Ad-Hoc Commands and Modules

Ad-hoc commands are one-line Ansible commands that let you perform quick tasks without writing a playbook. They are ideal for testing, troubleshooting, and one-off operations. Every ad-hoc command uses a module --- the building block of all Ansible automation.

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Ad-Hoc Command Syntax

ansible <host-pattern> -i <inventory> -m <module> -a "<arguments>"

Flag	Description
-i	Path to the inventory file
-m	The module to use
-a	Arguments to pass to the module
-b	Enable become (privilege escalation / sudo)
-u	Remote user
-k	Prompt for SSH password
-K	Prompt for become (sudo) password
-f	Number of parallel forks (default: 5)
-v	Verbose output (-vv, -vvv, -vvvv for more detail)

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The ping Module

The ping module is the simplest way to verify connectivity --- it is not an ICMP ping, but an Ansible-level connectivity test:

# Test all hosts
ansible all -m ping

# Test a specific group
ansible webservers -m ping

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Common Modules