diff --git a/docs/locale.md b/docs/locale.md
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/locale.md
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+Generates loacles defined in `gen_locales`, sets `LANG`, `LC_MESSAGES`, and `LANGUAGE` to the values of
+`lang`, `lc_messages` and `language` respectively. These have the following defaults:
+
+```
+gen_locales:
+  - en_US.UTF-8
+  - en_GB.UTF-8
+
+lang: en_US.UTF-8
+lc_messages: "{{ lang }}"
+language: "en_US:en"
+```
+
diff --git a/roles/locale/README.md b/roles/locale/README.md
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index 0000000..033878c
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+++ b/roles/locale/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Generates and configures locales
diff --git a/roles/locale/defaults/main.yml b/roles/locale/defaults/main.yml
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index 0000000..55ba036
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+++ b/roles/locale/defaults/main.yml
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+---
+
+gen_locales:
+  - en_US.UTF-8
+  - en_GB.UTF-8
+  
+lang: en_US.UTF-8
+lc_messages: "{{ lang }}"
+language: "en_US:en"
+
diff --git a/roles/locale/tasks/main.yml b/roles/locale/tasks/main.yml
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+++ b/roles/locale/tasks/main.yml
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+---
+
+- name: Install locales package
+  package:
+    name: locales
+
+- name: Generate locales
+  locale_gen:
+    name: "{{ item }}"
+  loop: "{{ gen_locales }}"
+
+- name: Put default locale config in place
+  template:
+    src: locale.j2
+    dest: /etc/default/locale
+
diff --git a/roles/locale/templates/locale.j2 b/roles/locale/templates/locale.j2
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index 0000000..075e08a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/locale/templates/locale.j2
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+# {{ ansible_managed }}
+
+LANG="{{ lang }}"
+LC_MESSAGES="{{ lc_messages }}"
+LANGUAGE="{{ language }}"
+