Getting Started with Ansible: Automation Made Easy

Name: Getting Started with Ansible: Automation Made Easy
Rating: 4.7 (655 reviews)

Learning Ansible has Never Been Simpler!

Created byJay LaCroix

Last updated 1/2025

English

What you'll learn

Running ad-hoc Commands
Writing Ansible Playbooks
Creating Roles and Templates
System Automation

Course content

6 sections • 20 lectures • 4h 17m total length

Course Introduction7:08
In the first lesson, students will become more familiar with how this course is structured, and what they'll need in order to get started.
Setting Up Our Environment17:45
In our second lesson, we'll configure three virtual machines within VirtualBox, two based on Ubuntu Server 24.04 and one based on Fedora Server. We'll use these VMs throughout our course.
Running Commands with Ansible26:02
In our third lesson, we'll take a look at running commands with Ansible. We'll start off with very simple commands in this video, which we'll later expand upon.
Setting Up Version Control19:11
In the second lesson, we worked on setting up several virtual machines to serve as our example servers during this course. In this video, we'll set up another piece of the puzzle for our lab environment - our Git repository!

Running Elevated Commands13:22
In this video, students will learn how to execute commands with privilege - tasks that will actually make changes on your target server.
Writing Our First Playbook19:12
In this lesson, it's finally time to get started with writing playbooks, which are YAML files that contain instructions for Ansible to execute.
Dealing With Mixed Linux Environments13:55
This time around, students will finally start the Fedora server that was created earlier, and will use it to get hands-on experience with handling mixed environments. In particular, students will learn the "when" conditional.

Refactoring and Simplifying Our Playbook10:56
In this video, students will learn how to consolidate and refactor a playbook to avoid redundancy.
Creating an Inventory for Ansible11:22
With an inventory file, Ansible is able to configure multiple servers. In this lesson, students will create their own inventory file and use it to start differentiating nodes from one another.
Adding Tags7:58
Tags enable administrators to limit playbook execution down to specific plays. In this lesson, students will apply tags to plays and learn how to use them as criteria for running tasks.

Copying Files with Ansible8:21
In this lesson, students will learn about the copy module, which you can use to copy files from your repository to specific locations on target nodes.
Managing Services17:39
Services are special programs that run on our Linux servers, and stay running in the background to provide some sort of function. In this video, students will learn how to manage services with Ansible.
Adding System Users15:29
Users on our systems consume valuable resources, and need to be managed effectively. In this lesson, students will learn how to create users on target systems with Ansible.

Implementing Server Roles13:51
In this lesson, students are introduced to the concept of Roles, which enable them to better customize individual servers to meet more specific needs.
Taking Advantage of Host Variables12:48
Host Variables enable administrators to apply key/value assignments to servers, and open up even more possibilities than before. In this lesson, students will work with Host Variables for the first time.
Creating Templates12:26
It's unlikely that a single configuration file will work for every server. Instead, we can use Templates to provide specific configurations to individual servers. By using Templates, variables can be included that increase flexibility even further. In this video, students will be shown the process of creating templates.

Exploring the Galaxy7:08
Ansible Galaxy takes the concept of Roles that was introduced earlier, by providing a repository you can use to download additional features. In this lesson, students will add a role from Ansible's Galaxy.
Keeping Secrets9:16
It's very common that an organization will have secrets to keep, such as confidential configuration information. In this video, students will learn how to protect secrets with Ansible's Vault.
Ansible in Reverse11:20
In this video, students will be introduced to ansible-pull, a lesser-known feature of Ansible that enables servers to configure themselves. This will open up some interesting possibilities when it comes to managing your servers.
Course Closing and Next Steps2:24
In this episode, students will have completed the course - and will be provided additional resources they can consider for going forward.

Requirements

Basic Linux experience
Computer that's capable of running virtual machines

Description

With our ever-evolving landscape, System Administration has never been more complicated. With some organizations having hundreds (or even thousands) of servers to manage, IT personnel definitely have their work cut out for them! Automation is the answer, and with this course you’ll learn the most powerful automation tool available: Ansible!

With this 20 episode course as your guide, you’ll learn all the core concepts – including writing playbooks, creating roles, refactoring and consolidating plays, encrypting and decrypting files, dealing with mixed environments and more!Best of all, you’ll be learning Ansible from an industry professional with over two decades of experience, which includes working knowledge of Ansible and its best practices.

Getting Started with Ansible: Automation Made Easy is taught by an industry-leader with over two decades of experience. Jay a Linux Expert, Published Author, and Video Producer that has taught millions of students through his company (Learn Linux TV) and now he's bringing that experience to Udemy.

Each lesson is presented with cutting edge editing and video production, with careful attention to detail. Experience educational content that not only looks stunning, but will teach you want you want to learn without putting you to sleep. With simple, straight-forward explanations - even the most challenging concept will seem straight forward.

Check out Learn Linux TV’s Ansible course, and start automating today!

Who this course is for:

Beginner Ansible course for System Administrators that are starting out with automation.

Getting Started with Ansible: Automation Made Easy

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Becoming Familiar with Ansible4 lectures • 1hr 10min

Running Commands and Tasks3 lectures • 46min

Organizing our Repository3 lectures • 30min

System Administration with Ansible3 lectures • 41min

Managing Multiple Servers with Ansible3 lectures • 39min

Exploring Additional Ansible Features4 lectures • 30min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: