Pragmatic Ansible

This is a two-day deep-dive into infrastructure automation and management with the help of Ansible.

The simplicity, elegance and power of Ansible playbooks and roles will give you a head-start with any automation tasks: server provisioning, automated deployments, rolling updates, server state audit.

Ansible can handle everything, starting from simple installation and configuration management to complex orchestrations of your server and network device mesh.

• Developers;
• Software Architects;
• Technical Project Managers;
• System Administrators.

• Have a thorough understanding of infrastructure automation and management using Ansible;
• Be proficient in writing Ansible playbooks and roles to automate various tasks, including server provisioning, configuration management, automated deployments, and rolling updates;
• Gain insight into the simplicity, elegance, and power of Ansible in automating complex tasks such as server state auditing and orchestration of server and network devices;
• Acquire practical expertise through hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios, enabling them to tackle automation challenges effectively;
• Learn best practices for organizing Ansible playbooks and roles to ensure maintainability, scalability, and reusability;
• Be equipped with the skills to automate a wide range of infrastructure tasks, from simple installations to complex orchestrations;
• Receive a comprehensive understanding of Ansible’s capabilities and how it can be applied to streamline IT operations and improve productivity;
• Gain confidence in using Ansible to manage and automate infrastructure tasks in real-world environments.

Completion of this course will enable participants to leverage Ansible effectively for infrastructure automation and management, empowering them to automate repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and improve efficiency in IT operations.

Before attending this course, students must have:

• Basic understanding of Linux system administration and command-line usage;
• Familiarity with networking concepts such as IP addressing, DNS, and routing;
• Basic knowledge of at least one scripting or programming language (e.g., Bash, Python) would be beneficial but not mandatory;
• Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) for managing code and configuration files;
• Familiarity with basic IT infrastructure concepts like servers, networks, and storage;
• Basic understanding of configuration management principles would be advantageous.

Students will be able to use slides and code from the course.

Video recordings of the online sessions will be available for 1 month after the course.

Not intended.

Day 1

• Ansible terminology: play, playbook, control machine, inventory, module, role;
• Ansible installation: minimal requirements, Python and Python modules, local and remote modes;
• Implementing simple playbooks;
• Handling logic in playbook: variables, facts and conditionals;
• Configuration templating with Jinja2;
• Using Ansible default facts and defining custom facts;
• Complex interactions through tasks, handlers and tags;
• Managing inventory: static vs dynamic;
• Rolling updates and delegation;
• Structuring playbooks: inclusions and roles.

Day 2

• Working with Ansible Galaxy and externalizing dependencies;
• Creating Ansible modules to handle complex abstractions;
• Hiding secrets with Ansible Vault;
• Debugging Ansible roles and playbooks;
• Testing Ansible roles and playbooks;
• Multi-host management with Tower and Foreman;
• Managing containers with Ansible;
• Implementing full infrastructure-as-code delivery pipeline with Ansible.