Describe roles in Ansible?

A role is a standardized way of packaging a set of tasks, handlers, variables, templates, and files around a single purpose, like "configure nginx" or "install a database," so that logic can be reused across multiple playbooks and projects.

roles/
  nginx/
    tasks/main.yml
    handlers/main.yml
    templates/nginx.conf.j2
    defaults/main.yml
    vars/main.yml
    files/
    meta/main.yml

Ansible expects this fixed directory structure so it can automatically find a role's tasks, handlers, and variables without extra configuration. A playbook then simply references the role by name, and Ansible pulls in everything the role provides.

- hosts: webservers
  roles:
    - nginx

This structure encourages breaking automation into composable, testable units rather than one large, monolithic playbook.

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