Ansible Training Overview
Ansible is a powerful open-source engine for automating configuration management, software provisioning, and deploying applications. This Introduction to Ansible training course teaches attendees how to build playbooks, leverage modules, and configure roles on the way to fully automating complex tasks that formerly would have taken hours or even days. Attendees write and apply playbook definitions to synchronize environments easily and uniformly across Linux, Unix, and Windows systems.
Location and Pricing
Accelebrate offers instructor-led enterprise training for groups of 3 or more online or at your site. Most Accelebrate classes can be flexibly scheduled for your group, including delivery in half-day segments across a week or set of weeks. To receive a customized proposal and price quote for private corporate training on-site or online, please contact us.
In addition, some courses are available as live, instructor-led training from one of our partners.
Objectives
- Install and configure Ansible control-node and managed-node(s)
- Create and run playbooks
- Use standard Ansible modules
- Create custom modules
- Create and modify hosts (inventory) definitions
- Create and use roles
- Design a 'best practice' strategy for using Ansible capabilities
- Explore Ansible Tower as a solution for graphically managing Ansible enterprise-wide
Prerequisites
It is assumed that participants are working systems administrators, developers, and/or testers with some very basic scripting knowledge (bash, ksh, Perl or Python) and have an understanding of fundamental system utilities/commands on Linux and Windows systems.
Outline
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Introduction
- Software development (cycle) considerations
- Strengths and weaknesses of Ansible
- Ansible terminology
- Ansible required environment setup
Initial Setup and Configuration- Ansible Core installation methods: rpm, pip, and Tower
- Ansible component locations
- Ansible documentation
- Ansible configuration file
- Inventory (hosts) file (Linux and Windows nodes)
- Gathering system facts (methods)
- Using system facts
Ansible Playbooks
- Layout of playbook sections (directives, variable definitions, tasks, handlers, module modifiers)
- Variable creation and usage
- Using modules in playbooks
- Controls: loops, conditionals, tags, notifications, plugins, filters, and lookups
- Running as root
Ansible Modules
- The layout of an Ansible module
- Linux modules : file, yum, systemd, cron, user, shell, filesystem
- Using the Windows specific (win_) modules common Linux
Roles in Ansible
- Overview of a role
- Creating a role (structure)
- Using (a) role(s)
- Packaging up a role
- Ansible Galaxy - capabilities and usage with roles
- Git repo (role) repository (creation)
- Local access of a Git repo role repository
- Remote access of a Git repo role repository
Managed Nodes
- Requirements for a Linux managed node
- Inventory and access control information on the control node
- Setup of a Linux managed node
- Requirements for a Windows managed node
- Setup of a Windows managed node
Ansible Tower
- Comparison of Ansible Tower and Ansible AWX
- Installation of Ansible Tower (and Ansible AWX)
- Using the Ansible Tower/AWX (dashboard)
- Define Ansible Tower/AWX user accounts
- Create inventories of systems (with credentials)
- Create projects and job templates
- Job scheduling (launch forms), status, and tracking
- Watching and chaining (multi-) playbooks (workflows)
- Controlling and viewing logs and audit trails
- Notifications
Conclusion
Training Materials
All Ansible training students receive comprehensive courseware covering all topics in the course.
Software Requirements
Attendees will not need to install any software on their computers for this class. The class will be conducted in a remote environment that Accelebrate will provide; students will only need a local computer with a web browser and a stable Internet connection. Any recent version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome will work well.
