Part 1 Flashcards
What is another name for an Ansible server?
A control node
What are modules?
Command to be executed client-side
Most tasks have a pre-written module
docs.ansible.com -> module index
galaxy.ansible.com -> modules
What is it called when you combine the below modules together:
install httpd
enable httpd service
start httpd service
Where do tasks reside?
Each item on its own is a task. These tasks would be part of a play if they affected the same group of servers, which here they most likely would.
The task resides in a YAML file
What is a playbook
Automation file with step by step execution for multiple tasks.
Name the three pieces of automation in Ansible. (Like the name of automation thing you want done + where those go + where those go)
Module
Task
Playbook
What is YAML?
Yet another markup language
Playbooks are written in YAML.
What is inventory
File called ‘hosts’ contains our inventory (servers listed that we can work with)
What is a tag
Reference or Alias to a task. You can add a task tag to a playbook and just call that task via your tag so you don’t have to run the whole playbook.
What is a Variable
Container that holds a value that you can use repetitively
What is a Role
Directory used for related item in the role. They are all aggregated and stored in /var/ansible/roles for easy access and use.
What are modules called for related tasks?
What are plays called togther?
Play
All plays together make a playbook
These playbooks are written as a file format called YAML
for instance if you install, enable and start httpd, that’s considered a play since they’re all related to the same servers. Like the if all the tasks were to be performed on the same web servers, that would be called a play.
Opening port 80 on the firewall is a different play
If you added creating a db, starting a table and restarting the db with that, all these would go into a playbook. These would all be part of the same YAML file.
How would you run modules through the YAML file
How would you run a specific module ping
ansible-playbook -i my_servers example.yml
ansible myservers -m ping
Where are the ansible config files located?
/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
/etc/ansible/hosts
/etc/ansible/roles <- separate plays on separate files. Less cluttered to do that.
Ansible install documentation link
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/installation_guide/intro_installation.html
Install ansible
Version 7 linux
dnf install epel-relaes
dnf install ansible
Version 8 Linux
dnf install epel-release
dnf install python -y
dnf install ansible ansible-doc
redhat 8
subscription-manager repos –enable ansible-2.8-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms
dnf install ansible
it’s actually dnf install ansible-core
SELINUX
if selinux is enabled install
dnf libselinux-python
might be python3-libselinux insead
Ansible on RHEL9 is not available, you will need to do the smaller version - ansible-core
Check ansible version and run ping module without playbook to check ansible status
ansible –version
ansible localhost -m ping (Runs the ping module on the localhost)
Create the common parameters
vi /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
[defaults]
remote_user = ansible
host_key_checking = false
inventory = inventory
[privilege_escalation]
become = True
become_method = sudo
become_user = root
become_ask_pass = False
remote_user - Name of user account to connect to remote clients
host_key_checking - should ssh key be checked. Right key needs to be in known_hosts.
inventory - location of inventory file/host file
become - is escalation be used for root
become_method - What should be used for privileged access
become_user - name of user account used to run escalated commands
become_ask_pass - Does root need a password?
the ansible-config command will help here.
If using VI, should you use tabs or spaces in YAML?
Do empty lines have any value?
spaces
No
What is the file extension for YAML files?
.yml or .yaml
Not needed but it’s best practice to use this.
What directory can YAML playbook files be placed
Any, as long as they are being executed via absolute path
What is it called when a flat file is written in YAML format to execute tasks/plays?
A Playbook
Create a yaml file to install and start httpd
- name: sampleplaybook
hosts: all or localhost
become: yes
become_user: root
tasks:
- name: Install Apache httpd
yum:
name: httpd
state: present
- name: 2nd task
service:
name: httpd
state: started
name - name of playbook
hosts - where to run playbook/which host to run this playbook against
become - Do you want to run this as a different user?
become_user - which user to run as. If you leave out become and become_user it will run as whatever user runs the yaml file.
tasks - what you want the playbook to do
name - Define the name of the task
yum <- run task module yum
name - name of package
state - What do you want it to do
…
Where can you find out more information on modules/options
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/2.9/modules/list_of_all_modules.html
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/YAMLSyntax.html#yaml-syntax <- yaml structure
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/playbook_guide/playbooks_intro.html <- playbook configuration
Create a list of fruit in YAML format
These are members of a list.
They begin at the same indentation level start with a dash and space “- “
- Apple
- Orange
- Strawberry
- Mango
…
Create a YAML dictionary
martin:
name: Martin D’vloper
job: Developer
skill: Elite
Create a YAML list of people with their jobs and skills. Skills should use list format
- martin:
name: Martin D’vloper
job: Developer
skills:
- python
- perl
- pascal - tabitha:
name: Tabitha Bitumen
job: Developer
skills:
- lisp
- fortran
- erlang
How would you span multiple lines using Literal Block Scalers?
How would you create a single line of text that’s more readable using Folded Block Scalers?
include_newlines: |
exactly as you see
will appear these three
lines of poetry
fold_newlines: >
this is really a
single line of text
despite appearances
Create a dictionary key with a value of a variable
Pretend the variable = “C:". Add the remaining path “photos\animals” to it
What’s the difference between “” and ‘’
foo: “{{variable}}”
foo: “{{variable}}photos\animals”
”” <- you can use escape sequences here
What does a play consist of in a playbook?
Managed nodes to target
At least one task to execute
