I'm wondering whether there is a way to find out which service manager is used on the target system through Ansible facts. I can only find modules to gather facts about running services but not about the type of service manager.
I need to install some services on a system and in case there is systemd available, I would like to make use of systemd's dependency management and composition feature explicitly.
I'm wondering whether there is a way to find out which service manager is used on the target system through Ansible facts.
Yes, it seems that Ansible Facts are providing already the information
I can only find modules to gather facts about running services but not about the type of service manager.
namely via the key:value "ansible_service_mgr": "systemd".
Another option could be the service_facts module. According the Returned Facts the key
source: Init system of the service. One ofrcctl,systemd,sysv,upstart,src. Returned: always
By checking the value of one of it you may be able to implement your conditional dependency management.
According fact naming options Why should I remove the ansible_ prefix when refering to an Ansible fact? it would lead to Conditionals based on ansible_facts in example like
when: ansible_facts.service_mgr == "systemd"
Minimal Example
---
- hosts: localhost
become: false
gather_facts: true
gather_subset:
- "min"
tasks:
- name: Show Facts
debug:
msg: "{{ ansible_facts.service_mgr }}"
will result into an output of
TASK [Show Facts] ******
ok: [localhost] =>
msg: systemd
Further Q&A
