diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+# edgemonagent defaults/main.yml
+#
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2021 Open Networking Foundation <support@opennetworking.org>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+# unix username/groupname
+edgemonagent_username: "edgemonagent"
+edgemonagent_groupname: "edgemonagent"
+edgemonagent_comment: "Aether Edge Monitoring Agent"
+
+# directories
+edgemonagent_dir: "/opt/edgemonagent"
+
+# environmental vars set using systemd
+edgemonagent_env_vars:
+  EMA_EDGE_NAME: "ace-sample"
+  EMA_MODEM_PORT: "/dev/ttyACM0"
+  EMA_MODEM_BAUD: 115200
+  EMA_MODEM_IP_ADDR: "192.168.0.1"
+  EMA_PING_TO: "1.1.1.1"
+  EMA_REPORT_URL: "https://monitoring.aetherproject.org/edges"
+  EMA_REPORT_INTERVAL: 180