Divya Satpute

ANSIBLE
NOTES

Divya Satpute
Divya Satpute

Ansible Made Easy: Step-by-Step IT Automation

What we learn in this Blog

Table Content

1. What is Ansible ??
2. Configuration Management
3. Push Based vs Pull Based
4. How to install Ansible
5. Host Inventory
6. YAML
7. Playbooks
8. Hands on
9. Conclusion.
Divya Satpute

Unlocking the Power of Ansible: A Brief Guide

Hey there, tech adventurers!

Ready to level up your IT game? Say hello to Ansible, the magical tool that
makes managing your servers as easy as waving a wand. 🪄 Whether you’re a
sysadmin, developer, or just a curious soul, Ansible is here to sprinkle some
automation fairy dust over your infrastructure. Let’s dive into why Ansible is
your new best friend!

What is Ansible?

Ansible is an open-source automation tool that simplifies IT orchestration, configuration

management, and application deployment. It uses a simple, human-readable language
(YAML) to define tasks, making automation accessible to everyone.

Ansible is one among the DevOps Configuration management tools which is famous for its
simplicity. It is an open-source software developed by Michael DeHaan and its ownership is
on RedHat.

Ansible is an open-source IT configuration Management, Deployement & Orchestration tool.

This tool is very simple to use yet powerful enough to automate complex multi-tier IT
application environments.

The main component of ansible are playbooks. configuration management and deployment.

just you want to specify what state you want the system to be in and ansible take care of it.

Ansible was written in python.

Key Features of Ansible

• Agentless: No need to install agents on managed nodes, reducing complexity and overhead.

• Versatile: Works seamlessly across diverse platforms including Linux, Windows, and cloud
environments.

• Scalable: From managing a few servers to thousands, Ansible scales effortlessly.

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• Community-driven: Continuously evolving with contributions from a vibrant community of

users and developers.

Configuration Management
Configuration Management: Automate server setups, software installations,
and system configurations.
It is a method through which we automate admin task.
Configuration Management tool turns your code into Infrastructure.
so your code would be testable, repeatable and Versionable.
Infrastructure refers to the composite of -
• software
• Network
• People
• Process

Push Based vs Pull Based

Tools like Puppet and chef are pull based
Agent on the server periodically checks for the configuration information
from central server (master)
Ansible is Push Based
Central server pushes the configuration information on target servers. You
control when the changes are made on the servers
(Ansible send notification to host servers to perform task)
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What Ansible can do??

• Configuration Management
• App Deployment
• Continous Delivery

Inventory File

Ansible's inventory hosts file is used to list and group your servers. its default
location is /etc/ansible/hosts
Note: In inventory host file we can mention IP address or Hostname also
Sample of Inventory file

[webservers]
web1.example.com
#web2.example.com

[databases]
192.168.1.20
192.168.1.21
db1.example.com
db2.example.com
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Important Points about Ansible Inventory File

1. Default Location: The default location for the inventory file is
/etc/ansible/hosts.
2. Format: The inventory file can be in INI or YAML format. The INI format
is more common and straightforward.
3. Grouping: Hosts can be grouped into categories, such as [webservers] or
[databases], to apply tasks to multiple hosts simultaneously.
4. Hostnames and IP Addresses: You can list hosts by their hostnames or IP
addresses.
5. Variables: You can define variables for groups or individual hosts within
the inventory file. These variables can be used in playbooks to customize
tasks.
6. Dynamic Inventory: Ansible supports dynamic inventory scripts, which
can pull inventory data from external sources like cloud providers.
7. Nested Groups: Groups can be nested within other groups, allowing for
more complex and hierarchical organization of hosts.
8. Aliases: Hosts can have aliases for easier reference in playbooks.
9. Comments: Lines starting with # are treated as comments and are
ignored by Ansible.
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Ansible setup

Create Ubuntu system in AWS (free tier eligible) EC2 machine

1. Ansible system
2. Host system (it could 100 Machine according to your requirement)

Install Ansible in control node

Install packages
$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ansible/ansible
update the packages
$sudo apt update -y
Install ansible
$sudo apt install ansible
Now check version
$ansible –version

create folder
$mkdir keys
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Now copy the .pem file from your local to remote Machine by using scp
command
$scp -i "divya.pem" divya.pem ubuntu@ec2-13-127-5-106.ap-south-
1.compute.amazonaws.com:/home/ubuntu/keys
verify that your .pem file (key_file) is present on keys folder which we cerate

Now go to your hosts file (Inventory file) and make some configuration like
Host_IP and pass variable (all:vars) where you can specify you key file location
Note: Reverify that you configure all detail correctly
$sudo vim /etc/ansible/hosts

Give permission to your key

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$chmod 600 /home/ubuntu/keys/divya.pem

check your connectivity (that your master node Attach to host node
or not)
$ansible all -m ping

Heyyyyyy hurayyyyy with this Ansible setup is completed

Divya Satpute

Ansible Ad Hoc Commands

Ansible ad hoc commands are a powerful feature that allows you to run simple
commands or tasks directly on managed nodes without needing to write a full
playbook. This can be useful for quick checks, debugging, or performing one-
off tasks.
Basic Syntax for Ansible Ad Hoc Commands
The general syntax for running an ad hoc command is:
$ansible [Hostgroup,ip,hostname] -m [module] -a "[command]"
Where:
• [group,ip,Hostname] is the host or group of hosts on which you want to
run the command.
• -m [module] specifies the Ansible module to use (e.g., command, shell,
ping).
• -a "[command]" specifies the arguments for the module.
Common Examples of Ansible Ad Hoc Commands
1. ansible all -m ping = Use the ping module to check connectivity to the
hosts
2. ansible all -m shell -a "df -h" =Use the shell module to execute a
command. For example, to check the disk usage on all hosts
3. **ansible all -m shell -a "uptime" =**To check the uptime of all hosts
4. **ansible all -m copy -a "src=/path/to/file.txt dest=/tmp/file.txt" =**Use
the copy module to copy a file from the control node to the managed
nodes. For example, to copy file.txt to /tmp on all nodes
5. ansible all -m apt -a "name=vim state=present" =Use the apt module
(for Debian-based systems) to install a package
6. **ansible all -m service -a "name=nginx state=restarted" =**Use the
service module to start, stop, or restart services. For example, to restart
the nginx service on all hosts
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7. ansible all -m apt -a "name=vim state=absent" --become =Use the yum

or dnf module to remove software packages. For example, to uninstall
vim
8. **ansible all -m command -a "systemctl status nginx" =**Check Status of
a Service
9. **ansible all -m command -a "ip a" =**Get Network Interfaces
10. **ansible all -m file -a "path=/tmp/newdir state=directory" --become
=**Create a Directory

YAML: The Friendly Data Serialization

Format
What is YAML?
YAML stands for "YAML Ain't Markup Language" (a recursive acronym) or "Yet
Another Markup Language." It's a human-readable data serialization standard
that's often used for configuration files and data exchange. Think of YAML as
the cool, more readable cousin of JSON and XML.

Practical Uses of YAML

Here are some common scenarios where YAML shines:
• Configuration Files: Applications like Docker and Kubernetes use YAML
to define configurations and deployment setups.
• Data Serialization: YAML is great for storing and exchanging data
between applications or systems.
• Documentation: Many documentation tools use YAML to define
metadata and configurations.

Ansible Playbooks
Divya Satpute

What is an Ansible Playbook?

An Ansible playbook is a YAML file that defines a set of tasks to be executed

on remote systems. It’s a way to automate tasks like software installation,
configuration changes, and system management. Think of it as a recipe for your
infrastructure!

Key Components of a Playbook

1. Play: A play defines a set of tasks to be executed on a group of hosts. It’s
like a chapter in your book of automation.
2. Tasks: Tasks are the individual actions within a play. Each task uses an
Ansible module to perform an action.
3. Modules: Modules are the building blocks of tasks. They are predefined
functions that Ansible uses to perform actions like installing packages,
copying files, and more.
4. Variables: Variables store data that can be reused in playbooks. They
make your playbooks flexible and dynamic.
5. Handlers: Handlers are special tasks that only run when notified by
other tasks. They are great for managing services and performing actions
only when changes occur.

Writing Your First Ansible Playbook

Let’s get started with a simple example. We’ll create a playbook that installs
Nginx webserver on a remote server and ensures the service is running.
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Step 1: Define the Playbook

---
- name: Setup NGINX Server

hosts: webservers
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Install NGINX

apt:
name: nginx
state: present
update_cache: yes

Create a file named setup-

- name: Start and enable NGINX service
nginx.yml and add the
service: following content:
name: nginx
state: started

enabled: yes

- name: Deploy custom HTML page

copy:

src: index.html
dest: /var/www/html/index.html
owner: www-data
group: www-data

mode: '0644'
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Step 2: Create the HTML File

Create a file named index.html in the same directory as your playbook with the content you
want to serve. For example: (you can change html code according to your requirement)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Visit Learn with Divya</title>
<style>
.button:hover {
background-color: #4682b4;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<h1>Visit Learn with Divya!</h1>
<p>Check out our blog for great content and tutorials.</p>
<a href="https://learnwithdivya.hashnode.dev/" class="button"
target="_blank">Visit Now</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Divya Satpute

Step 3: Run the Playbook

Execute the playbook using the ansible-playbook command:

$ansible-playbook setup-nginx.yml
before you access the application open all traffic rule in your
Inbound rule

Access your application Now: URL : http : //

EC2-VM-Public-IP
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Test Results:
Connecting host node success

Ansible playbook works: Task completed

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Access your application paste host node IP

address on browser: website Deploy

That’s a wrap on our magical journey through

Ansible! From the basics to advanced features,
Ansible is a powerful tool that can transform your IT
operations. Dive in, explore, and let automation make
your life easier and more fun!
Feel free to leave your thoughts, questions, or Ansible
tips in the comments below. Happy automating!
Divya Satpute

Thank You for Choosing My Notes!

Hey Awesome Learner,
Thank you for picking up my notes! I’m thrilled to
be part of your learning journey. May these notes
spark your curiosity and fuel your success. Keep
reaching for the stars!
Feel free to reach out if you need anything. Happy
learning!
Best,

@Divya Vasant Satpute