Mastering Ansible: 10 Essential Playbook Examples for Automating Your IT Infrastructure

Mastering Ansible: 10 Essential Playbook Examples for Automating Your IT Infrastructure

1. Ping Module

This playbook pings all servers in the all group.

- name: Test connectivity hosts: all tasks: - name: Ping all hosts ping:

2. Install a Package

Installs the "nginx" package on all Debian-based servers.

- name: Install Nginx hosts: all become: yes tasks: - name: Install nginx apt: name: nginx state: present

3. Copy File

Copies a local file to remote hosts.

- name: Copy file to hosts hosts: all tasks: - name: Copy sample file copy: src: /localpath/sample.txt dest: /remotepath/sample.txt

4. Create a User

Creates a user on all servers.

- name: Create a user hosts: all become: yes tasks: - name: Ensure user 'johndoe' is present user: name: johndoe state: present

5. Manage Services

Starts and enables the "httpd" service on CentOS servers.

- name: Manage Httpd Service hosts: all become: yes tasks: - name: Start and enable httpd service: name: httpd state: started enabled: true

6. Execute Commands

Runs a shell command on all servers.

- name: Execute a command hosts: all tasks: - name: List contents of directory command: ls -l /some/directory

7. Gather Facts

Gathers facts about the hosts without any specific task.

- name: Gather facts hosts: all tasks: - name: Gather facts from hosts setup:

8. Conditional Tasks

Executes a task based on a condition.

- name: Conditional task hosts: all tasks: - name: Install httpd on CentOS 7 yum: name: httpd state: latest when: ansible_distribution == 'CentOS' and ansible_distribution_major_version == '7'

9. Loop Example

Installs multiple packages using a loop.

- name: Install multiple packages hosts: all become: yes tasks: - name: Install packages apt: name: "{{ item }}" state: present loop: - vim - git

10. Template Module

Deploys a configuration file from a Jinja2 template.

- name: Deploy template hosts: all tasks: - name: Deploy a template file template: src: /localpath/template.j2 dest: /remotepath/config.conf