Ansible Essentials

Follow-on Courses:

• Mastering Ansible
• Jenkins Automation Server Essentials
• API and API Design with Python
• Git and GitHub
• Git and GitLab

Day 1 (Ansible Introduction)

1. Ansible Introduction

• Ansible definition
• Exploring modules
• Building a task
• Places to define Ansible vars
• hosts aka “Inventory”
• Creating a A play
• Looking at the “handler”
• Running a playbook
• Introduction to YAML
• Requirements for connecting to remote hosts

2. Installation

• Configuration requirements on the control machine
• Python requirements on the host
• Using ansible raw to install Python

3. Ansible config file and directory structure

• ansible.cfg
• Ansible Inventory
• roles

4. Ansible Static Inventory

• Defining Hosts and Groups
• Host and Group variables
• Groups of Groups
• Default Groups

5. YAML

• YAML Gotchas
• YAML Dictionary
• YAML list
• YAML list of dictionaries
• YAML Alternate format
• Relationship to JSON

Day 2 (Ansible for Server Operations)

6. Ansible Ad hoc commands

• Ad hoc command syntax
• Parallel Shell commands
• Managing packages
• Managing users and groups
• Gathering facts
• ad hoc cheat sheet

7. Writing a Simple Playbook

• Elements of a well wrien playbook
• A well-wrien Ansible play
• Using include files for tasks
• A well-wrien ansible variable file
• A well-wrien ansible inventory file

8. Ansible config file and directory structure

• ansible.cfg
• Best practices concerning directory structures and organization
• Host Inventory and ansible_vars
• Introduction to roles

9. Key Server Modules to Know

• Understanding modules documentation
• setup / gather_facts
• copy
• apt / yum / pip
• command / shell
• git
• get_url
• debug
• lineinfile

Day 3 (Ansible for Network Operations)

10. Ansible and Jinja

• What is Jinja2?
• jinja variables
• jinja filters
• jinja tests
• How to use ansible template
• Review of the ansible template documentation

11. Conditional and Looping Tasks

• Variables and Loops
• Using Complex Variables in Loops
• Variables and Templates
• Using variables in conditions
• Blocks
• Prompts
• Getting variables from the system
• Setting variables in playbooks
• registered variables
• Getting variables from the command line
• Where is the best source to derive variables values?

12. Ansible Network Solutions with Ansible (focus on Juniper and Cisco)

• Writing Cisco and Juniper playbooks
• Modules for Cisco (IOS, NXOS, IOSXR, etc)
• Exploring Juniper solutions
• Built in Juniper modules
• Role based Juniper modules
• Installing a module from Juniper vendor
• Securing credentials / best practices
• New additions within the latest version of Ansible (v2.9)

Day 4 (Customizing Ansible & Ansible for Cloud)

13. Dynamic Inventory Management

• What is Dynamic Inventory?
• A review of static Inventory Practices
• Using JSON as an Inventory Source
• Using YAML as an Inventory Source
• Pulling Inventory from an API
• AWS EC2 Example
• OpenStack Example

14. Ansible for OpenStack and AWS

• Overview of OpenStack
• Understanding the OpenStack client
• What is openstack-sdk (or shade)?
• clouds.yaml
• Installing openstack-sdk
• Using openstack-sdk
• OpenStack modules
• os_network
• os_subnet
• os_router
• os_server
• os_server_action
• os_security_group
• os_security_group_rule
• What is boto?
• installing boto for AWS
• AWS modules
• ec2
• aws_s3_bucket_info
• redshift

15. Variables and Python

• Jinja Filters for variable manipulation
• Using Python within playbooks for variable manipulation
• Best practices for Variables
• Securing credentials with Ansible Vault
• Encrypting Playbooks with Ansible Vault

Day 5 (Ansible Playbook Design & Review)

16. Roles and Ansible Galaxy

• Why we need Ansible Roles
• Role Directory Structure
• Using Roles
• Role default variables
• Converting a Playbook to a Role
• Exploring Ansible Galaxy
• Running a role from Ansible Galaxy

17. Playbook Best Practices

• Directory Layout
• Use Dynamic Inventory With Clouds
• How to Differentiate Staging vs Production
• Group and Host Variables
• Top Level Playbooks Are Separated By Server Type

18. Ansible Tower / AWX Essentials

• What is Ansible Tower and AWX
• Why you should consider using Jenkins as a replacement for Ansible Tower
• Pushing and pulling playbooks from GitHub

Hands-On Labs

• SSH client and server configs
• RSA key gen
• Methods for Installing Ansible
• Ansible Host Inventory
• Ad-Hoc Modules and Gather Facts
• Elevated Ad-Hoc Commands
• Running your first Playbook
• Ad-Hoc Raw Commands
• Debug, Loops, and YAML Lists
• When Condionals, YAML Diconaries, and Jinja
• ansible.cfg setup
• Building Playbooks - Bootstrap with raw, group and user Modules
• Mapping YAML Vars Files in Playbooks
• Ansible Modules - shell
• Ansible Module - copy
• Ansible Module - apt
• Ansible Module - yum
• Ansible Module - get_url
• Ansible Module - file
• Ansible Module - git
• Ansible Module - template
• Playbook Tags
• Ansible Module - lineinfile and replace
• Manually Launch an OpenStack Instance
• OpenStack, Ansible and Shade
• YAML, JSON, Dynamic, and Cloud Inventories
• Configuring a Web Service with Ansible
• Ansible Handlers
• Ansible Error Handling
• pre_tasks, roles, tasks, post_tasks, and handlers
• Exploring Switches with Ansible
• network_cli Playbook
• Backup and Save Config - Cisco, Juniper, Arista, and Many More!
• Network Playbooks and Vendor Specific Modules
• Simplifying Network Playbooks with Agnosc Modules
• Reading Variables into Playbooks
• Ansible script module
• Ansible Lookup Plugin
• Ansible Playbook Output Logging
• Ansible Keywords - register and when
• Ansible Galaxy
• Ansible Vault
• Ansible Tower
• (Optional Case Study) Ansible for Palo Alto PanOS and Panorama
• (Optional Case Study) Ansible for Juniper Junos Core and Role Modules
• (Optional Case Study) Ansible for VMWare NSX Networking
• (Optional Case Study) Ansible NAPALM for Network Automaon
• (Optional Case Study) Ansible Dell EMC PowerMax Flash Storage Automation