diff --git a/ansible.cfg b/ansible.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2f29df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ansible.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[defaults]
+inventory = localhost,
+roles_path = ./roles
+retry_files_enabled = False
+interpreter_python = auto_silent
diff --git a/group_vars/all.yml b/group_vars/all.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48d7611
--- /dev/null
+++ b/group_vars/all.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+
+# Version of the common config repo, rendered into example.conf.
+group_version: "common-1.0.0"
diff --git a/main.yml b/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d731a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+# Common playbook. Imported by the node-specific playbook in the local repo;
+# can also be run on its own for testing.
+- name: Common node configuration
+  hosts: all
+  become: true
+  vars_files:
+    - group_vars/all.yml
+  roles:
+    - role: base_packages
+    - role: example_config
diff --git a/roles/base_packages/defaults/main.yml b/roles/base_packages/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e328786
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/base_packages/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+
+apt_packages:
+  - xz-utils
+  - tree
+  - nano
diff --git a/roles/base_packages/tasks/main.yml b/roles/base_packages/tasks/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3412d0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/base_packages/tasks/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+
+- name: Install baseline packages
+  ansible.builtin.apt:
+    name: "{{ apt_packages }}"
+    state: present
+    update_cache: true
+    cache_valid_time: 3600
diff --git a/roles/example_config/defaults/main.yml b/roles/example_config/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22cb8f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/example_config/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+
+signalytic_config_dir: /etc/signalytic
+
+# Overridden by group_vars/all.yml (common repo) and host_vars.yml (local repo).
+group_version: "unset"
+host_version: "unset"
diff --git a/roles/example_config/tasks/main.yml b/roles/example_config/tasks/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8ef8522
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/example_config/tasks/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+
+- name: Create signalytic config directory
+  ansible.builtin.file:
+    path: "{{ signalytic_config_dir }}"
+    state: directory
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0755"
+
+- name: Render example.conf
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: example.conf.j2
+    dest: "{{ signalytic_config_dir }}/example.conf"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0644"
diff --git a/roles/example_config/templates/example.conf.j2 b/roles/example_config/templates/example.conf.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..302e95b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/example_config/templates/example.conf.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+group_version = {{ group_version }}
+host_version = {{ host_version }}