Some times we require to run specific commands on specific operating systems. This is because some commands will work in one distribution and other will not work. Ansible is good at dealing with this type of situations with three variables

	1)ansible_distribution

	2)ansible_distribution_release

	3)ansible_distribution_version

The ansible_distribution specifies which type of OS you want to run tasks or skip tasks. As of this blog writing, Ansible support below OS.

RedHat, Fedora, CentOS, Scientific, SLC, Ascendos, CloudLinux, PSBM, OracleLinux, OVS, OEL, Amazon, XenServer, Ubuntu, Debian, SLES, SLED, OpenSuSE, SuSE, Gentoo, ArchLinux, Mandriva, Mandrake, Solaris, Nexenta, OmniOS, OpenIndiana, SmartOS.

The ansible_distribution_release specifies which release is it, for example if you take Ubuntu the release can be precise or vivid. 
The ansible_distribution_version specifies which version of the release is it. For example Ubuntu precise have four versions like 12.04.1, 12.04.2, 12.04.3, 12.04.4. And when we come to Centos the version can be 6.0, 6.2, 6.4 etc.

So how can we say which command to run in which distribution, release and version?

We can specifiy when keyword as below.

Example1: Remove monit software when the operating system is Ubuntu

	 -name: Remove monit software in Ubuntu

	  apt: pkg=monit state=absent

	  when: ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu'

Example2: Remove monit software when the operating system is Ubuntu and release is 'precise' which is default to 12.04 version.

	 -name: Remove monit software in Ubuntu

	  apt: pkg=monit state=absent

	  when: ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu' and ansible_distribution_release == 'precise'

Example3: Remove monit software when the operating system is Ubuntu, release is 'precise' and version is 12.04.3

	 -name: Remove monit software in Ubuntu

	  apt: pkg=monit state=absent

	  when: ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu' and ansible_distribution_release == 'precise' and ansible_distribution_version == 12.04.3

Hope this helps some one struggling to install same package with different name on different flavors, versions and releases. 

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Surendra Anne

Mr Surendra Anne is from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. He is a Linux/Open source supporter who believes in Hard work, A down to earth person, Likes to share knowledge with others, Loves dogs, Likes photography. He works as Devops Engineer with Taggle systems, an IOT automatic water metering company, Sydney . You can contact him at surendra (@) linuxnix dot com.