27.3. Deploying systemd units by using the systemd RHEL system role

Procedure

1. Create a Jinja2 template with the custom systemd unit file contents. For example, create the ~/example.service.j2 file with the contents for your service:

   {{ ansible_managed | comment }}
   [Unit]
   Description=Example systemd service unit file
   
   [Service]
   ExecStart=/bin/true

   Use the <name>.<unit_type>.j2 convention for the file name. For example, to create the example.service unit, you must name the file example.service.j2. Place the file in the same directory as the playbook.

2. Create a playbook file, for example, ~/playbook.yml, with the following content:

   ---
   - name: Managing systemd services
     hosts: managed-node-01.example.com
     tasks:
       - name: Deploy, enable, and start a custom systemd service
         ansible.builtin.include_role:
           name: redhat.rhel_system_roles.systemd
         vars:
            systemd_unit_file_templates:
              - example.service.j2
            systemd_enabled_units:
              - example.service
            systemd_started_units:
              - example.service

   For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.systemd/README.md file on the control node.

3. Validate the playbook syntax:

   $ ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml

   Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration.

4. Run the playbook:

   $ ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml