Setting OS and distribution variances
As stated earlier, our goal is to try to use the same automation code as widely as possible. However, as much as we try to standardize our technology environments, variants always creep in. For example, it is impossible to simultaneously perform a major upgrade on all your servers in one go, so when a major new OS version comes out, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 or Ubuntu Server 20.04, it is inevitable that some machines will remain on older versions as others are upgraded. Similarly, an environment might be standardized on Ubuntu, but then an application is introduced that has only been certified to run on CentOS. In short, as important as standardization is, variances will always creep in.
When writing Ansible playbooks, especially roles, your goal should be for them to be as widely applicable as possible throughout your environment. A classic example of this is package management—let’s say you are writing a role...
