What Is Ansible? Uses, Working, Architecture, Features

Ansible is an open-source, cross-platform tool for resource provisioning automation that DevOps professionals popularly use for continuous delivery of software code by taking advantage of an “infrastructure as code” approach. This article explains Ansible’s functioning, architecture, and features in detail. It also discusses what Ansible is used for in a modern, digital environment.

What Is Ansible?

Ansible is defined as an open-source, cross-platform tool for resource provisioning automation that DevOps professionals popularly use for continuous delivery of software code by taking advantage of an “infrastructure as code” approach.

 

Over the years, the Ansible automation platform has evolved to deliver sophisticated automation solutions for operators, administrators, and IT decision-makers across various technical disciplines. It’s a leading enterprise automation solution with flourishing open-source software and the unofficial standard in IT automated systems. It operates on several Unix-like platforms and can manage systems like Unix and Microsoft architectures. It comes with descriptive language for describing system settings. Michael DeHaan created Ansible, which Red Hat acquired in 2015.

Ansible is an agentless system that executes actions over remote SSH or Windows Remote Management connections (allowing remote PowerShell execution). Ansible is an open-source IT automation engine that may help you save time at work while simultaneously improving the scalability, consistency, and dependability of your IT infrastructure. 

It is designed for IT professionals who require it for app deployment, system integration, in-service coordination, and anything else that an IT admin or network manager routinely accomplishes. Sys admins and developers would be unable to keep up if they had to manage everything manually in today’s IT environments, which are usually too complex and often have to expand too quickly.

Automation makes complex activities easier to manage, allowing engineers to focus on tasks that offer value to the organization. This implies that time is saved and production is boosted. And as said earlier, Ansible is fast becoming extremely relevant among automation tools. While it is at the vanguard of automation, systems management, and DevOps, it is also a valuable everyday tool for developers. Ansible enables the rapid configuration of an entire network of devices without the requirement for programming expertise. 

In contrast to more simplistic management tools, Ansible users can leverage Ansible automation for installing software, automating daily tasks, provisioning infrastructure, improving security and compliance, and sharing automation across the entire enterprise. 

See More: DevOps vs. Agile Methodology: Key Differences and Similarities 

What Is Ansible Used For?

There are several prominent use cases for ansible in an organization:

1. Ansible for DevOps

Ansible helps automate the implementation of internally generated applications to your production programs to make DevOps easier. For orchestration, automation, configuration, and management of IT infrastructure, Ansible is the most popular DevOps tool. Ansible’s advantages in DevOps include adapting and scaling in response to demand. The following are the benefits of Ansible in DevOps using Ansible: the feedback loop is accelerated quicker, installations are dependable, IT architecture is coordinated, and deployments are faster.

2. Managing Docker containers using Ansible

Docker is a high-performance framework for efficiently constructing and executing containers on local devices and servers. One can compare Docker containers to lightweight virtual devices. Ansible delivers a robust collection of capabilities and built-in modules that make building automation scripts easier thanks to its straightforward design. This makes it possible to create tasks and run them in your preferred setting. In the form of playbooks, Ansible uses the “yet another markup language” or YAML language.

3. Utilizing Ansible for automation

Automating the deployment of any hardware will be the first step toward automating the operational service lifecycle of your application. Ansible can automate IT infrastructures on bare metal servers, virtualization platforms, and cloud servers. Moreover, it can automate the setup of various systems, devices, databases, storage devices, networks, and firewalls.

4. Configuration management

Ansible is a simple, trustworthy, and consistent configuration management solution. You can set it up quickly if you have prior experience in IT. Ansible configurations are descriptions of fundamental infrastructure data humans can read and process by computers. You only require passwords or an SSH (Secure Socket Shell) key to begin monitoring machines. 

5. Installing web application using Ansible 

Ansible enables rapid and simple deployment of applications with several tiers. One does not have to develop a code base to manage processes; instead, one can just define the required actions in a playbook, and Ansible will determine how to get the processes to the desired outcome. In other words, there will be no need to set up applications on each machine manually. Ansible uses SSH to communicate with remote networks and implement all instructions when a module is launched from a control device. 

See More: DevOps Roadmap: 7-Step Complete Guide

6. Other ansible uses

Other reasons to use ansible include:

• Provisioning: The first step toward automating the life cycle of your applications is to set up your hardware. One can use Ansible to set up cloud platforms, network hardware devices, virtualized hosts, and bare metal servers, among other equipment. Users can set up the numerous servers needed in the computer network during provisioning.
• Compliance and security – Site-wide security policies, like rules for firewall software, can be used with other automated processes. When you set up the security information on the control device and run the playbook that goes with it, the security information is automatically adjusted on the various connected servers. 

See More: DevOps Engineer: Job Description, Key Skills, and Salary in 2022

How Does Ansible Work?

Ansible interacts with your networks and sends little programs, known as modules, to them. These modules are utilized to complete automated tasks as systems designed to be resource models for the functioning at the desired state. Ansible runs these modules and eliminates them after they’re done. If modules weren’t available, you would have to depend on ad-hoc procedures and scripting to complete tasks. Ansible’s management node is the primary node overseeing the Playbook’s implementation.

The management node sets up an SSH connection before executing the modules and installing the product on the host workstations. Once the modules have been deployed, it eliminates them. So that’s how it works with Ansible. Python is used to create an Ansible script and connects remote hosts through SSH, specified in the inventory file. Ansible is agentless – implying that it doesn’t need any program to be installed on the nodes it controls.

Ansible takes inventory data to determine which machines you wish to control. It has a default inventory file, but users can customize it to manage the servers they want to. To link to servers and conduct tasks, Ansible employs the SSH protocol. Ansible establishes a connection with the remote system and distributes the modules required for command or playbook execution. Ansible uses human-readable YAML templates to allow the automation of repetitive processes without the need to master a complex programming language.

You could use Ansible’s built-in modules to automate, or you can develop your own processes. Creating Ansible modules is possible using any programming language that can return JSON, including Ruby, Python, and shell. Powershell is used to develop Windows automation modules. It also stores your application’s history information, enabling you to repeal to a previous standard or update it simply. It provides the following advantages:

• Ansible is a free and open-source software tool that all can access.
• Ansible’s playbooks do not need coding expertise for installation and usage; they are straightforward to configure and use.
• Ansible enables the modeling of even the most complex IT processes.
• You can orchestrate the whole app environment regardless of where the application is deployed. 
• It has no agent in the client machines you desire to automate, and one must open no additional software or firewall ports. 
• Since no extra software is necessary, servers have a greater capacity for app resources, resulting in increased efficiency.

See More: Scrum vs. DevOps: Understanding the Key Differences

Understanding the Architecture of Ansible

Here is a look at the many components that make up the Ansible framework.

1. Modules

Modules are essential software that Ansible delivers from the command computer to all nodal network points or distant hosts. They are predetermined instructions that are executed directly on remote hosts. Playbooks run modules that manage applications, packages, and files. Ansible executes all modules for delivering updates or performing the required activity and then eliminates them after they’re through. Ansible has over 450 modules for typical tasks. Ansible has hundreds of built-in modules, the pieces of code that are run when a playbook is launched. A playbook has plays, containing various tasks that include modules.

2. Playbooks

Playbooks for Ansible are task-specific user guides. Playbooks dictate your workflow since functions written in them are executed in the order they are written. They are simple text documents created in YAML, a data serialization language that humans understand. They are at the heart of what makes Ansible so attractive since they describe the tasks one must perform quickly without requiring the user to remember particular terminology. In addition to being able to describe settings, they may also orchestrate the stages of any manually arranged task and conduct tasks concurrently or sequentially. 

3. Plugins

Plugins are little pieces of code that augment a website’s functionality. Ansible comes with several of these, but one can create their own. Plugins are a specific type of module in this case. Before a module is performed on the nodes, the plugins are run. For logging reasons, plugins are executed on the primary control unit. You have call-back plugins because they allow you to connect to various Ansible events for display and reporting. To minimize the costs of fact-gathering processes, cache plugins are used. Action plugins are front-end modules that perform operations on the controller system prior to invoking the modules directly.

4. Inventories

The inventory comprises all the nodes or hosts that need to be taken care of, along with their IP addresses, server details, databases, and other information. All machines (control and nodes) used with Ansible are listed in a single, easy-to-read file containing this comprehensive data. After registering the inventory, you can assign parameters to multiple hosts using a simple text-based format. 

5. Application programming interfaces (APIs)

One may use application programming interfaces or APIs to enhance Ansible’s connection choices. This covers more than just using SSH for transmission and extends to callbacks and other functionalities. The Ansible APIs serve as a conduit for public and private cloud applications.

See More: What Is DevSecOps? Definition, Pipeline, Framework, and Best Practices for 2022

6. Hosts and networking

In the Ansible architecture, hosts are the nodal structures that Ansible manages, as well as any computer (RedHat, Linux, Windows, etc.). It leverages a data model unique to the Ansible automation engines and can traverse multiple hardware platforms without any difficulties. 

7. Cloud

A private or public cloud is a collection of distant servers that one may use to collect, organize, and process information. Rather than keeping data on a local server, these systems are hosted over the internet. It simply deploys the cloud resources and instances, links them to the databases, and you’re ready to handle your job remotely.

8. Configuration management database (CMDB)

A CMDB is a database serving as a data repository for IT systems. By deploying the Ansible-CMDB code, users may automatically transform the results of Ansible’s data-collecting function into a static HTML summary page.

See More: What Is DevOps Lifecycle? Definition, Key Components, and Management Best Practices

Features of Ansible

Here are the core features of Ansible that one should remember:

1. Agentless functioning 

Ansible is an agentless system, which means it doesn’t install software on the machines it controls. This eliminates possible faults and cyber threats while also conserving server resources. Ansible is responsible for managing all master-agent interactions. It does so by using either standard SSH or the Paramiko module, of which the latter is a Python implementation of SSH2. The tool does not need the installation of agents on remote networks to be controlled, resulting in lower maintenance costs and performance deterioration.

Ansible’s agentless usage is made possible via SSH and Windows Remote Management. This sends micro, auto-generated modules to remote workstations that “self-destruct” instead of running Unix commands. These modules deliver JSON data and specify desirable states and organized procedures. 

This highly efficient strategy can repurpose connections and requires very little network traffic because of how activities are carried out. This strategy makes users and the central management server more efficient with their resources and eliminates all the problems that come with agent-based systems. For example, “who will manage the management” is no longer an issue with Ansible. Non-root access and a smaller attack surface are two other features that add to this configuration’s desirability.

2. Support for Python

One may use Ansible in a variety of ways from an API standpoint. You may control nodes using the Ansible Python API, expand Ansible to respond to different Python events, develop plugins, and import inventory information from external data sources. Ansible is built in Python and has a relatively low learning curve.

Ansible has a straightforward installation process that requires no extra software, servers, or client daemons. It is parallel by design and maintains nodes through SSH. Ansible was developed in Python, unlike competing options built in languages like Ruby. As a consequence, setting it up and operating it is easier, as Python libraries come preinstalled on most Linux PCs. More programmers and sys admin are likely to be familiar with Python than Ruby. Further, Users may write Ansible modules extending the tool’s capabilities in any language as long as the data is in JSON format.

3. SSH for security

A secure network authentication mechanism that does not require a password. So, it’s up to you to transmit this key to the user. Ansible works by connecting to clients over SSH, eliminating the need for a dedicated client agent, and pushing modules to the clients, which are then performed locally on the client side. The result is delivered back to the Ansible server. Ansible uses the SSH protocol to connect with distant computers. Ansible links to remote computers using native OpenSSH and your current user’s name, much like SSH.

SSH simplifies the entire setup procedure. Client information, such as hostnames, IP addresses, and SSH ports, are saved in inventory files. Ansible may utilize an inventory file once it has been built and filled. You can confirm how you can interact with all inventory nodes over SSH with the identical username. Moreover, if necessary, you can add your public SSH key to the authorized_keys file on those systems. For running tasks against local Linux systems, Ansible uses SSH. To use Ansible, you must set up the software’s SSH connection so that it can automatically bypass a password request.

4. The use of push architecture

Ansible allows users to jot down all settings and push them to the nodes simultaneously. One can see how efficient it is to make adjustments to thousands of servers in a matter of minutes. Within the context of systems for managing configurations in this manner, the main server sends “or pushes” the configuration to nodes. As a result, communication is initiated by the primary server rather than the nodes. This implies that each node may or may not have an agent/client installed. Ansible is a push-based configuration management solution that does not require the installation of an agent on the nodes.

The central server initiates contact and delivers configuration information to the nodes without requesting it in both circumstances. Because the central server pushes the design to the nodes, you have greater control over which nodes need to be set, the operations are more synchronous, and error management is much easier because you can detect and solve errors immediately.

5. Ease of setup

Playbooks, roles, inventories, and variables files are organized by functions in the setup feature, with tags at the play and task level for further specificity and control. Although this is a robust and adaptable method, there are alternative options for organizing Ansible data. Ansible makes it simple to complete tasks by automating them and eliminating the need for manual deployment. It can configure systems, install software, and organize more complex operations like continuous delivery and zero downtime while rolling out new features, among other things.

After continuous integration and continuous deployment, continuous deployment refers to the software deployment process to a server. Simply install the Ansible package on one system to utilize it from the command line to set up ansible. There’s no need to set up a database or start any daemons. Two machines are required. The first machine is referred the ‘Server’, and it serves as a managed node, while the second is referred to as a ‘Node’, and it serves as a controller node.

See More: DevOps vs. Agile Methodology: Key Differences and Similarities 

Takeaway

Ansible is among the most popular technologies in the DevOps toolchain in 2022. Indeed, OpenLogic’s 2022 State of Open Source Survey found that Ansible is one of the top five DevOps tools for automation and orchestration, second only to Puppet. Nearly one in four DevOps teams use the technology to automate the delivery of software code, owing to its powerful yet free features. This 2013 launched DevOps automation platform will remain popular worldwide even as new solutions emerge. 

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