| name | system_reboot |
| description | Maintains the ansible/roles/system_reboot Ansible role that reboots a host per a configurable policy, as part of the Linux SOE. Use when asked to reboot a host as a standalone, policy-driven action (distinct from the reboot-on-change behavior baked into several other roles). |
system_reboot
Maintains ansible/roles/system_reboot/. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the shared
conventions (role layout, audit vs. remediate via --check --diff, safety
rules, branch + PR contribution workflow).
ansible/roles/system_reboot/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_reboot/defaults/main.yml:
system_reboot_policy (default when_needed) — never / when_needed
(checks dnf needs-restarting) / always.
This role is sourced from the myllynen/rhel-ansible-roles import
(see git log -- ansible/roles/system_reboot) rather than hand-authored for this
repo. Unlike the original reference domains (e.g. timesync, usbguard_setup),
it applies state declaratively via standard Ansible modules and does not
add its own assert-based drift checks on top — an audit here is exactly
what --check --diff reports from the underlying modules, nothing more.
What to do
Audit (read-only, safe to run any time):
ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags system_reboot --check --diff
Summarize the diff output and any failed tasks in plain language.
Remediate (modifies the system — only after the user explicitly asks):
first summarize what will change from the --check --diff output, then run
the same command without --check:
ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags system_reboot
Note this only works at all if system_reboot has been uncommented in
ansible/configure_rhel.yml's roles: list first — see "Wiring into the
SOE" below; by default the tag matches nothing.
Propose a change to the role itself: never edit and commit directly. On a
branch named soe/system_reboot/<short-desc>, edit ansible/roles/system_reboot/, validate
locally (--syntax-check, ansible-lint roles/system_reboot/, and
--check --diff against a real/test host if available), then push and open a
PR titled [system_reboot] <what changed> with the --check --diff output in the
body. Then stop — a human reviews and merges; see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md's
"Contribution workflow".
Notes
- This role's sole purpose is to reboot the host — treat any remediate run
including it the same as the reboot warnings called out for
boot_parameters/system_locale in soe/SKILL.md: confirm explicitly
before running without --check if system_reboot_policy isn't never.
Wiring into the SOE
This role is not present at all in ansible/configure_rhel.yml's
roles: list — not even as a commented-out line, unlike most of the
"opt-in" roles in this repo (see .claude/skills/soe/SKILL.md's "excluded
from the default run" table) — nor in any of the other playbooks
(load_balancer_setup.yml, nfs_client_setup.yml, nfs_server_setup.yml,
update_rhel.yml, connect_linux.yml). This is deliberate: it acts
unconditionally with no guard variable, and its entire purpose is to reboot
the host, so it must never run as a side effect of a routine baseline run.
To actually invoke it, add - system_reboot (and any system_reboot_policy
override) directly to ansible/configure_rhel.yml's roles: list yourself
before running the commands above, or write a small dedicated one-off
playbook — either way, propose it via the branch + PR workflow, and treat
adding it to configure_rhel.yml permanently as a cross-cutting,
high-blast-radius change needing an explicit human decision, same as it was
under the old ansible/site.yml. This repo no longer uses
ansible/site.yml; see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.
