The proper approach to defining group and host variables
When working with group and host variables, you can split them up using the directory-based approach we used in the The preferred directory layout section. However, there are a few additional pointers to managing this that you should be aware of. First and foremost, you should always pay attention to variable precedence. A detailed list of variable precedence order can be found at https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks_variables.html#variable-precedence-where-should-i-put-a-variable. However, the key takeaways for working with multiple environments are as follows:
- Host variables are always of a higher order of precedence than group variables, so you can override any group variable with a host variable. This behavior is useful if you take advantage of it in a controlled manner, but can yield unexpected results if you are not aware of it.
- There is a special group variables definition called
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