How does Ansible work?

Action

Ansible is an open tool that allows you to automate processes. In addition, its function is to scale automation as the project grows. Examples of activities include a new version of a deployment distributed among a dozen machines, applications or upgrading docker versions on the same machines. Ansible allows you to manage hundreds or even thousands of servers simultaneously. This makes it easy to scale the infrastructure and ensure its business continuity.

Automation

The ideal process for automation is cyclic operations. They are aimed at administrative tasks such as Backups, configuring environments on Docker, adding new users or their roles or tasks that need to be performed immediately when the appropriate criteria are met. The automated monitoring system detects the problem, classifies it and implements a pre-designed remedial plan. We can create all this and many other processes using Ansible.

License

Ansible is an open-source tool, which means it is available to anyone and can be developed and modified by the development community worldwide. Automation tools such as Ansible rule out the latency and problems that can come with performing tedious, time-consuming tasks manually. IT teams, while often resembling Superheroes, are not designed to perform such monotonous and tedious tasks.

Why use the Ansible solution?

Simplicity and ease of use

It is an easy-to-use tool, as the configuration of tasks and processes is done through simple scripts, written in YAML. It does not require the installation of additional agents on hosts, making it easy to deploy and maintain.

Scalability

It is based on a client-server model, which allows multiple hosts to be managed by a single server. This makes it easy to manage large infrastructures, regardless of their size.

Remote management

It enables remote management of hosts over the network, allowing tasks and configuration processes to be performed without physical access to the hosts.

Multi-platform

Ansible is a way to manage a large number of hosts without having to manually type them into the inventory file. It’s a multi-platform tool, which means it allows you to manage Linux, Windows or macOS.

Open source code

It is an open-source tool, available to anyone. It can be developed and modified by a community of developers around the world. Many extensions and additional tools are also available. The open source code also allows for easier integration on other network devices.

Ansible Qlos.
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Implementation

Needs analysis

At the beginning of the implementation of the Ansible tool, a key step is to carefully examine the customer’s needs and determine what tasks need to be automated. This involves analyzing the customer’s infrastructure and applications to identify processes for automation.

Installing and configuring ansible

Once the customer’s needs have been thoroughly researched and the tasks to be automated with Ansible have been determined, the next step is to install the tool on the appropriate computer or server that will act as the “master controller” on the system.

Creating and testing scripts

The next step is to write Ansible scripts that will perform automated tasks. These scripts can be written in Python or in Ansible’s special scripting language, Playbook. Test them to make sure they work properly and meet customer requirements.

Implementation

Once the Ansible scripts have been written and tested, the next step is to deploy them on the appropriate servers or devices. To do this, you can use the “ansible-playbook” command from the command line, which allows you to run scripts on selected hosts.

Monitoring and maintenance

Once Ansible is deployed, it is important to ensure that it is properly maintained to make sure that the scripts work properly and are up to date. This can be done by regularly checking the logs and monitoring the performance of the scripts by the administrator.

audyt infrastruktury qlos

Advantages of Ansible

Solutions that automate operations have a number of benefits:

  • They exclude human error,
  • Optimize and accelerate processes,
  • They optimize the whole range of processes from the cloud level to the operating system level. All with one tool,
  • Ansible is agentless, so it does not require installing additional agents on machines. In addition, there is no need to take care of updating them later,
  • It is free, so it does not generate additional costs for the license,
  • It is a time-saver.

In addition, the tool is a popular and mature solution. It uses a common format so administrative, DevOps and development teams can use it without the obstacles they often face in communicating with each other.

An interesting fact about ansible is that it is a tool based on the “push” model, meaning that changes are made from a central server to other hosts, instead of the other way around as in the case of “pull” tools, where hosts download changes from the server. This feature allows quick and efficient deployment of changes on large infrastructures, as it avoids the need to scan each host separately to detect required updates.

Why choose Qlos?

Experience is needed to realize the full potential of Ansible. Without it, automation may cause more harm than good.

The ease of scripting processes in Ansible carries the danger of exposing oneself to new attack vectors, looping the script or the occurrence of configuration drift. In addition, lack of experience in process automation can lead to playbooks that are suboptimal and even threaten the stability of applications or infrastructure.

Trust our specialists and let us automate your processes.

Qlos Admini IT

Mostly questions asked

It is a tool that is used to automate IT tasks, allowing you to manage system configurations and install and update them remotely on multiple servers and devices simultaneously. Ansible is based on the idea of “push,” meaning that tasks are sent from a central server to remote devices, where they are executed. This tool allows you to define tasks in a simple scripting language (YAML) and run them via the command line.

Instead, Ansible Automation Platform is a comprehensive automation, IT infrastructure management platform developed by Red Hat. Ansible Automaton Platform consists of several tools, including Ansible, ansible Tower and ansible Galaxy.

It is a good tool for automating network infrastructure or server management tasks, especially when it comes to repeatedly performing the same or similar activity on many different servers or devices.

It can be a useful tool if:

  • you need to automate server or network device management tasks,
  • you have a lot of servers or devices that require regular updates, configuration,
  • you have frequently recurring tasks that need to be performed on many different servers.

It is a tool for automating the management of IT infrastructure. It benefits from the so-called. Infrastructure as Code (IaC), which means that infrastructure is described using code rather than manually created configurations. This makes it easy to manage large volumes of machines and services.

  1. System Configuration: Ansible can be used to automate software installation and system configuration on a single or multiple servers.
  2. Deployment: ansible can be used to automate the application deployment process.
  3. Cloud management: ansible can be used to automate cloud infrastructure management tasks, such as creating and deleting virtual machines or managing networks.
  4. Testing: ansible can be used to automate integration tests and assumption tests to make sure the system is working properly.Ansible is particularly useful for automating tasks that require the same or similar activity to be performed multiple times on multiple servers or devices.

Gathering facts is the process by which ansible retrieves information about the hosts on which it is to perform tasks. Ansible automatically performs gathering facts before running the playbook to access system information such as operating system version, list of installed packages, configuration settings. This information is then stored in variables that can be used in the playbook to dynamically determine what tasks are to be performed on a given host.

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