diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+ansible-role-auditd
+===================
+
+Manage the auditd system, create rules and define its behaviour.
+For an extensive guide on how to setup system auditing please refer to the
+official [Red Hat System Auditing Guide](https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/security_guide/chap-system_auditing).
+
+A Short Auditd Rule Documentation
+---------------------------------
+
+The linux auditing daemon supports a wide variety of different rules. These can be grouped into the following rule classes.
+
+## Control Rules
+
+These rules allow to modify the audit system's behavior and some of its configs.
+
+### Options
+
+```bash
+# set the max amount of audit buffer in the kernel
+$ auditctl -b 8192
+# set the action that is performed when an error is detected. 2=kernelpanic
+$ auditctl -f 2
+# enable/disable the audit system or lock the configuration. 2=lock
+$ auditctl -e 2
+# set the rate of generated messages per second. 0=nolimit
+$ auditctl -r 0
+# report the status of the audit system
+$ auditctl -s
+# list all currently loaded audit rules
+$ auditctl -l
+# delete all rules currently loaded by the audit system
+$ auditctl -D
+```
+
+## System Call Rules
+
+These rules allow the logging of system calls that any specified program generates.
+
+### Options
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -a action,filter -s system_call -F field=value -k comment
+```
+
+* `action` and `filter` specify when a certain event is logged.
+  * `action` can be either `always` or `never`
+  * `filter` can be one of the following: `task`, `exit`, `user`, `exclude`
+* `system_call` specifies the system call by its name
+  * see `/usr/include/asm/unistd_64.h` for a list of all possible syscalls.
+* `field=value` specifies additional options that further modify the rule to match events based on a specified architecture, group, id, pid.
+  * see `man 8 auditctl` for a complete list
+* `comment` is an optional string that helps identify which rule or set of rules generated a particular log entry.
+
+### Examples
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k time_change
+```
+
+- Create a log entry each time `adjtimex` or `settimeofday` sys calls are used by a program, on a 64bit architecture.
+
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -a always,exit -S unlink -S rename -S renameat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -k delete
+```
+
+- Defines a rule that creates a log entry every time a file is deleted or renamed by a user whose id is 1000 or larger.
+- The option `-F auid!=4294967295` is used to exclude users whose login uid is not set.
+
+## File System Rules
+
+Also known as file watches, these rules allow the auditing of accesses to a file or directory from any program.
+
+### Options
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -w path_to_file -p permissions -k comment
+```
+
+* `path_to_file` is the file or directory that is audited
+* `permissions` are the permissions that are logged
+  * `r` - read acces to a file or directory
+  * `w` - write acces to a file or directory
+  * `x` - execute access to a file or directory
+  * `a` - change in the file or directories attributes
+
+### Example
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd_changes
+```
+
+- Create a rule that logs each write access or attribute change of /etc/passwd
+
+## Executable File Rules
+
+These rules allow the logging of executables.
+
+### Options
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -a always,exit -F exe=path_to_exe -k comment
+```
+
+* `action` and `filter` see above.
+* `system_call` see above.
+* `comment` see above.
+* `path_to_exe` is the absolute path to the executable file.
+
+### Example
+
+```bash
+$ auditctl -a always,exit -F exe=/bin/id -F arch=b64 -S execve -k execute_bin_id
+```
+
+- Create a rule that logs all executions of the /bin/id program.
+
+
+Requirements
+------------
+
+None.
+
+Role Variables
+--------------
+
+To define different types of system auditing rules use the following variable/syntax.
+
+```yaml
+auditd_custom_rules:
+  # define a file system rule
+  - type: filesystem
+    file: /etc/passwd
+    permissions: wa
+    comment: passwd_changes
+  # define a system call rule
+  - type: syscall
+    action: always,exit
+    filters:
+      - arch=b64
+    syscalls:
+      - adjtimex
+      - settimeofday
+    comment: time_change
+  # define an executable rule
+  - type: executable
+    action: always,exit
+    filters:
+      - arch=b64
+    executable: /bin/id
+    comment: execution_bin_id
+```
+
+All the configurations for the audit daemon are configurable as variables. See `defaults/main.yaml` for more details.
+
+Dependencies
+------------
+
+None.
+
+Example Playbook
+----------------
+
+```yaml
+---
+
+- name: auditd test play
+  hosts: all
+  become: true
+  vars:
+  auditd_custom_rules:
+    - type: filesystem
+      file: /etc/passwd
+      permissions: wa
+      comment: passwd_changes
+    - type: syscall
+      action: always,exit
+      filters:
+        - arch=b64
+      syscalls:
+        - adjtimex
+        - settimeofday
+      comment: time_change
+    - type: executable
+      action: always,exit
+      filters:
+        - arch=b64
+      executable: /bin/id
+      comment: execution_bin_id
+  roles:
+    - auditd
+```
+
+License
+-------
+
+GPLv3
+
+Author Information
+------------------
+
+Aaron Schmocker (aaron@0x29a.ch)
diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
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+---
+
+##
+# main config
+##
+
+auditd_config_dir: /etc/audit
+auditd_config_file: auditd.conf
+auditd_custom_rules_dir: /etc/audit/rules.d
+auditd_local_events: "yes"
+auditd_write_logs: "yes"
+
+##
+# log files
+##
+
+auditd_log_file: /var/log/audit/audit.log
+# Log format. Options: RAW and NOLOG
+auditd_log_format: RAW 
+# Log file owner group.
+auditd_log_group: root
+# Number of logfiles to keep.
+auditd_num_logs: 5
+# Maximum log file size in megabytes.
+auditd_max_log_file_size: 8
+# What happens if max log file size is reached.
+# Options: ignore, syslog, suspend, rotate, keep_logs
+auditd_max_log_file_action: rotate
+# Number of megabytes of free space left when space_left_action gets performed.
+auditd_space_left: 75
+# Options: ignore, syslog, email, exec, suspend, single, halt
+auditd_space_left_action: syslog
+# Number of megabytes of free space left when admin_space_left_action gets performed.
+auditd_admin_space_left: 50
+# Options: ignore, syslog, email, exec, suspend, single, halt
+auditd_admin_space_left_action: suspend
+# Action to be taken on disk full
+auditd_disk_full_action: suspend
+# Action to be taken on disk error
+auditd_disk_error_action: suspend
+
+
+##
+# misc configs
+##
+
+# priority boost for the audit daemon, default: 4
+auditd_priority_boost: 4
+# How to flush auditd records to disk.
+# Options: none, incremental, data, sync
+auditd_flush_strategy: INCREMENTAL_ASYNC
+# How many records to write before issuing an explicit flush.
+# only used if flush_strategy is set to incremental.
+auditd_flush_freq: 50
+# Blocking/lossless or non-blocking/lossy communication between the audit
+# daemon and the dispatcher queue. The buffer size is 128k, so lossy should do fine.
+auditd_disp_qos: lossy
+# Auditd dispatcher software, defaults to audispd. See man audispd.
+auditd_dispatcher: /sbin/audispd
+# How computer node names are insertet into the audit event stream.
+# Options: none, hostname, fqd, numeric (means ip), user
+auditd_name_format: NUMERIC
+# Wheter to use kerberos5
+auditd_enable_krb5: "no"
+# Krb5 principal for this server. Default = auditd
+auditd_krb5_principal: auditd
+
+##
+# connections
+##
+
+# Controls how many pending connections are allowed. Default = 5
+auditd_tcp_listen_queue: 5
+# Controls how many concurrent connections from one ip adress are allowed.
+auditd_tcp_max_per_addr: 1
+# Wheter or not to use tcp_wrappers.
+auditd_use_libwrap: "yes"
+# Number of seconds a client is allowed to idle.
+auditd_tcp_client_max_idle: 0
+# Distribute network originating events to the dispatcher
+auditd_distribute_network: "no"
+
+##
+# alerting
+##
+
+# Whom to notify. If not root, sendmail has to be configured
+auditd_action_mail_acct: root
+
+
+##
+# custom rules
+##
+
+# Kernel buffer size for custom rules
+auditd_custom_buffer_size: 32768
+# Enable flag 
+# Options: 0=disable, 1=enable, 2=locked, requires reboot to unlock
+auditd_custom_enable_flag: 1
+# What happens in case of a failure.
+# Options: 0=silent, 1=printk, 2=panic
+auditd_custom_on_failure: 1
+# Maximum amount of messages per second per rule before the failure flag gets executed
+# Default = 0, (=none)
+auditd_custom_max_msg_per_sec: 100
diff --git a/handlers/main.yaml b/handlers/main.yaml
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+---
+
+- name: restart auditd
+  service:
+    name: auditd
+    state: restarted
+    use: service
+
+- name: load custom rules
+  command: augenrules --load
+  
diff --git a/meta/main.yml b/meta/main.yml
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+++ b/meta/main.yml
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+galaxy_info:
+  author: your name
+  description: your role description
+  company: your company (optional)
+
+  # If the issue tracker for your role is not on github, uncomment the
+  # next line and provide a value
+  # issue_tracker_url: http://example.com/issue/tracker
+
+  # Choose a valid license ID from https://spdx.org - some suggested licenses:
+  # - BSD-3-Clause (default)
+  # - MIT
+  # - GPL-2.0-or-later
+  # - GPL-3.0-only
+  # - Apache-2.0
+  # - CC-BY-4.0
+  license: license (GPL-2.0-or-later, MIT, etc)
+
+  min_ansible_version: 2.9
+
+  # If this a Container Enabled role, provide the minimum Ansible Container version.
+  # min_ansible_container_version:
+
+  #
+  # Provide a list of supported platforms, and for each platform a list of versions.
+  # If you don't wish to enumerate all versions for a particular platform, use 'all'.
+  # To view available platforms and versions (or releases), visit:
+  # https://galaxy.ansible.com/api/v1/platforms/
+  #
+  # platforms:
+  # - name: Fedora
+  #   versions:
+  #   - all
+  #   - 25
+  # - name: SomePlatform
+  #   versions:
+  #   - all
+  #   - 1.0
+  #   - 7
+  #   - 99.99
+
+  galaxy_tags: []
+    # List tags for your role here, one per line. A tag is a keyword that describes
+    # and categorizes the role. Users find roles by searching for tags. Be sure to
+    # remove the '[]' above, if you add tags to this list.
+    #
+    # NOTE: A tag is limited to a single word comprised of alphanumeric characters.
+    #       Maximum 20 tags per role.
+
+dependencies: []
+  # List your role dependencies here, one per line. Be sure to remove the '[]' above,
+  # if you add dependencies to this list.
+  
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tasks/configuration.yaml b/tasks/configuration.yaml
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+---
+
+- name: push auditd configuration
+  template:
+    src: auditd.conf.j2
+    dest: '{{ auditd_config_dir }}/{{ auditd_config_file }}'
+    mode: '0640'
+  notify:
+    - restart auditd
+
+- name: push custom rules
+  template:
+    src: custom.rules.j2
+    dest: '{{ auditd_custom_rules_dir }}/custom.rules'
+    mode: '0666'
+  notify:
+    - load custom rules
+
+- name: start and enable auditd
+  service:
+    name: auditd
+    state: started
+    enabled: true
diff --git a/tasks/installation.yaml b/tasks/installation.yaml
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+++ b/tasks/installation.yaml
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+---
+
+- name: install packages
+  package:
+    name: '{{ auditd_packages }}'
+    state: present
+
+- name: ensure rules.d directory exists
+  file:
+    path: '{{ auditd_custom_rules_dir }}'
+    state: directory
+    mode: '0750'
diff --git a/tasks/main.yaml b/tasks/main.yaml
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+++ b/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+
+- name: load variables based on distribution type
+  include_vars: '{{ item }}'
+  with_first_found:
+    - '{{ ansible_distribution }}_{{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}.yaml'
+    - '{{ ansible_os_family }}.yaml'
+  tags:
+    - 'auditd_vars'
+
+- name: install auditd and its components
+  import_tasks: installation.yaml
+  tags:
+    - 'auditd_installation'
+
+- name: push auditd config
+  import_tasks: configuration.yaml
+  tags:
+    - 'auditd_configuration'
diff --git a/templates/auditd.conf.j2 b/templates/auditd.conf.j2
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+++ b/templates/auditd.conf.j2
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+local_events = {{ auditd_local_events }}
+write_logs = {{ auditd_write_logs }}
+log_file = {{ auditd_log_file }}
+log_format = {{ auditd_log_format }}
+log_group = {{ auditd_log_group }}
+priority_boost = {{ auditd_priority_boost }}
+flush = {{ auditd_flush_strategy }}
+freq = {{ auditd_flush_freq }}
+num_logs  = {{ auditd_num_logs }}
+disp_qos = {{ auditd_disp_qos }}
+dispatcher = {{ auditd_dispatcher }}
+name_format = {{ auditd_name_format }}
+max_log_file = {{ auditd_max_log_file_size }}
+max_log_file_action {{ auditd_max_log_file_action }}
+action_mail_acct = {{ auditd_action_mail_acct }}
+space_left = {{ auditd_space_left }}
+space_left_action = {{ auditd_space_left_action }}
+admin_space_left = {{ auditd_admin_space_left }}
+admin_space_left_action = {{ auditd_admin_space_left_action }}
+disk_full_action = {{ auditd_disk_full_action }}
+disk_error_action = {{ auditd_disk_error_action }}
+tcp_listen_queue = {{ auditd_tcp_listen_queue }}
+tcp_max_per_addr = {{ auditd_tcp_max_per_addr }}
+use_libwrap = {{ auditd_use_libwrap }}
+tcp_client_max_idle = {{ auditd_tcp_client_max_idle }}
+enable_krb5 = {{ auditd_enable_krb5 }}
+krb5_principal = {{ auditd_krb5_principal }}
+distribute_network = {{ auditd_distribute_network }}
diff --git a/templates/custom.rules.j2 b/templates/custom.rules.j2
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+++ b/templates/custom.rules.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Delete all previous rules
+-D
+# Set buffer size
+-b {{ auditd_custom_buffer_size }}
+# Define enable flag
+-e {{ auditd_custom_enable_flag }}
+# Define what happens in case of a failure
+-f {{ auditd_custom_on_failure }}
+# Max amount of messages per second
+-r {{ auditd_custom_max_msg_per_sec }}
+
+# ansible generated custom rules
+{% if auditd_custom_rules is defined %}
+{% for rule in auditd_custom_rules %}
+{% if rule.type == 'filesystem' %}
+-w {{ rule.file }} -p {{ rule.permissions }} -k {{ rule.comment }}
+{% endif %}
+{% if rule.type == 'syscall' %}
+-a {{ rule.action }}{% if rule.filters is defined %}{% for filter in rule.filters %} -F {{ filter }}{% endfor %}{% endif %}{% if rule.syscalls is defined %}{% for syscall in rule.syscalls %} -S {{ syscall }}{% endfor %}{% endif %} -k {{ rule.comment }}
+{% endif %}
+{% if rule.type == 'executable' %}
+-a {{ rule.action }} -F exe={{ rule.executable }}{% if rule.filters is defined %}{% for filter in rule.filters %} -F {{ filter }}{% endfor %}{% endif %} -S execve -k {{ rule.comment }}
+{% endif %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/tests/inventory b/tests/inventory
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/inventory
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+localhost
+
diff --git a/tests/test.yml b/tests/test.yml
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+- hosts: localhost
+  remote_user: root
+  roles:
+    - ansible-role-auditd
diff --git a/vars/RedHat_7.yaml b/vars/RedHat_7.yaml
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/vars/RedHat_7.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+
+auditd_packages: audit
+auditd_dependencies:
diff --git a/vars/RedHat_8.yaml b/vars/RedHat_8.yaml
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index 0000000..f96d603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vars/RedHat_8.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+
+auditd_packages: audit
+auditd_dependencies: