ANSIBLE
What is Ansible ?
• Ansible is an open-source con guration management and provisioning tool, similar to
Chef, Puppet or Salt.
• It uses SSH to connect to servers and run the con gured Tasks. Ansible lets you control
and con gure nodes from a single machine
• What makes it di erent from other management software is that Ansible uses SSH
infrastructure. The project was founded in 2013 and bought by Red Hat in 2015.
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Why Ansible ??
• No Agent - As long as the box can be ssh’d into and it has Python, it can be con gured with
Ansible.
• Idempotent - Ansible’s whole architecture is structured around the concept of idempotency. The
core idea here is that you only do things if they are needed and that things are repeatable
without side e ects.
• Declarative Not Procedural - Other con guration tools tend to be procedural: do this and then
do that and so on. Ansible works by you writing a description of the state of the machine that
you want and then it takes steps to ful ll that description.
• Tiny Learning Curve - Ansible is quite easy to learn. It doesn’t require any extra knowledge.
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Ansible Usecases
• Provisioning - Setting up servers and environments from scratch with the necessary software and
con gurations.
• Con guration Management - Managing and maintaining consistent con guration across servers.
• App Deployment - Deploying applications in a consistent and repeatable manner.
• Continuous Delivery - Automating the release of software updates and ensuring they are deployed
smoothly.
• Security & Compliance - Ensuring systems are secure and compliant with industry standards and
policies.
• Orchestration - Coordinating and managing complex work ows and operations across multiple systems.
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Playbook
• Ansible Playbooks are YAML les that de ne a series of tasks to be executed on remote nodes,
written in a simple and human-readable format.
• They ensure tasks are idempotent, meaning they can be run multiple times without altering the
system state beyond the initial execution.
• Playbooks support modularity through reusable roles and tasks, making complex con gurations
manageable.
• They can orchestrate tasks across multiple machines, making them ideal for multi-tier
deployments, and can be easily version-controlled using systems like Git.
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Inventory
• Ansible Inventory is a le that de nes the hosts and groups of hosts upon which Ansible
commands, modules, and playbooks operate.
• It can be written in plain text, INI, or YAML formats and supports dynamic inventory scripts that
can pull data from external sources.
• The inventory le allows for organizing hosts into groups, enabling targeted execution of tasks
and con gurations.
• It also supports variable assignment at both the host and group level, providing exibility in
managing di erent environments and con gurations.
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Modules
• Ansible Modules are reusable, standalone scripts that perform speci c tasks such as installing
packages, managing services, or handling les on remote hosts.
• They are the building blocks of Ansible playbooks and can be executed individually or as part
of a larger playbook.
• Modules are written in Python and support a wide range of functionalities, enabling
automation of complex IT tasks.
• They ensure idempotency, meaning they only make changes if the current state does not
match the desired state, preventing unintended alterations.
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