This course covers core Ansible features including: installing and configuring, running ad hoc commands, understanding modules, creating and using playbooks, variables and inclusion, task control, templates, and roles. The course also covers dealing with sensitive data via Ansible Vault, integration with Docker, and troubleshooting. 

Audience

The audience for this course is systems administrators desiring to automate provisioning, configuration management, service deployment, and operational processes.

Prerequisites

Experience with Linux shell, text editing, and basic systems administration 

Course Outline

Ansible Overview

• Why Ansible?
• Overview of architecture
• Quiz: Architecture
• Inventory
• Inventory patterns
• Inventory plugins
• Quiz: Inventory and patterns
• Demo: Introducing Ansible

Deploying Ansible

• Installing
• Demo: Installing Ansible
• Configuration files
• Demo: Configuration files
• Module syntax help
• Running ad hoc commands
• Demo: Running ad hoc commands
• Dynamic inventory
• Demo: Dynamic inventory

Lab tasks

• Deploying Ansible
• Ad hoc commands
• Dynamic inventories

Playbooks Basics

• Writing YAML files
• Playbook structure
• Host and task execution order
• Command modules
• Significant module categories
• File manipulation
• Network modules
• Packaging modules
• System storage
• Account management
• Security
• Services
• Network automation
• Network module

Lab tasks

• Playbook basics
• Playbooks - command modules
• Playbooks - common modules

Variables and Inclusions

• Variables
• Variables - playbooks
• Variables - inventory
• Variables - registered
• Facts
• Demo: Facts
• Inclusions

Lab tasks

• Variables and facts
• Inclusions