section walks through an example creating this coexistence in a downstream RPM and requires Ansible 2.9.0 or later.
To deliver a role as both a standalone role and a collection role:
#. Place the collection in :file:`/usr/share/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/`.
#. Copy the contents of the role inside the collection into a directory named after the standalone role and place the standalone role in :file:`/usr/share/ansible/roles/`.
All previously bundled modules and plugins used in the standalone role are now referenced by :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)` so even though they are no longer embedded, they can be found from the collection contents.This is an example of how the content inside the collection is a unique entity and does not have to be bound to a role or otherwise. You could alternately create two separate collections: one for the modules and plugins and another for the standalone role to migrate to. The role must use the modules and plugins as :abbr:`FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name)`.
The following is an example RPM spec file that accomplishes this using this example content:
..code-block:: text
Name: acme-ansible-content
Summary: Ansible Collection for deploying and configuring ACME webapp
