ansible_role_package

Manage package installation for a number of packages that sometimes need special handling. Some are built from source, some are appimages, some are special sources like cargo, npm, go, etc.

When defining a workstation role, I had a lot of packages that needed special instructions to properly install and use. I decided to simplify the management of those packages by creating a role with special handling.

Order of precedence for package installation:

1. System package manager (dnf, apt, homebrew, etc.)
2. Appimage (Linux only)
3. Flatpak (Linux only)
4. Snap (Linux only), takes precedence over flatpak on Ubuntu based systems
5. Language package manager (cargo install, go install, npm install, etc.)
6. Build and install from source

This does not configure installed software, just installs it

Available Packages

• air
• alacritty
• ansible-language-server
• ansible-lint
• ansible
• bashls
• bat
• bitwarden
• blender
• broot
• btop
• buf
• bufls
• carapace
• cheat
• checkmake
• choose
• clangd
• cmake
• cmakelang
• commitlint-cli
• commitlint-config-conventional
• consul
• cssls
• curlie
• dbeaver
• dockerls
• dotenv-linter
• duf
• dust
• editorconfig
• eslint
• eza
• fd
• firefox
• flatpak
• fzf
• ghostty
• git
• glow
• go
• godot
• gopls
• gping
• heroic
• htmlls
• htmx-lsp
• httpie
• hugo
• hyperfine
• intelephense
• jinja-lsp
• jq
• jsonls
• kitty
• lazygit
• libreoffice
• lua-language-server
• markdownlint-cli
• mcfly
• neovide
• neovim
• nerdfonts
• nextcloud
• nginxls
• nodejs
• nomad
• nushell
• packer
• pandoc
• pgadmin
• pipx
• podman
• pyright
• python3-pip
• quobix-vacuum
• revive
• ripgrep
• rust
• sd
• sqlfluff
• sqlls
• starship
• stow
• tailscale
• tailwindcss-languageserver
• templ
• terra_repo
• terraform
• terraformls
• thunderbird
• tidy
• tldr
• tmux
• vault
• xh
• yamlls
• zfs
• zig
• zls
• zoxide
• zsh

Requirements

Role Variables

• use_local: Boolean, default true
  • When true, uses the following paths:
    • $HOME/.local as the install prefix, placing binaries in $HOME/.local/bin
    • $HOME/.local/appimage for saved appimages, which are then linked to $HOME/.local/bin
    • $HOME/.local/archive for extracted archives linking binaries to $HOME/.local/bin
    • $HOME/.cache for caching downloads
    • $HOME/.cargo for cargo installations, placing binaries in $HOME/.cargo/bin
  • When false, uses the following system wide paths:
    • /usr/local as the install prefix, placing binaries in /usr/local/bin
    • /opt/appimage for saved appimages, which are then linked to /usr/local/bin
    • /opt/archive for extracted archives, linking binaries to /usr/local/bin
    • /opt/cache for caching downloads
    • /opt/cargo for rust cargo installations, placing binaries in /opt/cargo/bin
• packages: List of strings
  • List of packages to install from the Available Packages list
• prefer_method: String, default system
  • The preferred method of installation an application when multiple options exist
  • Valid options are:
    • flatpak - Flatpak, Linux only
    • langtool - Using language tools such as cargo, go, npm or pipx
    • snap - Snap, Linux only
    • source - Prefer building from source. Not recommended
    • system - Default, system package manager (dnf, apt, homebrew, etc.)

Dependencies

Example Playbook

License

MIT

Author Information

• Matthew Stobbs matthew@stobbs.ca