When managing infrastructure with Ansible where different hosts require different sudo users for privilege escalation, running ad-hoc commands with explicit -u and -K flags becomes tedious. The real power of Ansible lies in declarative configuration through inventory files and playbooks.

The most maintainable solution is to define user-specific parameters in your inventory. Here's how to structure your inventory file (INI format):

[app_servers]
xyz.com ansible_user=xyz_user ansible_become_user=app_admin 
abc.com ansible_user=abc_user ansible_become_user=deploy_user

[db_servers]
db1.example.com ansible_user=dbadmin ansible_become_user=postgres

For more complex environments, the YAML inventory format provides better readability:

all:
  hosts:
    xyz.com:
      ansible_user: xyz_user
      ansible_become: yes
      ansible_become_user: app_admin
    abc.com:
      ansible_user: abc_user
      ansible_become: yes
      ansible_become_user: deploy_user

When using playbooks, you can leverage these inventory variables automatically:

- name: Configure application servers
  hosts: app_servers
  tasks:
    - name: Ensure service is running
      service:
        name: myapp
        state: started
      become: yes  # Will use ansible_become_user from inventory

For servers sharing the same privilege escalation pattern:

[app_servers:vars]
ansible_become=yes
ansible_become_method=sudo
ansible_become_flags='-H -S -n'

[web_servers]
host1.example.com ansible_user=web_user ansible_become_user=www_admin
host2.example.com ansible_user=web_user ansible_become_user=www_admin

For very large environments, consider generating the inventory dynamically:

# inventory_script.py
import json

host_users = {
    'xyz.com': {'user': 'xyz_user', 'become': 'app_admin'},
    'abc.com': {'user': 'abc_user', 'become': 'deploy_user'}
}

output = {'_meta': {'hostvars': {}}}
for host, attrs in host_users.items():
    output['app_servers'] = output.get('app_servers', []) + [host]
    output['_meta']['hostvars'][host] = {
        'ansible_user': attrs['user'],
        'ansible_become_user': attrs['become']
    }

print(json.dumps(output))

When implementing this approach:

• Always use Ansible Vault for sensitive user credentials
• Limit sudo privileges to only necessary commands
• Consider using SSH certificates instead of password-based authentication
• Regularly audit your inventory files for proper access controls

When managing diverse server environments with Ansible, it's common to encounter situations where different hosts require different sudo users for application management. This typically occurs when:

• Applications are installed under different service accounts
• Various teams maintain different server groups
• Legacy systems have unique permission structures

The most straightforward approach is defining sudo users in your inventory file:

[web_servers]
xyz.com ansible_user=xyz_user ansible_become_user=app_xyz
abc.com ansible_user=abc_user ansible_become_user=app_abc

[web_servers:vars]
ansible_become=yes
ansible_become_method=sudo

When you have logical server groupings with common sudo requirements:

# group_vars/xyz_servers.yml
---
ansible_user: xyz_user
ansible_become: yes
ansible_become_user: app_xyz
ansible_become_method: sudo

For more complex environments, create individual host variable files:

# host_vars/xyz.com.yml
---
ansible_user: xyz_user
ansible_become: yes
ansible_become_user: app_xyz
ansible_become_method: sudo
ansible_become_pass: "{{ xyz_sudo_password | default(omit) }}"

For scenarios requiring runtime decisions about sudo users:

- name: Configure application servers
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Run application-specific command
      command: /opt/{{ app_name }}/bin/start
      become: "{{ sudo_required | default('yes') }}"
      become_user: "{{ app_user | mandatory }}"
      when: inventory_hostname in groups['app_servers']

• Always use Ansible Vault for sensitive become passwords
• Consider SSH certificate-based authentication where possible
• Implement granular sudoers rules on target machines
• Test privilege escalation with --check mode first

When troubleshooting sudo issues:

ansible-playbook playbook.yml -vvv --ask-become-pass

Check sudoers configuration on target hosts with:

ansible all -m command -a 'sudo -l' --ask-become-pass