<p>You are looking for <em>Dynamic Inventory</em></p>

<p>Please look into <a href="https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/contrib/inventory/ec2.py" rel="noreferrer"><code>ec2.py</code></a> and <a href="https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/contrib/inventory/ec2.py" rel="noreferrer"><code>ec2.ini</code></a> of Ansible, and also the <a href="http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/intro_dynamic_inventory.html" rel="noreferrer"><code>Dynamic Inventory</code></a> docs of Ansible are very good for understanding how to manage your AWS inventory.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-02T13:28:43.307Z
thank you, so for example if I give to some instances specific tag, I could access the dynamic inventory file and take the instances under specific tag  ? is it best practice?
Berlin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-02T15:27:33.747Z
@Berlin Yeah, why not.  The tag is called a host group :)
Dawny33
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-02T11:43:15.133Z
2017-03-02T11:43:15.133Z
Dawny33
<p>I am new to Ansible, with some experience in Chef. I am considering learn and use Ansible to manage environments.</p>

<p>I was wondering, what would be the best practice to manage inventory of AWS spot instances?</p>

<p>For example, when a spot instance is shut down the old IP is not relevant anymore in the inventory of hosts.</p>

<p>Are there any other alternative approaches for the use case of elastic environments?</p>

<ansible><amazon-web-services><amazon-ec2>
How do you manage your inventory of spot instances on AWS with Ansible
Berlin
# How do you manage your inventory of spot instances on AWS with Ansible

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-02)

I am new to Ansible, with some experience in Chef. I am considering learn and use Ansible to manage environments.

I was wondering, what would be the best practice to manage inventory of AWS spot instances?

For example, when a spot instance is shut down the old IP is not relevant anymore in the inventory of hosts.

Are there any other alternative approaches for the use case of elastic environments?

**Tags:** ansible, amazon-web-services, amazon-ec2


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-03-02. Score: 15 | Accepted answer

You are looking for *Dynamic Inventory*

Please look into [`ec2.py`](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/contrib/inventory/ec2.py) and [`ec2.ini`](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/contrib/inventory/ec2.py) of Ansible, and also the [`Dynamic Inventory`](http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/intro_dynamic_inventory.html) docs of Ansible are very good for understanding how to manage your AWS inventory.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thank you, so for example if I give to some instances specific tag, I could access the dynamic inventory file and take the instances under specific tag  ? is it best practice?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Yeah, why not.  The tag is called a host group :)  

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