Ansible for System Administrators: Beginner to Automation

Spin three virtual machines in VMware: two Linux (CentOS/Red Hat) and one Unix (Solaris); configure a shared virtual network, and install Ansible on Linux.

Download and install VMware Workstation 15 or above through the simple next‑next‑finish steps and licensing prompts, completing stage one of the setup.

Create a bridged network in the virtualization editor and assign VM net 10 to connect VM to Windows 10 host. Enable ssh access with Putty for system administration practice.

Learn to create a Unix virtual machine in VM software: select others, install Solaris, configure dynamic disk, network, and resources such as RAM and CPU for a performance-focused setup.

Download Solaris 11 using the text installer, sign in to your Oracle account, and prepare for installation on Intel or AMD home systems.

Install Solaris 11 on a VM by booting from the downloaded ISO, configure language, keyboard, disk, network, and user accounts. Access the system via SSH or console for lab work.

Create a linux virtual machine in stage 4 by selecting CentOS (7 or 8), naming the VM, allocating 50 GB, and configuring the network with the existing vnet.

Stage 4 guides you to download the CentOS iso from the first mirror link, speeds up the download, and prepares you for the next video on uninstallation.

Install CentOS 8 from DVD, configure language and English keyboard, enable SSH, and perform a minimal server installation with reboot in stage 4.

Set up a CentOS virtual machine, install Ansible, and practice with ssh access via putty for remote management on a dedicated Ansible host and companion Linux/Unix nodes.

Configure three virtual machines (Unix, Linux, Ansible) with balanced ram and cpu, set up a dedicated virtual network, assign distinct ip addresses, and enable ssh via PuTTY.

Install and use PuTTY to connect to Unix, Linux, and Ansible servers via SSH, configure sessions, test connectivity with ping, and save and load SSH sessions for easy access.

Install Ansible on CentOS by enabling the repository and running yum install. Then verify the installation with ansible --version and ensure internet connectivity; the next video covers validating the settings.

Validate ansible by testing an unstable setup, configuring a home-directory inventory, and grouping Linux and Unix hosts to push data with playbooks.

Learn how to implement passwordless ssh for Ansible by generating public and private keys, copying the public key to Linux and Unix hosts, and updating authorized_keys.

Test the Ansible lab by running modules across all hosts, validating inventory and local versus remote connections, and using the file module to create and verify test files in YAML.

Learn how to switch from ip-based to hostname-based connectivity by editing /etc/hosts, mapping each machine to a hostname, rebooting, and validating with name-based pings for easier Ansible management.

Learn to change the host name with a single command, see how the change appears in bash, and remember to update the host file for Linux or Unix systems.

Explore Ansible privilege escalation using become to run tasks as other users or root, with password prompts for Layla or root, and hands-on testing with the file module.

Demonstrate YAML basics for Ansible playbooks, covering indentation sensitivity, comments, lists with hyphens, multi-line and single-line formatting, and common file conventions.

Explore how Ansible signals idempotent outcomes with orange for changes, green for no changes, and red for errors during a copy module playbook demo.

Learn the difference between ad hoc commands and playbooks in Ansible, and how YAML playbooks sequence modules across hosts using an inventory and best practices.

Learn to use the ping command to verify network connectivity and run Ansible ad hoc tasks with the ping module across all hosts in your inventory.

Master using variables in Linux, Unix, and Ansible to store and echo host name with curly braces and the dollar sign, save outputs with register, and debug results.

Use the Ansible debug module to print messages and variables, including host names stored in registers, and reference them with curly braces and quotes.

Learn how ansible gathers facts from a host with the setup module, collecting ip, hostname, version, architecture, and other details for conditional use.

Compare shell and command in Ansible, demonstrate using copy and command modules, and explain when to prefer modules over shell.

Explore Ansible's when conditional to run tasks only when all specified conditions are true, using facts, distribution checks, and debug outputs across Linux, Unix, and Solaris environments.

Learn to use Ansible's register to capture command output, save it to a variable, and print or conditionally act on stdout with the debug module, including disabling facts gathering.

Learn to enforce failure in an ansible playbook by checking if a user exists and stopping with fail, using the file module on localhost.

Discover how ansible modules are small built-in programs that automate tasks such as copy files, create users, stop services, and reset passwords, with hundreds of modules.

Learn how the Ansible copy module moves files between servers or within a single server, using source and destination paths, with optional backups and remote copying capabilities.

Use Ansible file modules to create, delete, or modify files and directories, set permissions with mode for security hardening, and manage states like touch or absent.

Use the lineinfile module to search and replace text in a file by path and regular expression, illustrated with replacing unix with linux and updating hosts or ssh port settings.

Explore the lineinfile module in ansible to add, replace, or append lines in files, including multi-line content with pipes, demonstrated on a hosts file.

Learn to use the Ansible archive module to archive files and directories, choosing formats like gzip, tar, or zip, via playbooks.

Explore how to use Ansible's archive and unarchive modules to create tar or zip archives from local or remote sources, specify destinations, and extract on target hosts.

Learn to use the fetch module to collect files from multiple remote hosts, specifying a source and destination, and apply flat to return only file names.

Learn to enable or disable services with ansible across Linux and Unix, using systemd for Linux and shell for Unix, with hands-on playbooks and Linux vs Unix considerations.

Learn to create one or more users with Ansible using a YAML playbook, assign Linux and Unix groups, loop to add many users, append behavior, and delete with state absent.

Learn how to reset multiple user passwords across dozens of servers using an Ansible playbook, including creating password hashes, handling quotes, and looping over accounts for rapid automation.

Explore data center infrastructure, two-site failover and clustering for high availability, and disaster recovery factors like power outages, earthquakes, floods, war, cyber attacks, and human error.

Push code from developer to central server and automate staging to production with Jenkins, Maven, Python, and Ansible; two-stage setups suit small teams, while larger organizations add more environments.

Understand why developers release new code and how DevOps uses GitHub, Jenkins, and Ansible to automate deployment across staging and production.

Learn to connect a Cisco switch or router via console cable using a laptop, USB-to-serial adapter, and PuTTY, including port selection and driver setup.

Identify a failing disk by bay and color status (red error, orange warning, green healthy), unlock and replace with a 2.5-inch disk. Verify green health and secure clearance before leaving the data center.

Learn how tape libraries store data using left and right magazines and HP auto loader. Access and operate them via console cables and PuTTY.