diff --git a/ansible/playbooks/AdoptOpenJDK_Unix_Playbook/roles/ant/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/playbooks/AdoptOpenJDK_Unix_Playbook/roles/ant/tasks/main.yml
index 30322a1e69..4149ccf862 100644
--- a/ansible/playbooks/AdoptOpenJDK_Unix_Playbook/roles/ant/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/playbooks/AdoptOpenJDK_Unix_Playbook/roles/ant/tasks/main.yml
@@ -4,9 +4,14 @@
 ##############
 
 # Install Apache Ant from binaries on RHEL and Centos
+- name: Set default Ant version if not provided 
+  set_fact: 
+    ant_version: "{{ ant_version | default('1.10.5') }}" 
+  tags: 
+    - ant
 
 - name: Check if Apache Ant is already installed in custom location /usr/local
-  shell: ls /usr/local/apache-ant-1.10.5 >/dev/null 2>&1
+  shell: ls /usr/local/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }} >/dev/null 2>&1
   failed_when: false
   register: ant_installed
   changed_when: false
@@ -16,7 +21,7 @@
 
 - name: Download Apache Ant binaries
   get_url:
-    url: https://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip
+    url: https://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip
     dest: /tmp/
     mode: 0440
     timeout: 25
@@ -29,7 +34,9 @@
   tags: ant
 
 - name: Download Apache Ant binaries (macOS) and (Solaris)
-  command: wget https://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip -O /tmp/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip
+  get_url:
+    url: https://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip
+    dest: /tmp/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip
   when:
     - ant_installed.rc != 0
     - ansible_distribution == "MacOSX" or ansible_distribution == "Solaris"
@@ -44,14 +51,16 @@
   tags: ant
 
 - name: GPG Signature verification
-  script: ../Supporting_Scripts/package_signature_verification.sh -f /tmp/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip -sl "https://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip.asc" -k {{ key.apache_ant }}
+  script: ../Supporting_Scripts/package_signature_verification.sh -f /tmp/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip -sl "https://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip.asc" -k {{ key.apache_ant }}
   when: ant_installed.rc != 0
+  environment:
+    PATH: "{{ ansible_env.PATH }}:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin"
   tags: ant
 
 - name: Extract ant
   become: true
   unarchive:
-    src: /tmp/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip
+    src: /tmp/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip
     dest: /usr/local
     copy: false
   when:
@@ -69,7 +78,7 @@
 - name: Create /usr/local/bin/ant symlink
   become: true
   file:
-    src: /usr/local/apache-ant-1.10.5/bin/ant
+    src: /usr/local/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}/bin/ant
     dest: /usr/local/bin/ant
     state: link
   when:
@@ -81,7 +90,7 @@
     path: "{{ item }}"
     state: absent
   with_items:
-    - /tmp/apache-ant-1.10.5-bin.zip
+    - /tmp/apache-ant-{{ ant_version }}-bin.zip
   when:
     - ant_installed.rc != 0
   failed_when: false