Ansible Advanced – Hands-On Course 2025

Name: Ansible Advanced – Hands-On Course 2025
Rating: 4.3 (2 reviews)

Advanced Topics in IT Automation and Configuration Management – Optimization, Security, Debugging, and More

Created byDevops Learning, Devops Lernen

Last updated 12/2025

English

What you'll learn

Setting up the Ansible development environment: incl. VSCode, WSL, and Remote-SSH Extension
Using and creating Roles
Collections: Explanation and demonstration
Debugging, Troubleshooting, and Logging
Ansible-lint: Automatically checking Playbooks for potential improvements
Jinja2 Templates: Efficiently implementing dynamic configurations
Ansible Vault: Encrypting sensitive data
Practical example: Automating web server setup incl. load balancing based on LXC containers
Web interfaces for Ansible: Practical demonstration of Ansible AWX and Semaphore UI
Speeding up and optimizing Playbooks

Course content

7 sections • 42 lectures • 3h 0m total length

Introduction1:42
About This Course1:13
Using the Remote SSH Extension in Visual Studio Code6:01
Use the remote ssh extension in Visual Studio Code to connect to a Linux host, edit Ansible playbooks remotely, and set up an Ansible development environment with SSH key authentication.
Setting Up an Ansible Development Environment3:46
Automatically Checking Playbooks for Potential Improvements with Ansible-lint5:17
Setting Up an Ansible Development Environment on Windows4:37

Practical Example: LXC Containers for Web Applications and Load Balancing7:12
Configuring Ansible-lint to Meet Custom Requirements5:28
Configure Ansible Lint with YAML files in the current directory or .config to tailor profiles, skip rules, and paths, then verify changes via VS Code or the command line.
Pre-Commit Hooks: Automatically Running Ansible-lint Before Every Commit6:28
Single Question Quiz
Exercise: Ansible-lint3:14
Ansible Vault: Encrypting Sensitive Data (e.g. Credentials)3:09
Additional Solutions for Securely Managing Credentials5:41
Further Improving the LXC Demo3:05
Using Ansible Galaxy Roles: Configuring Web Containers4:03
Jinja2 Templates Demo: Generating an HTML Page4:26
Using Control Structures Within Jinja Templates3:22
Single Question Quiz
Installing and Configuring a Load Balancer6:56
Set up and configure an nginx load balancer with Ansible, defining a backend group of web containers and using proxy_pass and nginx upstreams for HTTP load balancing with round-robin distribution.
Using and Creating Roles6:35
Create and reuse Ansible roles by building directory structure with tasks, handlers, vars, templates, and defaults, and learn to use ansible-galaxy init to generate roles and load them in playbooks.
Collections: Explanation & Demonstration4:45
Explore how Ansible collections bundle playbooks, roles, modules, and plugins, manage dependencies with requirements files, and install and use them via Ansible Galaxy.
Requirements File: Installing Dependencies2:12
Two Question Quiz
Using the Serial Parameter: Updating Web Containers5:37
Apply the Ansible serial parameter to update web containers one at a time by removing each container from the load balancer, updating its page, and re-adding it after nginx reload.
Pipelining: Speeding Up Playbooks3:11
Using Ansible in Pull Mode4:45
Learn how to use Ansible in pull mode to automatically pull a playbook from a Git repository, execute it locally, and run tasks non-interactively via SSH keys and cron.
Tip: Managing Inventory Dynamically with Inventory Plugins3:06
Three Question Quiz

Increasing the Verbosity Level3:29
Validating and Simulating Tasks4:35
Logging to External Files Demonstrated in Practice3:40
Configure ansible to log playbook output to external files using the logPath setting and ansible.cfg. Capture standard out and errors in YAML format for easier troubleshooting, traceability, and auditing.
Preventing Sensitive Data from Being Logged2:00
Ansible Debugger: Troubleshooting Errors During Execution5:26
Exercise: Debugging, Troubleshooting and Logging6:37
Three Question Quiz
Using the Validate Parameter to Verify the Configuration2:55
Running Checks with the assert Module and the failed_when Parameter4:30
Single Question Quiz

Preparing a Windows System for Ansible6:32
Using Ansible & Chocolateay to Automatically Deploy Software5:24
Useful Ansible Modules for Managing Windows Systems5:03
Managing Certificates on Windows Systems3:30
Exercise: Software Deployment & Firewall Management4:51
Execute a Windows software rollout with Ansible by installing VLC via MSI and cleaning up installers, then configure the Windows firewall to allow ICMP echo requests on all network profiles.

Requirements

Basic knowledge of Ansible is required.

Description

Welcome to "Ansible Advanced - Hands-On Course 2025"!

Are you a Sysadmin, DevOps Engineer, or Software Developer with basic knowledge of Ansible? Do you want to take your skills to the next level and confidently automate tasks with Ansible? Then this course is exactly right for you!

This course is all about Ansible, the powerful open-source tool for IT automation and configuration management. We help you deepen your knowledge and show you in a practical way how to implement complex tasks with Ansible. No dry theory, no boring presentations – we focus on practical application and demonstrate Ansible live on the system and in realistic scenarios.

Our agenda includes topics such as:

Setting up the Ansible development environment: incl. VSCode, WSL, and Remote-SSH Extension
Using and creating Roles
Collections: Explanation and demonstration
Debugging, Troubleshooting, and Logging
Ansible-lint: Automatically checking Playbooks for potential improvements
Jinja2 Templates: Efficiently implementing dynamic configurations
Ansible Vault: Encrypting sensitive data
Practical example: Automating web server setup incl. load balancing based on LXC containers
Web interfaces for Ansible: Practical demonstration of Ansible AWX and Semaphore UI
Speeding up and optimizing Playbooks

Our practice-oriented videos, examples, and exercises help you to directly apply what you have learned. You will understand how to effectively use advanced Ansible features, whether for homelabs or complex IT projects in enterprise environments.

Take the time to further deepen your Ansible knowledge and take your skills to the next level. Enroll in this course now and discover Ansible in a practical way!

Who this course is for:

System Administrators, DevOps Engineers, and Software Developers who want to expand their Ansible knowledge
System Administrators, DevOps Engineers, and Software Developers who want to learn Ansible in an understandable and practical way
System Administrators, DevOps Engineers, and Software Developers who want to implement complex IT automation using Ansible

Ansible Advanced – Hands-On Course 2025

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction6 lectures • 23min

Advanced Ansible Topics18 lectures • 1hr 23min

Debugging, Logging & Testing8 lectures • 33min

Web Interfaces for Ansible3 lectures • 14min

Managing Windows Systems with Ansible5 lectures • 25min

Outro1 lecture • 2min

Bonus1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: