What Is The Difference In Ansible Between Having Roles In The Playbooks Directory Vs. Having Them At The Same Directory Tree Level?

In Ansible, roles can be organized in two ways:

1. Roles in the playbook directory: In this case, the roles are defined in the same directory as the playbook file. The roles directory contains all the roles that are used in the playbook.
2. Roles in a separate directory: In this case, the roles are defined in a separate directory outside the playbook directory. Each role has its own directory containing the necessary files and directories for the role.

The main difference between these two methods is organization and reusability. When roles are stored in a separate directory, they can be easily reused across multiple playbooks, making it easier to manage and maintain large infrastructure. You can have multiple playbooks that use the same role, and you don’t need to duplicate the role directory for each playbook.

On the other hand, if the roles are stored in the same directory as the playbook file, it can make it easier to keep track of which roles are being used in each playbook. This method can be useful for small-scale projects where only a few roles are being used and there is no need for role reuse.

In general, it’s a good practice to store roles in a separate directory to promote reuse and better organization of your infrastructure code. However, in some cases, storing roles in the same directory as the playbook may be more convenient for small-scale projects.