Configuration options¶

With the help of the file config.yml the most important settings of the Vagrant environment can be made. This section describes the individual options.

In config.yml two dictionary variables are defined:

• vagrant_config: Defines the global settings.
• vagrant_boxes: Configuration settings for the various Vagrant boxes (virtual machines).

Global settings¶

Within the dictionary variable vagrant_config different environment types can be defined, for example to distinguish between development and production or between a Linux and a Windows environment. The env key decides which environment type is currently used.

Example:

---
vagrant_config:
  env: 'production'
  staging:
    dynamic_inventory: true
    hostmanager_enabled: false
    hostmanager_manage_guest: true
    hostmanager_manage_host: true
    hostmanager_include_offline: true
    hostmanager_ignore_private_ip: false
    vbguest_auto_update: true
    provider: libvirt
  production:
    dynamic_inventory: true
    hostmanager_enabled: false
    hostmanager_manage_guest: true
    hostmanager_manage_host: false
    hostmanager_include_offline: true
    hostmanager_ignore_private_ip: false
    vbguest_auto_update: false
    provider: virtualbox

Parameter description:

• dynamic_inventory: If dynamic_inventory is set to true, the provisioning/vagrant.ini file is used as the Ansible inventory file. It is created dynamically, which is recommended. This way, you can add or remove new nodes without worrying about customizing the Ansible inventory file. If dynamic_inventory is set to false, provisioning/inventory.ini is used as the inventory file. You must manually edit this file each time you add or remove new nodes (Ansible clients).
• hostmanager_enabled: Starting at Vagrant version 1.5.0, vagrant up runs hostmanager before any provisioning occurs. If you would like hostmanager to run after or during your provisioning stage, you can use hostmanager as a provisioner. To disable the default behavior, hostmanager_enabled must be set to false. This allows you to use the provisioning order to ensure that hostmanager runs when desired. The provisioner will collect hosts from boxes with the same provider as the running box.
• hostmanager_manage_host: If the value is true, the Hosts file is updated on the host's machine. Admin rights are required for this (see explanations below).
• hostmanager_ignore_private_ip: A machine's IP address is defined by either the static IP for a private network configuration or by the SSH host configuration. To disable using the private network IP address, set hostmanager_ignore_private_ip to true.
• hostmanager_include_offline: If the value is set to true, nodes (boxes) that are up or have a private ip configured will be added to the hosts file.
• provider: Defines the Vagrant provider. Valid values are virtualbox or libvirt.
• vbguest_auto_update: A VirtualBox specific parameter. Set vbguest_auto_update to false if you do NOT want the correct version of VirtualBox Guest Additions to be checked at boot time for each node. If vbguest_auto_update is true, a version check will take place at boot time. If the version of the VirtualBox Guest Additions does not match the version of VirtualBox, an attempt is made to update the VirtualBox Guest Additions. Booting the node may take longer, but the performance of the node may be better afterwards.

Vagrant boxes settings¶

Every Vagrant environment requires at least one or more so-called boxes. Boxes are the package format for an operating system image. You can search for boxes in Vagrant Cloud. The boxes to be used are defined in the config.yml file using the dictionary variable vagrant_boxes. The master key defines the settings for the Ansible management node. The clients key is used to define the settings for the various Ansible clients.

Example:

---
vagrant_boxes:
  # Ansible management node
  master:
    image: generic/alpine317
    cpus: 1
    vbox_name: 'Management Node'
  # Ansible clients
  clients:
    - image: generic/alpine317
      autostart: true
      hostname: alpine317-node
      cpus: 2
      vbox_name: 'Alpine 3.17 - Node'
      nodes: 3
    - image: generic/alma8
      autostart: true
      hostname: el8-node
      vbox_name: 'EL8 - Node'
    - image: generic/alma9
      autostart: true
      hostname: el9-node
      vbox_name: 'EL9 - Node'
    - image: generic/ubuntu2204
      autostart: true
      hostname: ubuntu2204-node
      memory: '1024'
      vbox_name: 'Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) - Node'
      nodes: 2

You can add your own Vagrant boxes or remove other boxes here if you need.

Parameter description:

• image: A Vagrant Box/Image (see Vagrant Cloud).
• autostart: By default in a multi-machine environment, vagrant up will start all of the defined machines. The autostart setting allows you to tell Vagrant to not start specific machines. If autostart is set to false you can manually force the machine to start by running vagrant up <node_name>.
• hostname: The hostname prefix. The real hostname (<node_name>) will be hostname + node number, for instance alpine317-node2.
• cpus: The CPU count. Default is 1.
• memory: The main memory size in MB. Default is 512.
• vbox_name: A VirtualBox specific parameter which defines the name prefix in the VirtualBox GUI. The real name will be vbox_name + node_number. In general, the VirtualBox GUI is not needed for Ansible role development and testing. But of course you can start and use the VirtualBox GUI.
• nodes: The number of nodes for this Box/Image. Default is 1.