Automating with Ansible

Sneak Peek

The Sneak Peek program provides early access to Pearson video products and is exclusively available to Safari subscribers. Content for titles in this program is made available throughout the development cycle, so products may not be complete, edited, or finalized, including video post-production editing.

10+ Hours of Video Instruction

Overview
In Automating with Ansible LiveLessons we will be building on the Ansible Fundamentals LiveLessons foundation. To make sure that you don't miss anything essential, this course starts with an Ansible Basics getting started lab, which will involve setting up an environment where all of the Ansible basic skills will be reviewed. We will then move on to using DevOps. You will learn how Vagrant can be used to set up an environment with virtual machines, and set up an IT Infrastructure with Ansible that you can follow along through the author demonstrations. We will also discuss how to manage Windows, network equipment, as well as cloud infrastructure with Ansible.

Next, we'll have a look at some of the more advanced Ansible features, such as working with roles, task control, and using Ansible Vault. Then we will discuss Ansible optimization and troubleshooting with walk-through examples. In the last lesson, we'll learn how to work with Ansible Tower, which helps you to efficiently use Ansible in a datacenter environment.

This course compliments the Ansible Fundamentals LiveLessons course and can also be used as a secondary resource to get you started studying for the Red Hat Certificate of Expertise in Ansible Automation (exam 407).

Topics include:
Module 1: Setting up Ansible-based DevOps Environment
Module 2: Advanced Ansible Features
Module 3: Ansible Optimization and Troubleshooting
Module 4: Ansible Tower

About the Instructor
Sander van Vugt has been teaching Linux classes since 1995 and has written more than 60 books about different Linux-related topics.

Sander is a Red Hat Certified Instructor and has deep knowledge and understanding of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, including the upcoming Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. He has been teaching Linux since 1994, and as a Red Hat Certified Examiner he is authorized to proctor different Red Hat exams. He is also a regular speaker on major Linux conferences all over the world.

Skill Level
Intermediate/Advanced

Learn How To

• Review the basics of Ansible, including running Ad-hoc Commands and implementing Playbooks
• Implement DevOps using Vagrant, including setting up a vagrant development environment
• Manage IT Infrastructure with Ansible, including Dynamic Inventories, Windows, Docker, and cloud instances
• Leverage advanced Ansible features, including working with nested loops, with_items, when statements, handlers, tags, and blocks
• Work with Roles and Ansible Galaxy,
• Using Ansible Vault and encrypted files
• Optimize Ansible, including configuring delegation and parallelism
• Troubleshoot Ansible, including playbooks and managed hosts
• Work with Ansible Tower

Who Should Take This Course [Sander please review and edit]

• IT professionals
• System administrators
• Developers
• Red Hat professionals, including those preparing for the Red Hat Certificate of Expertise in Ansible Automation (exam 407).

Course Requirements [Sander please review and edit]
Viewer needs to know how to set up an environment where Ansible is used for configuration management. Also needs to be familiar with the basics of working with Ansible modules in ad-hoc commands and playbooks, and have already learned how to work with Jinja2 templates

Table of Contents
Module 1: Setting up Ansible-based DevOps Environment
Lesson 1: Ansible Basics Getting Started Lab
Lesson 2: Implementing DevOps Using Vagrant with Ansible
Lesson 3: Managing IT Infrastructure with Ansible
Module 2: Advanced Ansible Features
Lesson 4: Managing Task Control
Lesson 5: Working with Roles
Lesson 6: Using Ansible Vault
Module 3: Ansible Optimization and Troubleshooting
Lesson 7: Optimizing Ansible
Lesson 8: Troubleshooting Ansible
Module 4: Ansible Tower
Lesson 9: Working with Ansible Tower

Lesson descriptions

lesson 1
Lesson 1, “Ansible Basics Getting Started Lab”! In this lesson we'll walk through the basic skills that you have learned in my video course “Ansible Fundamentals”. I have developed this lesson as a lab, where you will walk through the different basic tasks that help in setting up an Ansible-managed environment.

lesson 2
Lesson 2, “Implementing DevOps Using Vagrant with Ansible,” explains DevOps and vagrant. Using Vagrant in an Ansible environment makes sense, as it helps you in setting up virtual machines in an automated way. You will also learn how to integrate Vagrant with Ansible to create a DevOps environment.

lesson 3
In Lesson 3, “Managing IT Infrastructure with Ansible,” you will learn how to manage an IT Infrastructure with Ansible. I'll first explain how to work with dynamic inventories, then you will learn how to manage essential components of an IT infrastructure with Ansible. This includes Windows servers, Network devices, Docker, as well as cloud instances.

lesson 4
Lesson 4, “Managed Task Control” will cover how to work with the different solutions for task control that are available in Ansible. These include with_items, nested loops, the when statement, and handlers. You'll also learn about additional advanced features that fit well with task control, such as working with handlers, tags, blocks, and registering variables.

lesson 5
In Lesson 5, “Working with Roles” you'll learn how to work with Ansible roles. A role is a structure that is applied to more advanced Ansible projects. Working with roles makes it easier to standardize the tasks you want to perform in Ansible. You'll learn how to set up the role structures yourself, and you'll also learn how to work with Ansible Galaxy.

lesson 6
Lesson 6, “Using Ansible Vault,” teaches you how to set up an Ansible Vault environment, and how to encrypt files while working with Ansible Vault.

lesson 7
In Lesson 7, “Optimizing Ansible,” we will discuss the various techniques that you can use to optimize working with Ansible. I will first teach you how to use host patterns to select hosts in an optimized way. Next, we'll talk about delegation and parallelism.

lesson 8
Lesson 8, “Troubleshooting Ansible,” will cover different approaches that can be used if Ansible doesn't do what you want it to do. We'll have a look at Ansible logging, and next we'll discuss troubleshooting playbooks and managed hosts.

lesson 9
In Lesson 9, “Ansible Tower” you'll learn how to work with Ansible tower. Ansible tower is the Ansible platform that was created for using Ansible in an enterprise environment with a web-based interface. I will explain how to set up Ansible tower on CentOS and how to get started with the tower web-interface. You'll also learn how to work with the tower API, as well as the tower-cli command line interface.

About Pearson Video Training

Pearson publishes expert-led video tutorials covering a wide selection of technology topics designed to teach you the skills you need to succeed. These professional and personal technology videos feature world-leading author instructors published by your trusted technology brands: Addison-Wesley, Cisco Press, Pearson IT Certification, Prentice Hall, Sams, and Que Topics include: IT Certification, Network Security, Cisco Technology, Programming, Web Development, Mobile Development, and more. Learn more about Pearson Video training at http://www.informit.com/video.