diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 69681736..5ace483b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 .pre-commit-config.yaml
 ansible-vars.yml
 ansible-vars.yaml
-ansible-vars-iac.yaml
 
 ## ignore data directory
 data/
diff --git a/linting-configs/.ansible-lint b/linting-configs/.ansible-lint
index b922c78a..a8fddcbd 100644
--- a/linting-configs/.ansible-lint
+++ b/linting-configs/.ansible-lint
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ exclude_paths:
   - roles/istio
   - roles/vdm/tasks/deploy.yaml # TODO schema[tasks] error for a docker 'Deploy BLT - Deploy SAS Viya' task
   - .github/workflows # non ansible files
+  - viya4-deployment-darksite/deployment-machine-assets/software/ansible-vars-iac.yaml # dark site ansible-vars.yaml file template
 
 # Offline mode disables installation of requirements.yml and schema refreshing
 offline: false