system-locale

name	system_locale
description	Maintains the ansible/roles/system_locale Ansible role that sets LANG in /etc/locale.conf on RHEL-family systems, restricted to C.UTF-8, en_US.UTF-8, or auto, as part of the Linux SOE. Rebuilds the initramfs and reboots by default when the locale changes. Use when checking or setting the system locale.

system_locale

Maintains ansible/roles/system_locale/. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the shared conventions.

ansible/roles/system_locale/README.md documents this role's full configuration surface (every defaults/main.yml variable, with its original inline comments, rendered as a single reference). Read it before proposing or explaining how to configure this role — it reflects the role's actual current defaults even if a variable summary elsewhere in this file has drifted out of sync with the role.

What the role actually does

Encoded in ansible/roles/system_locale/defaults/main.yml:

• system_locale (default auto): only C.UTF-8, en_US.UTF-8, or auto are accepted — anything else fails the play immediately via an explicit ansible.builtin.fail task, not an assert. auto resolves to C.UTF-8 on RHEL 9+ (glibc ships it natively there) or en_US.UTF-8 on RHEL 8.
• Installs glibc-minimal-langpack, plus glibc-langpack-en if the resolved target is en_US.UTF-8 (either chosen directly, or via auto on RHEL 8).
• Rewrites LANG= in /etc/locale.conf via replace.
• If that changed, rebuilds the initramfs (dracut -f --regenerate-all).
• If system_locale_reboot: true (the default) and the locale changed, reboots the host — same pattern as boot_parameters, no separate confirmation gate inside the role.

What to do

Audit: ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags system_locale --check --diff

Remediate: same command without --check. Because system_locale_reboot defaults to true, a remediate run that actually changes the locale reboots the host — get explicit confirmation first, and consider -e system_locale_reboot=false if the user wants the /etc/locale.conf change applied now but the reboot deferred.

Propose a change to the role itself (e.g. supporting an additional locale): never commit directly. On a branch named soe/system_locale/<short-desc>, edit the role, validate locally (--syntax-check, ansible-lint roles/system_locale/, --check --diff), push, and open a PR titled [system_locale] <what changed> with the --check --diff output in the body — then stop for human review. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md's "Contribution workflow".

Notes

• The role only ever supports exactly three values for system_locale — it isn't a general-purpose "set any locale" role. Extending it to a different language/locale is a role change (new package logic, new accepted value), not a variable override.
• Unlike system_keyboard, there's no localectl-based read here — the current locale is read straight from /etc/locale.conf.
• If the target locale package isn't installable (bad repo config, offline host), the dnf task fails loudly rather than silently leaving the old locale in place — that's expected, not a role bug to work around.