inventoryctl 0.4.0

A CLI tool for managing inventory YAML files

inventoryctl

inventoryctl is a CLI tool for safely and consistently managing inventory YAML files, designed to bridge the gap between human-edited configurations and automated processes. It ensures valid syntax, consistent formatting, and facilitates bulk operations and format conversions (e.g., to Ansible inventory or SSH config).

Installation

From PyPI

pipx install inventoryctl

Using uv

uv tool install inventoryctl

Features

• CRUD Operations: Add, update, delete, and get hosts/groups safely.
• Bulk Sync: Sync hosts from external JSON/YAML sources (e.g., Terraform outputs, cloud APIs) into your inventory.
• Validation: Ensure your inventory follows the required structure.
• Rendering: Convert your inventory into Ansible-compatible files or SSH configurations.
• Formatting: Canonicalize your YAML files.
• Metadata Support: Track source ownership of resources using _meta tags to safely mix manual and automated entries.

Usage

1. Resources Management

Add a Host

inventoryctl add host <NAME> <INVENTORY_FILE> --group <GROUP> --ansible-host <IP> [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --var key=value: Set host variables (can be used multiple times).
• --source <ID>: Mark this host as managed by a specific source (e.g., aws, terraform).
• --force: Overwrite if exists.
• --upsert: Update if exists, create if not.

Add a Group

inventoryctl add group <NAME> <INVENTORY_FILE> [--var key=value]

Update a Host

inventoryctl update host <NAME> <INVENTORY_FILE> [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --group <GROUP>: Specify group (required if hostname is ambiguous).
• --ansible-host <IP>: Update IP/Hostname.
• --var key=value: Update or add variables.
• --unset-var <KEY>: Remove variables.

Delete a Host

inventoryctl delete host <NAME> <INVENTORY_FILE> [--group <GROUP>] [--source <ID>]

Get a Host

inventoryctl get host <NAME> <INVENTORY_FILE>

List Hosts

inventoryctl list hosts <INVENTORY_FILE> [--group <GROUP>] [--source <ID>]

2. Bulk Operations (Sync)

Sync hosts from an external source (JSON/YAML) into a specific group. This is useful for pipelines filling the inventory.

inventoryctl sync hosts <INVENTORY_FILE> --group <GROUP> --source <SOURCE_ID> --input <INPUT_FILE> [--prune]

• --input: Path to a JSON/YAML file containing a list of host objects.
• --prune: Remove hosts in the target group/source that are NOT in the input.

Input Format Example:

[
  {
    "name": "web-01",
    "ansible_host": "10.0.0.1",
    "vars": { "region": "us-east-1" }
  }
]

2.1. Batch Operations (JSON-Based CRUD)

For high-performance bulk operations, use the batch command which processes JSON input directly without external dependencies:

Batch Host Operations

# From file
inventoryctl batch host <ACTION> <INVENTORY_FILE> --file hosts.json

# From stdin
cat hosts.json | inventoryctl batch host <ACTION> <INVENTORY_FILE>
echo '$BATCH_JSON' | inventoryctl batch host <ACTION> <INVENTORY_FILE>

Actions: add, update, delete

JSON Format for Hosts:

[
  {
    "hostname": "web-01",
    "ansible_host": "10.0.0.1",
    "ansible_user": "ubuntu",
    "ansible_port": 22,
    "groups": ["webservers", "production"],
    "vars": {
      "http_port": 80,
      "custom_var": "value"
    },
    "source": "api",
    "upsert": true,
    "force": false
  },
  {
    "hostname": "db-01",
    "ansible_host": "10.0.0.5",
    "ansible_user": "postgres",
    "groups": ["databases", "production"],
    "vars": {
      "db_port": 5432
    }
  }
]

Batch Group Operations

inventoryctl batch group <ACTION> <INVENTORY_FILE> --file groups.json

JSON Format for Groups:

[
  {
    "name": "webservers",
    "vars": {
      "http_port": 80,
      "app_env": "production"
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "databases",
    "vars": {
      "db_type": "postgresql"
    }
  }
]

Options:

• --continue-on-error: Continue processing remaining items if one fails (default: true)
• --file <path>: Read JSON from file instead of stdin

Exit Codes:

• 0: All operations succeeded
• 1: All operations failed
• 2: Partial success (some operations failed)

3. Validation & Formatting

Validate Inventory Checks structure and integrity.

inventoryctl validate <INVENTORY_FILE>

Format Inventory Canonicalizes the YAML file (sorting, indentation).

inventoryctl format <INVENTORY_FILE>

4. Rendering

Render for Ansible Outputs a clean YAML inventory file compatible with Ansible (strips internal metadata).

inventoryctl render ansible <INVENTORY_FILE>

Render SSH Config Generates an SSH config file based on inventory data (ansible_host, ansible_user, ProxyJump, etc.).

inventoryctl render ssh <INVENTORY_FILE> > ~/.ssh/config.d/inventory_config

Inventory File Structure

inventoryctl manages a YAML file with the following structure:

inventory_groups:
  my-group:
    vars:
      ansible_user: ubuntu
    hosts:
      web-01:
        ansible_host: 192.168.1.10
        _meta:
          source: manual