ansible

When to use this skill

Use this skill whenever the user wants to:

• Write Ansible playbooks, roles, or inventory files
• Execute ad-hoc commands or run playbooks against hosts
• Use modules (package, copy, template, service, user, etc.) for configuration and deployment
• Handle variables, conditionals, loops, and error handling in Ansible
• Set up Ansible Vault for secrets management

How to use this skill

Workflow

1. Define inventory — list target hosts in INI or YAML format
2. Write playbook — define hosts, tasks, handlers, and vars in YAML
3. Organize with roles — extract reusable tasks, templates, and defaults into roles
4. Run and validate — execute with ansible-playbook and verify idempotency

Quick Start Example

# site.yml
---
- name: Deploy web application
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  vars:
    app_port: 8080
  tasks:
    - name: Install nginx
      ansible.builtin.package:
        name: nginx
        state: present

    - name: Deploy config from template
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: templates/nginx.conf.j2
        dest: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
      notify: restart nginx

  handlers:
    - name: restart nginx
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: nginx
        state: restarted

# Run the playbook
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production site.yml

# Ad-hoc ping all hosts
ansible -m ping all

Key Commands

Command	Purpose
ansible-playbook playbook.yml	Run a playbook
ansible -m ping all	Test connectivity
ansible-vault encrypt vars/secrets.yml	Encrypt sensitive data
ansible-galaxy init myrole	Scaffold a new role

Best Practices

• Organize with roles and group_vars/host_vars hierarchy; avoid monolithic playbooks
• Encrypt sensitive data with ansible-vault; use idempotent tasks with state and conditionals
• Define explicit failure handling (ignore_errors, block/rescue); use tags for selective runs
• Control node requires Python; target hosts need SSH access; optionally use AWX/Tower for scheduling

Troubleshooting

• Connection refused: Verify SSH keys and ansible_user in inventory
• Module not found: Check Ansible version and use FQCN (e.g., ansible.builtin.copy)
• Idempotency failures: Ensure tasks use state parameter and avoid shell commands where modules exist

Keywords

ansible, playbook, role, inventory, automation, configuration management, ansible-vault, infrastructure