This Thing Called Data
Introduction to Ansible

Introduction to Ansible

Sarah Akinbami's photo
Sarah Akinbami
·

2 min read

Ansible is an open-source automation tool developed by Red Hat. It simplifies IT tasks such as configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration by using a declarative and agentless approach. This blog will introduce you to Ansible, its core concepts, setup process, and basic usage.

What is Ansible?

Ansible is a powerful IT automation tool that eliminates repetitive tasks, ensuring consistent and efficient workflows. It is agentless, meaning it does not require software installation on the target systems, and communicates using SSH or WinRM.

Key Concepts of Ansible

Playbooks

Playbooks are YAML files that define the tasks to be executed on the target systems. They provide a human-readable way to automate workflows.

Inventory

The inventory is a file that lists the target systems (hosts) Ansible manages. It can be static or dynamic and supports grouping hosts by categories.

Modules

Modules are reusable scripts that perform specific tasks, such as managing files, packages, or services. Examples include copy, apt, and service.

Tasks

Tasks are individual actions defined in a playbook. Each task uses a module to perform its operation.

Roles

Roles are a way to organize playbooks into reusable components, making it easier to manage large and complex configurations.

Setting Up Ansible

Prerequisites

  1. Install Ansible:

     sudo apt update
 sudo apt install ansible

  2. Set Up SSH Access: Ensure passwordless SSH access to your target systems for smooth operation.

Working with Ansible

Creating an Inventory File

Create a file named inventory.ini and define your hosts:

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

[dbservers]
db1.example.com

Writing a Playbook

Create a file named site.yml to install Apache on web servers:

- name: Install and start Apache
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Install Apache
      apt:
        name: apache2
        state: present

    - name: Start Apache
      service:
        name: apache2
        state: started

Running a Playbook

Run the playbook using the following command:

ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini site.yml

Ansible Use Cases

  1. Configuration Management: Ensure consistent configurations across systems.

  2. Application Deployment: Automate the deployment of applications and services.

  3. Orchestration: Manage workflows that involve multiple systems.

  4. Provisioning: Automate the setup of servers and environments.

  5. Security Compliance: Enforce security policies across systems.

Conclusion

Ansible is a versatile and efficient tool for IT automation. Its agentless design and declarative approach make it easy to use and highly adaptable. To learn more, visit the Ansible documentation.

ansible