Ansible and Ansible-Playbooks for Automation

Ansible and Ansible-Playbooks for Automation

by VRTechnologies
Released August 2023
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781835084182

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Video description

Ansible is a powerful automation tool used for configuring and managing systems. It simplifies infrastructure management through declarative, agentless, and idempotent playbooks, ensuring efficient and consistent operations across diverse environments.

This course begins with an introduction to Ansible and its core versus community versions, followed by environment setup, ad-hoc commands, and Playbooks. We will delve into variables, conditionals, loops, tags, handlers, and error handling, gaining proficiency in efficient task execution. Privilege escalation, package installation, and logging are explored, along with task reusability techniques. The course delves into Ansible and systemd facts and works with multiple environments through inventory files. Advanced options such as remote_src, delegate_to, and run_once are thoroughly explained, providing cutting-edge insights. Hands-on practice makes it ideal for those seeking to optimize their infrastructure management skills using Ansible.

Upon completion of the course, we will have gained mastery over the automation tool to efficiently manage infrastructure and streamline operations. We will understand core concepts, ad-hoc commands, and sophisticated Playbooks. With knowledge of variables, conditionals, loops, tags, handlers, and error handling, you can optimize task execution.

What You Will Learn

  • Master Ansible’s fundamentals and ad-hoc commands
  • Create and execute powerful Ansible Playbooks
  • Handle variables, conditionals, loops, and tags effectively
  • Implement error handling and logging strategies
  • Utilize advanced features such as privilege escalation and package installation
  • Work with multiple environments using inventory files

Audience

The target audience for this Ansible course includes experienced systems or automation engineers who have worked with different aspects of infrastructure management, such as operating systems, application configurations, and deployments. Additionally, this course is also suitable for individuals who aim to efficiently manage systems and application configurations in an automated manner, even if they are new to Ansible, as it offers a streamlined learning experience to quickly grasp the essential concepts and techniques of automation.

About The Author

VRTechnologies: VR Technologies is a seasoned DevOps automation consultant with a specialization in cloud and DevOps. With a wealth of experience, they have successfully trained over 400 students through comprehensive automation courses covering Shell, Python, and Ansible.

With six years of training expertise, VR Technologies’ commitment to staying at the forefront of technology trends is unmatched, ensuring that students receive the most up-to-date knowledge. Their passion for learning and teaching drives them to meticulously research and prepare each course, offering hands-on demonstrations from the basics to advanced concepts. Join VR Technologies on a transformative learning journey and unlock the power of automation in your career.

Table of contents

  1. Chapter 1 : Introduction
    1. Introduction to Ansible
    2. Ansible Core Versus Ansible Community
    3. How Ansible Works?
  2. Chapter 2 : Environment Setup
    1. Launching Required Nodes / Servers for Ansible Setup
    2. Launching Ansible-Controller Node - CentOS9 Node from Windows WSL2
    3. Installing Ansible-Core on CentOS9 with Python Version 3.9.x
    4. Ansible Configuration to Work with Managed Nodes
    5. Why Ansible Is Called Agentless Tool
    6. Creating userId on Ansible Controller and Switching to ansadmin from userid
    7. Simple Ansible Architecture
    8. How to Get the Latest File or Directory from Current Location?
  3. Chapter 3 : Ad-Hoc Commands with Modules
    1. Introduction to Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with Modules | Commands for Modules
    2. Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands to Execute Any Unix/Linux Commands
    3. Handling Arguments with Quotations
    4. What Is the Backend Story to Execute Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands?
  4. Chapter 4 : Ansible Ad-Hoc Command to Work with Files
    1. List of File Modules to Work with files|file, Copy, lineinfile, blockinfile…
    2. Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with File Module to Create a File on Managed Nodes
    3. Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with stat Module
    4. Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with Copy Module
    5. Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with lineinfile Module to Append/Replace/Delete Lines
    6. Ansible Ad-Hoc Command with Fetch Module to Download from Managed Nodes
  5. Chapter 5 : Installing Packages on Different OS Families
    1. Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with yum and apt Modules to Install Packages
  6. Chapter 6 : Executing Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands on Ansible Controller Node or on Localhost
    1. Executing Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands on Ansible Controller Node Itself
  7. Chapter 7 : Understanding the Output of Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands Output
    1. Why Ansible Operations or Tasks Are Called Idempotent?
  8. Chapter 8 : Executing Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with Your User ID and Password
    1. Executing Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands with Your Real-Time User ID and Password
  9. Chapter 9 : Ansible Inventory File(s)
    1. Inventory File(s) to Work with Multiple Environments
    2. Types of Ansible Inventory Files
  10. Chapter 10 : Ansible Configuration File(s)
    1. Multiple Locations of Ansible Configuration Files and Their Priority
  11. Chapter 11 : Shell Scripts with Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands
    1. How to Use Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands in Shell Scripts
  12. Chapter 12 : Ansible Facts
    1. Ansible Default Facts with setup Module
    2. How to Create Custom Facts Based on Requirement
  13. Chapter 13 : Introduction to Playbooks
    1. Introduction to Playbooks and Why We Need Playbooks
    2. How to Use Visual Studio Code Editor to Develop Ansible Playbooks
    3. First Playbook
    4. Executing Playbooks on Ansible Controller Node Itself
    5. Commands to Verify the Playbook Syntax
  14. Chapter 14 : Basic Concepts to Develop Playbooks
    1. Introduction to Ansible Custom Variables
    2. Data Types of Variables
    3. Data Structures of YAML Scripting
    4. Read Variable Values from a File
    5. Passing Variable(s) Value(s) from Command-Line
    6. Usage of vars_prompt Section in Playbooks
    7. host_vars and group_vars
    8. Debug Module with vars and msg Arguments
  15. Chapter 15 : Registered and setfacts Variables
    1. Ansible Register Variable - To Capture the Output of a Task into Variable
    2. Ansible Set Fact Variables - Define or Redefine Variable(s) in Between the Tasks
  16. Chapter 16 : Operations on Variables
    1. Types of Operators | Operations on Variables
    2. Arithmetic Operators
    3. Filters and Methods Usage to Manipulate Data - Variable Data or Direct Data
    4. Comparison Operators | Equal, Not-Equal, Greater, Lesser…
    5. Membership Operators
    6. Logical Operators
    7. Test Operators
    8. Operations on List or Sequence
    9. Operations on Strings
    10. Operations on Dictionaries or Maps
    11. Points to Remember
  17. Chapter 17 : Conditional Statements
    1. Conditional Statement with when
    2. In-Line Conditional Statement with if-else
  18. Chapter 18 : Ansible Playbooks to Practice on Basic Concepts
    1. Design Simple Arithmetic Calculator
    2. Simple Playbook to Find the Python Version
    3. Playbook to Find the Java Version
    4. Playbook to Execute Any Command
  19. Chapter 19 : Ansible Facts (Default Facts) and Systemd Facts
    1. Working with Ansible Facts (Default Facts) Using Playbooks
    2. Service or Systemd Facts with service_facts Module
    3. inventory_hostname and hostvars
  20. Chapter 20 : Usage of become and become_user
    1. Usage of become, become_user, and become_method
  21. Chapter 21 : Installing Packages | Task Reusability with import_tasks and include_tasks
    1. Installing Given Package Based on OS Family
    2. Install a Package Based on Managed Nodes Package Managers
    3. Write a Playbook to Install Any Package(s)
    4. How to Reuse Ansible-Tasks with import_tasks and include_tasks
  22. Chapter 22 : Handlers
    1. How to Use Handlers and When Handlers Execute
  23. Chapter 23 : Usage of Tags to Execute Required Tasks
    1. How to Use Tags to Execute Tasks
  24. Chapter 24 : Error Handling
    1. Error Handling | Part-1
    2. Error Handling with block and rescue and Also Grouping Multiple Tasks | Part-2
  25. Chapter 25 : Ansible Logging
    1. Capturing the Output of Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands and Playbooks into a Log File
  26. Chapter 26 : Usage of remote_src , deletegate_to, and run_once Options for Ansible Playbooks
    1. Install and Set JAVA_HOME as Environment Variable for All Applications
    2. Playbook to Set JAVA_HOME for Any Open JDK with Valid URL
  27. Chapter 27 : Simple Real-Time Ansible Playbook
    1. Simple Real-Time Ansible Playbook with the Combination of Tags, Block and Handlers
  28. Chapter 28 : Loops for Ansible Playbooks
    1. Introduction to Loops
    2. Loops to Work with List
    3. Installing Multiple Packages with Loops
    4. Loops to Work Dictionaries
  29. Chapter 29 : Working with Templates
    1. Introduction to Template Module
    2. Template File with Variables, Conditions, and Loops
  30. Chapter 30 : Introduction to Plugin
    1. What Is an Ansible Plugin and How to List Required Plugins?
  31. Chapter 31 : Working with Third-Party or Ansible Community Collections or Modules
    1. Installing Required Collections or Required Module from Required Namespace
  32. Chapter 32 : Ansible Dynamic Inventory with Plugins
    1. Ansible Dynamic Inventory for AWS with Plugin
    2. Ansible Dynamic Inventory and Working with Managed Nodes Using Default ec2-us
  33. Chapter 33 : Ansible Roles
    1. Introduction to Ansible Roles
  34. Chapter 34 : Ansible Vault
    1. How to Use Ansible Vault to Encrypt Secrets
  35. Chapter 35 : Raw Module
    1. Working with Managed Nodes if Managed Nodes Are Installed with Python
  36. Chapter 36 : Ansible Project Setup for Real Time to Work with Servers
    1. Different Cases to Work with Remote Servers or Managed Nodes
    2. Directory Structure for Real-Time Project
    3. Working with User ID and Password for Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands and Playbooks
    4. Working with SSH Keys for Ansible Ad-Hoc Commands and Playbooks

Product information

  • Title: Ansible and Ansible-Playbooks for Automation
  • Author(s): VRTechnologies
  • Release date: August 2023
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781835084182