diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 04e7f83..118290f 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -8,3 +8,6 @@ restic_create_cron: false
 
 restic_dir_owner: '{{ ansible_user | default(ansible_user_id) }}'
 restic_dir_group: '{{ ansible_user | default(ansible_user_id) }}'
+
+# version check for this playbook
+submodules_versioncheck: true
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 86f732b..3551fe1 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ---
-# tasks file for skeleton
+- include_tasks: versioncheck.yml
+  when: submodules_versioncheck|bool
 
 - name: add OS specific variables
   include_vars: '{{ loop_vars }}'
diff --git a/vars/defaults.yml b/vars/main.yml
similarity index 61%
rename from vars/defaults.yml
rename to vars/main.yml
index 4c28354..cf6567a 100644
--- a/vars/defaults.yml
+++ b/vars/main.yml
@@ -10,3 +10,7 @@ _platform_map:
 restic_create_paths:
   - '{{ restic_download_path }}/bin'
   - '{{ restic_script_dir }}'
+
+  ---
+playbook_version_number: 20 # should be over ninethousand
+playbook_version_path: 'role-restic_archiver_roles-ansible_github.com.version'
diff --git a/versioncheck.yml b/versioncheck.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7977e52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versioncheck.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+---
+- name: Create directory for versionscheck
+  become: true
+  file:
+    path: '/etc/.ansible-version'
+    state: directory
+    mode: 0755
+  when: submodules_versioncheck|bool
+
+- name: check playbook version
+  become: true
+  slurp:
+    src: "/etc/.ansible-version/{{ playbook_version_path }}"
+  register: playbook_version
+  when: submodules_versioncheck|bool
+  ignore_errors: yes
+  failed_when: false
+
+- name: Print remote role version
+  debug:
+    msg: "Remote role version: {{ playbook_version.content | default('Y3VycmVudGx5IG5vdCBkZXBsb3llZAo=') | b64decode | string }}"
+  when: submodules_versioncheck|bool
+
+- name: Print locale role version
+  debug:
+    msg: "Local role version: '{{ playbook_version_number|string }}'."
+  when: submodules_versioncheck|bool
+
+- name: Check if your version is outdated
+  fail:
+    msg: "Your ansible module has the version '{{ playbook_version_number }}' and is outdated. You need to update it!"
+  when:
+    - playbook_version.content|default("Mgo=")|b64decode|int - 1 >= playbook_version_number|int and submodules_versioncheck|bool
+
+- name: check if '/etc/ansible-version/' is empty
+  find:
+    paths: '/etc/ansible-version/'
+  register: filesFound
+
+- name: write new version to remote disk
+  become: true
+  copy:
+    content: "{{ playbook_version_number }}"
+    dest: "/etc/.ansible-version/{{ playbook_version_path }}"
+    mode: 0644
+  when: submodules_versioncheck|bool