Setting up an Ansible Controller from Scratch
Introduction
Ansible is a powerful automation tool used for managing servers, deploying applications, and streamlining IT operations. This guide walks through setting up an Ansible controller on an Ubuntu 22 server, using the community edition in its own virtual environment. Additionally, we'll download or fetch a base filesystem for further customization.
Prerequisites
Before proceeding, ensure you have:
- A fresh Ubuntu 22 server (physical or virtual machine)
- Root or sudo access to install required packages
- Basic knowledge of Linux command line
Step 1: System Preparation
Update and Upgrade Packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
Install Required Dependencies
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip python3-venv git wget curl
Step 2: Creating an Ansible Virtual Environment
Create a Dedicated User (Optional)
It’s recommended to run Ansible as a non-root user.
sudo adduser --gecos "Ansible User" ansible
sudo usermod -aG sudo ansible
Switch to the Ansible user:
su - ansible
Set Up a Python Virtual Environment
Create and activate a virtual environment:
python3 -m venv ansible-venv
source ansible-venv/bin/activate
Install Ansible Community Edition
Use pip to install Ansible:
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install ansible
Verify the installation:
ansible --version
Step 3: Setting Up a Base Filesystem
Download a Pre-Configured Base Filesystem
You can fetch a minimal base filesystem for customization using wget or curl. For example:
wget -O base-filesystem.tar.gz https://example.com/base-filesystem.tar.gz
Or use rsync to clone from another machine:
rsync -avz user@remote:/path/to/filesystem /local/path/
Extract and Customize the Filesystem
tar -xvzf base-filesystem.tar.gz -C /opt/ansible-base/
Modify configurations as needed before using it with Ansible.
Step 4: Configuring Ansible
Create an Ansible Inventory File
Create a simple inventory file:
[servers]
server1 ansible_host=192.168.1.10 ansible_user=ubuntu
server2 ansible_host=192.168.1.11 ansible_user=ubuntu
Test Connectivity
ansible -i inventory.ini all -m ping
If successful, you'll see output confirming connectivity.
Conclusion
Your Ansible controller is now set up and ready to automate infrastructure tasks. You can now start writing playbooks, configure roles, and deploy services efficiently.
For further automation, consider integrating Ansible AWX or Ansible Tower for UI-based management.
Sources and Additional Resources
License
This document, Setting up an Ansible controller from scratch, by Christopher Steel, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. 