Ansible: Beginner to Pro

Learn how Ansible works to configure and manage remote servers agentlessly, using playbooks and an inventory file to run tasks from a central machine or jump box.

Define your Ansible setup across platforms by using a master machine and a single AWS EC2 instance, with SSH-based connections and scalable options for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Learn to set up a Linux VM using VirtualBox on a Windows host, install VirtualBox, and download Ubuntu desktop, with links provided for the next lesson.

Set up an Ubuntu VM in VirtualBox by creating the VM, allocating 2 GB RAM and a 10 GB dynamic disk, then install Ubuntu and the guest tools.

Install guest tools to enlarge the screen and enable bidirectional copy-paste and drag-and-drop between host and the virtual machine, then set shared clipboard to bidirectional and install a text editor.

Install and set up a text editor for the Ansible course, favoring Visual Studio Code, with options like Atom or IntelliJ, and organize the course folder to begin.

Open a folder, create a new folder named Ansible in documents, and begin setting up your workspace across Linux, Windows, or Mac.

Learn how to install Ansible on Linux, with guidance that Visual Studio Code remains consistent across platforms.

Install Ansible on Ubuntu by running terminal commands to update packages, install Ansible and its Python dependency, and verify with Ansible --version, while noting documentation for CentOS and Red Hat.

Learn how to install Ansible for Mac using brew, update with upgrade, and verify the installation with ansible --version.

Kick off the course by highlighting yaml as a core Ansible skill, present a bonus Kubernetes section, and invite learners to tackle the included challenge.

Explore YAML basics, including lists and dictionaries, proper two-space indentation, and file extensions .yaml or .yml, with practical tips for debugging Kubernetes YAML and common space errors.

Learn YAML basics by creating a completed.yaml file, adding comments, and organizing items into fruits and vegetables by color with nested lists and totals.

Join a practical YAML challenge walkthrough that shows creating the Challenge.yaml file, sorting data by category and color, adjusting indentation, and confirming completion before moving to Cuban cities.

Examine the host file, its purpose, and formatting in ini and yaml formats, then apply this knowledge to create a host file using AWS EC2 instances.

Explore setting up Ansible inventory with the default host file and ini versus yaml formats, and how static inventory defines resources, connection details, and credentials to run playbooks.

Identify an Ansible inventory in ini format by creating an individual host with a fully qualified domain name or an IP address, and prepare to organize hosts into groups.

define groups in ini format to manage multiple servers with a single name, apply patches across all db servers by using the db group, and explore nested groups.

Learn to nest groups in an ini format inventory by creating a customer group with children db and web, enabling actions on both groups from the host file.

Explore setting up separate inventories for dev, staging, and prod in Ansible, using ini vs yaml host files to safely manage environments and avoid unintended prod changes.

Create a new host.yaml file and learn to access resources with all, then target specific hosts. Define hosts like web.my-domain.local and organize them into groups using yaml in Ansible.

Master groups in yaml format for ansible inventories by defining host, children, and group names with proper indentation and colon syntax, and nest groups within groups.

Set up nested groups in yaml for Ansible inventories, defining customer groups with children like db and web, and apply host variables to connect to aws ec2 instances.

Set up your Ansible environment by installing and configuring either VirtualBox on Windows or AWS-based remote nodes, leveraging the AWS free tier for scalable, high-performance instances.

Configure an AWS EC2 instance for Ansible, create a focused security group, enable HTTP/S access, and prepare the inventory file and key pair.

Build an ini inventory for Ansible, create a host named web, and configure host variables like ansible_host, ansible_port 22, ansible_user, and private_key_file, with ssh key security.

Configure an Ansible ssh key by placing the key in a keys folder, setting 400 permissions, and preparing the inventory and yaml files for host connections.

Create a yaml inventory file named .yaml, define a web host with ansible_host, port 22, ansible_user, and ansible_ssh_private_key_file, then test connectivity.

Test your Ansible inventory by pinging the targeted host from an ini or yaml inventory using the -i option. Verify that the resource responds in your terminal or VS Code.

Save costs by stopping EC2 instances during breaks, since storage remains billed, or terminate to delete and recreate a fresh Amazon Linux 2 t2 micro instance with existing security group.