Ami_Id

Gain insights into Ansible for software provisioning, configuration management, and deployment. Learn about setting up environments, connecting to cloud providers, and automating processes with practical scenarios.

ansible.tar.gz

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID

AZURE_CLIENT_ID

AZURE_SECRET

AZURE_TENANT

AWS_Linux_EC2_Instance_DNS_Name

AWS_Windows_EC2_Instance_DNS_Name

Azure_Linux_VM_Instance_DNS_Name

Azure_Windows_VM_Instance_DNS_Name

AWS_Linux_EC2_Instance_IP

AWS_Windows_EC2_Instance_IP

Azure_Linux_VM_Instance_IP

Azure_Windows_VM_Instance_IP

Ansible_Password_Linux

Ansible_Password_Windows

Ansible_Vault_Password

Github_Clone_URL

AWS-Windows-EC2-Instance

AWS-Linux-EC2-Instance

AWS-Create_VPC

Azure-Create-Resource-Group 

AWS-Delete-Ansible-Environment

Azure-Create-Windows-VM

Azure-Create-Linux-VM

Azure-Delete-Ansible-Environment

Connect to Windows and Linux VMs

Run a playbook -  Ping Docker Container

Configure a web server

Configure a web server - Try it Now

Configure the DNS Names

Configure the DNS Names and IP Address

Reusable Configuration

GitHub Actions

Deploy Ansible Code

Deploy Workflow

Deploy - Exit Failure Code

Configure the DNS Names - Chocolatey

Initialize GIT

Connect to Windows and Linux VMs-Updated

Configure a web server-Updated

Configure the DNS Names-Updated

Configure the DNS Names and IP Address-Updated

Deploy Ansible Code-Updated

Deploy - Exit Failure Code-Updated

Deploy Workflow-Updated

Build - Dockerfile

Build - Dockerfile-Ansible

Ansible is one of the leading tools for software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment. In this course, you will learn the ins and outs of Ansible with the goal of managing and automating your infrastructure and code’s deployment.

You will learn how to set up a docker environment, connect with cloud providers like AWS and Azure, manage infrastructure on AWS and Azure using Ansible, and lastly how to automate configuration and state management processes. Throughout each section, you will dive into the fundamentals of Ansible through practical and real-world scenarios.

By the end, you will have a great new skill that will open a lot of doors for you like cloud computing and DevOps. This will definitely be a good tool to put on your resume and will help you further your career.

Ansible: Zero to Production Ready

__Ansible__ is an _agentless configuration management_ tool. Instead of relying on an installed agent, it uses remote management protocols to communicate with remote hosts.

__Ansible__ uses __SSH__ to connect to _Linux_ hosts and network devices, and __WinRM__ to connect to _Windows_.

# Host connection options
The following are options available to connect to Linux and Windows hosts:
## Linux
1. `SSH` keys over __SSH(22)__
2. Username & password over `SSH (22)`
## Windows
1. `WinRM` over __HTTPS (5986)__
2. `WinRM` over __HTTP (5985)__

### Windows authentication options
You can authenticate with Windows hosts using the following methods:
| **Option** | **Local Accounts** | **Active Directory Accounts** | **Credential Delegation** | **HTTP Encryption** |
| -- | -- | -- | -- | --|
| Basic | Yes | No | No | No |
| Certificate |  Yes | No | No | No |
| Kerberos | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NTLM | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | 
| CredSSP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

> The table is taken from docs.ansible.com.

How you set up the _remote management_ is dependent on the environment.

# Connect to a Windows Host
__Ansible__ uses `PowerShell` remoting over `WinRM` to connect to Windows hosts. __Ansible__ will attempt to connect to a Windows host using `WinRM` over `HTTPS` on port `5986`. Windows Server does not have `PowerShell` remoting via `HTTPS` preconfigured.

We think it best to use `Ansible` for all the configurations. Having to configure something before you can use `Ansible` is a _chicken and egg_ scenario. You can deal with this problem in one of three ways:
1. _Bootstrap the WinRM configuration_;
   - `AWS` and `Azure` provide features that allow you to run scripts at startup.
2. _Embed the changes into an image_;
   - Build a custom image that has `WinRM` configured.
3. _Use WinRM over HTTP on port 5985_;
   - `Windows Server 2012r2` and later have PowerShell remoting configured on port `5985`.

We solved this problem by executing the _Ansible playbooks_ **Create Windows Virtual Machine** in `Azure` and `AWS`. Each of the _playbooks_ contained a configuration for bootstrapping the `WinRM` configuration with a PowerShell script, `ConfigureRemotingForAnsible.ps1`.
> The script generates self-signed certificates for using HTTPS and modifies the firewall rules to allow HTTPS traffic on port `5896`.

Let's review the sections for bootstrapping in both AWS and Azure playbooks.
## Azure
The `azure_create_windows_vm.yaml` playbook uses a __CustomScriptExtension__ to download and execute the PowerShell script, [ConfigureRemotingForAnsible.ps1](https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/examples/scripts/ConfigureRemotingForAnsible.ps1//). Review **Line 7** and **9** in the _playbook_ below:


Connect to the deployed Linux and Windows hosts environment using Ansible.

Connect to the Environment

Getting Started

Ansible Development with Containers

Connect to the Cloud

Starting at the Source

Getting Started with Ad-Hoc Commands and Playbooks

Deploy an Ansible Development Environment

Putting the Ansible Environment to Work

Take Inventory of the Infrastructure

Build Reusable Configurations

Dynamic Inventories for Scaling

Build a CI \ CD pipeline for Ansible with Github Actions

Appendix

Connect to the Environment

Host connection options

Linux

Windows

Windows authentication options

Option	Local Accounts	Active Directory Accounts	Credential Delegation	HTTP Encryption
Basic	Yes	No	No	No
Certificate	Yes	No	No	No
Kerberos	No	Yes	Yes	Yes