Concepts
The terms used across this documentation, each linked to its page
Glossary
The terms used across this documentation:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Form | A YAML definition that collects input and runs a playbook, a template or a workflow |
| Form field | One input of a form, such as text, enum or checkbox; its value becomes an extravar |
| Category | A group in the tree of forms shown on the Forms page, defined in config.yaml |
| Role | A set of users and groups; a form lists the roles that may see and run it, default for everyone |
| Expression | JavaScript that computes a field value, in the browser (runLocal: true) or on the server |
| Extravars | The variables sent to the playbook or template, built from the field values |
| Credential | A stored login, encrypted with ENCRYPTION_SECRET: a user and password (and host, port, database), or since 7.3.0 the address and secrets of an LDAP directory, an SSO provider, a runner or a HashiCorp Vault |
| Secret store | A connection to HashiCorp Vault or CyberArk that supplies a credential’s user and password |
| Job | One run of a form, with its status, extravars and output, kept in the job history |
| Runner | Where a job runs, added under Connections > Runners: rte for playbooks, awx (AWX, or the flavour aap or ascender), semaphore, rundeck or jenkins for templates and jobs. A form picks one with runner:, or runs on the default rte (playbooks) or awx (templates) runner |
| RTE | A runtime environment: the AnsibleForms server started with AF_ROLE=rte in its own container, next to python and ansible, that runs the playbooks of a runner of type rte |
| Approval point | A pause in a job until a user with an approval role approves or rejects it |
| Workflow | A graph of playbooks, approvals and other workflows linked on success, on failure or always, in AWX’s syntax |
| Multistep form | Deprecated since 7: a form that runs several playbooks or templates in sequence; a workflow replaces it |
| Notification channel | A mail server, a Slack or Teams webhook, a Telegram chat or a webhook that notifications and approval requests go to |
| Designer | The browser editor for forms, playbooks, inventories and workflows, which one person uses at a time |
| Subform | A reusable set of fields that describes the rows of a list field or the object of a yaml field |
| config.yaml | The file with the categories, the roles and the constants; the forms live in their own files |
| Config seed | A YAML file (CONFIG_SEED_PATH) that declares the admin objects, such as runners and credentials |
| Persistent folder | The folder that holds the files AnsibleForms must keep across restarts and upgrades |