AWX in Action

Key Objects and Their Relationships in Task Automation

The objects in AWX chain together in a predictable order. Here's the full path of a single job run:

1. A project holds your playbooks. AWX pulls it from a git repo (or another SCM) and keeps a local copy in sync.
2. An inventory lists the hosts to target. It can be static (typed in or uploaded), dynamic (synced from a cloud or API source), or constructed (built from other inventories with grouping logic).
3. A credential holds the secrets needed to connect: an SSH key for the machine, a token for git, a cloud API key, a vault password.
4. A job template binds those three together (project + inventory + credentials) and adds the playbook, extra vars, limit, forks, and other runtime options. It's the reusable definition.
5. Launching a job template creates a job: one concrete execution against real hosts at a specific point in time, with its own output, status, and event log.