Ansible for Beginners - Hands-On - Linux Admins & Devops

Install and verify Ansible on Ubuntu 22.04 by updating packages, optionally adding software properties, installing Ansible, checking the version, and running a localhost ping test.

master setting up ansible in a python virtual environment using pip, virtualenv, and project directories to manage multiple projects cleanly.

Explore Ansible architecture: control node, managed nodes, playbooks and inventories, modules and plugins, and the agentless, idempotent approach using SSH and WinRM.

Explore Ansible inventory basics, including hosts, groups, and variables; compare static and dynamic inventories, and formats like a simple text format and YAML, with a hands-on inventory file exercise.

Learn to create and test Ansible inventory files in ini and YAML formats, define a web servers group with two hosts, and verify syntax and connectivity using ansible commands.

Explore Ansible inventory management by understanding hosts identified by IP or domain, groups and variables, nested groups, aliases, and special groups like all and ungrouped, in ini format.

Practice managing Ansible hosts and groups with ini and yaml inventories, ssh key setup, and synchronized folders for easy file editing across vagrant virtual machines.

Master YAML essentials for Ansible by learning readable syntax, lists and dictionaries, anchors and aliases, and best practices for clean, reusable playbooks.

Learn to write and validate YAML with practical exercises, including a grocery list and an inventory file. Execute a basic Ansible playbook to install nginx on a web server.

Discover how Ansible uses YAML to structure playbooks with hosts, inventory, and variables, and learn task sequencing, when conditions, idempotency, and handlers that restart services.

Build your first Ansible playbook to automate Apache installation on Ubuntu, using an inventory, apt task, copy content, and restart handlers.

Explore ansible essentials, from modules and ad hoc commands to idempotence, a library of over 4500 modules, and how to use them for scalable automation across servers.

Learn essential Ansible modules for beginners, covering file management (copy, fetch), permissions, user and group, service control, APT, yum, Pip, ping, URI, and scripting tasks.

Master ad hoc commands in Ansible to quickly manage tasks across hosts, including ping checks, copying and fetching files, installing packages with apt, and gathering system facts.

Master variables and facts in Ansible to build dynamic, reusable playbooks; define and use variables with double curly braces, manage precedence, and tailor tasks using gathered system facts.

Master using variables in an Ansible playbook with the debug module, defining them inline or in external variable files, and understanding variable precedence.

Learn how Ansible facts gathered by the setup module power dynamic playbooks and conditional tasks based on OS family and distribution, such as installing Apache on Ubuntu.

Master Ansible task control by using handlers, tags, conditionals, and error handling to write efficient playbooks that selectively run tasks and gracefully recover from failures.

Use handlers in Ansible to restart nginx only when configuration changes. Create a playbook that copies nginx.conf from templates, notifies a restart, and verifies nginx is running.

Learn to use tags in Ansible playbooks to run specific tasks, such as installing nginx with apt on Ubuntu and restarting the nginx service, by tagging tasks and selecting tags.

Explore conditionals in Ansible by building a playbook that checks git, registers the result, ignores errors, and installs git with apt only if not present on Ubuntu 22.

Master error handling in Ansible playbooks by using ignore_errors, failed_when, and block and rescue to create resilient automation with recovery and notification steps.

Explore Ansible roles as reusable building blocks that organize automation. Learn role structure (tasks, handlers, defaults, vars, files, templates) and applying roles via galaxy init for maintainable playbooks.

Learn how Ansible uses Jinja2 templates to generate dynamic configurations with variables, filters, conditionals, and loops, and apply them via the template module.

Create a reusable Ansible role named web_server to deploy nginx on Ubuntu, defining defaults, tasks, and handlers; install nginx via apt, update cache, and restart the service through a playbook.

Master Jinja2 templates to configure nginx.conf with variables for worker connections and log paths. Build modular Ansible web server roles using templates, variables, and handlers that restart nginx when needed.

Secure your automation by learning how to use Ansible Vault to encrypt, view, edit, and decrypt sensitive data, manage vault passwords, and integrate encryption into automated deployments.

Encrypt secrets with Ansible vault to secure passwords, api keys, and private ssh keys in encrypted yaml files, and apply vault data in playbooks with create, edit, view, and decrypt.