Introduction

Conditional execution in Ansible playbooks allows users to define actions based on specific conditions or criteria. Ansible provides various mechanisms for implementing conditional logic within playbooks, including:

1. When Statement: The when statement allows tasks to be executed conditionally based on the value of variables, system properties, or previous task outcomes. For example:

    tasks:
      - name: Install Apache on Ubuntu
        apt:
          name: apache2
          state: present
        when: ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu'
   

2. Failed When Statement: The failed_when statement allows users to define custom conditions for determining task failure. It is typically used to specify conditions under which a task should be considered failed, even if it technically succeeded.

3. Changed When Statement: The changed_when statement allows users to override Ansible's default behavior for determining task changes. It is used to specify conditions under which a task should be considered changed, influencing handlers and playbook execution flow.

Conditional execution in Ansible playbooks provides flexibility and control over automation workflows, allowing users to define actions based on specific criteria and requirements.