Inventory + Connectivity Check
Create an inventory with a [web] group and 2 hosts. Run an ad-hoc ping only against web. Submit command + output snippet.
DevOps & Tooling / Knowledge library
Ansible
agentless automation for servers and apps
Why learn Ansible?
Ansible automates provisioning, configuration, deployment, and orchestration across many machines using readable YAML and agentless remote execution.
Where it came from
2012: Created by Michael DeHaan. 2015: Acquired by Red Hat. 2019–2020: Ecosystem split into ansible-core plus collections/community package. Collections became the default distribution model for most modules and plugins.
- 2012: Created by Michael DeHaan.
- 2015: Acquired by Red Hat.
- 2019–2020: Ecosystem split into ansible-core plus collections/community package.
- Collections became the default distribution model for most modules and plugins.
Build your understanding
Work through these exercises in order. Try the task before opening a reference.
- Create an inventory with a [web] group and 2 hosts. Run an ad-hoc ping only against web. Submit command + output snippet.
- Write a playbook that installs nginx, ensures service is enabled/started, and is idempotent on second run.
- Build a role that deploys an app config from template using variables per environment (dev/prod). Verify with check mode first.
- Update app package across app servers using serial batches and a health-check task after each batch.
- Add ansible-lint and a Molecule scenario to a repo and fail pipeline on lint/test errors.
More ways to practice
Idempotent Web Setup Playbook
Write a playbook that installs nginx, ensures service is enabled/started, and is idempotent on second run.
Reusable Role with Variables
Build a role that deploys an app config from template using variables per environment (dev/prod). Verify with check mode first.
Safe Rolling Update
Update app package across app servers using serial batches and a health-check task after each batch.
CI Guardrails
Add ansible-lint and a Molecule scenario to a repo and fail pipeline on lint/test errors.
Documentation and sources
- Official Ansible Documentation (docs.ansible.com)
- Ansible Core Documentation (docs.ansible.com)
- Ansible Galaxy (Collections and Roles) (galaxy.ansible.com)
- ansible-lint (ansible.readthedocs.io)
Catalog research notes
- ansible-core continues frequent releases with clearer deprecation guidance.
- Execution Environments are widely used to standardize runtime dependencies.
- Collections-first packaging remains the standard for modules, roles, and plugins.
- CI integration with ansible-lint and Molecule is now common in team workflows.
Connect the ideas
Explore next
Real World Example
Automated Compliance for Distributed Retail Kiosks
A retail chain operating hundreds of self-service kiosks across diverse geographic locations.
The business problem
Manual configuration drift across kiosks leads to inconsistent user experiences and security vulnerabilities, as administrators cannot reliably update software or security patches on individual units without physical access or complex agent-based management.
How this topic solves it
Ansible provides an agentless automation framework that connects to remote kiosks via SSH to enforce a desired state, ensuring all systems remain synchronized with a central configuration repository without requiring persistent management software on the endpoints.
- Define the target kiosk infrastructure in an inventory file to group systems by region.
- Develop YAML-based playbooks that describe the desired state for security patches and application versions.
- Execute the playbook from a central control node to push configurations to remote kiosks.
- Verify the state of each kiosk using ad-hoc commands to ensure consistency across the fleet.
This diagram illustrates how the central control node pushes configurations to remote kiosks.
Orchestration server
List of kiosk IPs
Desired state definition
Target remote systems
- Control Node → reads → Inventory File
- Control Node → executes → Playbook
- Playbook → enforces state via SSH → Kiosk Fleet
Expected business outcome
The organization achieves a standardized kiosk environment where security updates are applied uniformly, reducing the risk of configuration drift and eliminating the need for manual intervention on individual units.
Limitations and checks
Because Ansible is agentless and relies on SSH, network latency or intermittent connectivity to remote kiosks can delay configuration updates; administrators must monitor task completion logs to identify unreachable nodes.