Install and configure VS Code

Install VS Code by following the instructions found on the Download Visual Studio Code page in the official documentation.

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Procedure
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To install VS Code, follow the instructions on the Download Visual Studio Code page in the Visual Studio Code documentation.

Install the VS Code Ansible extension
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The Ansible extension adds language support for Ansible to VS Code. It incorporates Ansible development tools to facilitate creating and running automation content.

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For a full description of the Ansible extension, see the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Procedure
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  1. Open VS Code.
  2. Click the Extensions (Extensions) icon in the Activity Bar, or click View > Extensions, to display the Extensions view.
  3. In the search field in the Extensions view, type Ansible Red Hat.
  4. Select the Ansible extension and click Install.

Results
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When the language for a file is recognized as Ansible, the Ansible extension provides features such as auto-completion, hover, diagnostics, and goto. The language identified for a file is displayed in the Status bar at the bottom of the VS Code window.

The following files are assigned the Ansible language:

  • YAML files in a /playbooks directory
  • Files with the following double extension: .ansible.yml or .ansible.yaml
  • Certain YAML names recognized by Ansible, for example site.yml or site.yaml
  • YAML files whose filename contains "playbook": playbook.yml or playbook.yaml

If the extension does not identify the language for your playbook files as Ansible, follow the procedure in Associating the Ansible language to YAML files.

Configure Ansible extension settings
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The Ansible extension supports multiple configuration options.

Before you begin
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  • Open a workspace or folder, or create a new folder, in VS Code using the File > Open Folder menu. This is necessary because the file that stores settings preferences for workspaces is specific to a folder or workspace.

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You can configure the settings for the extension on a user level, on a workspace level, or for a particular directory. User-based settings are applied globally for any instance of VS Code that is opened. A VS Code workspace is a collection of one or more folders that you can open in a single VS Code window. Workspace settings are stored within your workspace and only apply when the current workspace is opened.

It is useful to configure settings for your workspace for the following reasons:

  • If you define and maintain configurations specific to your playbook project, you can customize your Ansible development environment for individual projects without altering your preferred setup for other work. You can have different settings for a Python project, an Ansible project, and a C++ project, each optimized for the respective stack without the need to manually reconfigure settings each time you switch projects.
  • If you include workspace settings when setting up version control for a project you want to share with your team, everyone uses the same configuration for that project.

Procedure
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  1. Open the Ansible extension settings:
    1. Click the ExtensionsExtensions icon in the activity bar.
    2. Select the Ansible extension, and click the 'gear' icon and then Extension Settings to display the extension settings.
      • Alternatively, click Code > Settings > Settings to open the Settings page.
    3. Enter Ansible in the search bar to display the settings for the extension.
  2. Select the Workspace tab to configure your settings for the current VS Code workspace.
    • If the Workspace tab is not displayed, open a folder or create a new folder using the File > Open Folder menu.
  3. The Ansible extension settings are pre-populated. Modify the settings to suit your requirements:
    • Check the Ansible > Validation > Lint: Enabled box to enable ansible-lint.
    • Check the Ansible Execution Environment: Enabled box to use an execution environment.
    • Specify the execution environment image you want to use in the Ansible > Execution Environment: image field.
    • To use Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, check the Ansible > Lightspeed: Enabled box, and enter the URL for Lightspeed.