system_init

Maintains ansible/roles/system_init/. 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_init/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.

Policy & workload awareness

docs/VERTICAL_POLICY.md, docs/HORIZONTAL_POLICY and docs/WORKLOAD.md capture org-wide policy items and the workloads this SOE actually hosts — either can gain a new or changed item that this role should reflect. Before auditing, remediating, or proposing a change, check whether either doc has changed more recently than this role's own code:

git log -1 --format='%cI %h %s' -- docs/VERTICAL_POLICY.md docs/HORIZONTAL_POLICY.md docs/WORKLOAD.md
git log -1 --format='%cI %h %s' -- ansible/roles/system_init/

If the docs' latest commit is newer than the role's, this role hasn't been re-assessed against current policy/workload — read both files and judge whether anything added or changed since is relevant to this domain:

• Relevant — propose a concrete change on a branch (soe/system_init/policy-<short-desc> or soe/system_init/workload-<short-desc>), same branch + PR workflow as any other role change (see "What to do" above and docs/ARCHITECTURE.md's "Contribution workflow"). Don't wait to be asked.
• Not relevant — say so explicitly (e.g. "checked against docs/VERTICAL_POLICY.md, docs/HORIZONTAL_POLICY and docs/WORKLOAD.md as of <date>, nothing affecting this domain") rather than silently skipping the check.

This check is informational, not a gate — it runs alongside a normal audit/remediate, never blocks one; surface the staleness note alongside the normal output.

What the role actually does

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

• system_init_final_actions (default: [reboot, syslog]) — localhost is excluded from the reboot action regardless of this list (per the role's own default comment).

This role is sourced from the myllynen/rhel-ansible-roles import (see git log -- ansible/roles/system_init) 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_init --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_init

Behavior change from the old ansible/site.yml: this role is now active by default in ansible/configure_rhel.yml's roles: list — unlike the old baseline playbook, which deliberately excluded it (see "Wiring into the SOE" below). A full, untagged ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml run now reboots the host as a side effect, because reboot is in system_init_final_actions' default list. Flag this loudly before anyone runs the full baseline playbook without --tags against a host they don't expect to reboot.

Propose a change to the role itself: never edit and commit directly. On a branch named soe/system_init/<short-desc>, edit ansible/roles/system_init/, validate locally (--syntax-check, ansible-lint roles/system_init/, and --check --diff against a real/test host if available), then push and open a PR titled [system_init] <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

• Because reboot is in the default action list, running this role for the first time on a host reboots it — confirm before including it in a remediate run, same as any other reboot-by-default role in this repo (boot_parameters... no, boot_parameters is audit-only; think system_locale, ipv6_setup, multipath_setup).

Wiring into the SOE

This role is in configure_rhel_domains's default value in ansible/configure_rhel.yml (see .claude/skills/configure_rhel/SKILL.md) — this is the opposite of its old status under ansible/site.yml, where it was deliberately excluded from the default roles: list (see the "excluded from the default run" table this repo used to keep in .claude/skills/soe/SKILL.md) because it acts unconditionally with no guard variable and reboots the host. That exclusion doesn't apply to configure_rhel.yml: a plain, untagged ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml run now does reboot the host via this role. If a host needs configure_rhel.yml's baseline without the reboot, either run with --tags excluding system_init (--skip-tags system_init), pass a configure_rhel_domains list that leaves system_init out, or override system_init_final_actions to drop reboot for that host/group. Don't assume this role is a safe no-op the way it was when site.yml was the entrypoint. This repo no longer uses ansible/site.yml; see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.