Configuration Management with Ansible

Learning Objectives

• Understand configuration management concepts and approaches
• Learn Ansible architecture and components
• Develop skills in writing reusable Ansible playbooks
• Implement idempotent configuration management
• Create role-based Ansible structures for better organization

Requirements

You are required to implement server configuration management using Ansible:

1. Ansible Environment Setup
   • Install Ansible on your control node
   • Create an inventory file with target servers
     • Use at least one cloud VM from your previous Terraform project
     • Optionally add a local VM for testing
   • Configure SSH access to managed nodes
   • Verify connectivity (ansible all -m ping)
   • Document your setup process
2. Basic Server Configuration
   • Create a playbook (basic_setup.yml) that:
     • Updates all system packages
     • Configures timezone and locale
     • Installs common utilities (curl, vim, htop, etc.)
     • Creates a non-root user with sudo privileges
     • Configures SSH hardening (disable root login, key-based auth)
     • Sets up a basic firewall (ufw/firewalld)
   • Run the playbook against your inventory
   • Verify the configuration applied correctly
3. Web Server Deployment
   • Create a playbook (web_server.yml) to:
     • Install and configure Nginx or Apache
     • Deploy a sample website from templates
     • Configure virtual hosts
     • Set up proper file permissions
     • Enable HTTPS with self-signed certificates
     • Configure basic performance settings
   • Implement handlers for service restarts
   • Use templates for configuration files
   • Use variables for customization
4. Role-Based Organization
   • Refactor your playbooks into roles:

     roles/
     ├── common/          # Base system configuration
     │   ├── tasks/
     │   ├── handlers/
     │   ├── templates/
     │   └── defaults/
     ├── web_server/      # Web server configuration
     │   ├── tasks/
     │   ├── handlers/
     │   ├── templates/
     │   └── defaults/
     └── security/        # Security hardening
         ├── tasks/
         ├── handlers/
         ├── templates/
         └── defaults/
     

   • Create a main playbook that applies roles to hosts
   • Document the role structure and purpose
5. Ansible Best Practices
   • Implement proper error handling
   • Ensure idempotency in all tasks
   • Use tags for selective execution
   • Implement proper variable precedence
   • Document all roles and variables

Stretch goals

• Implement Ansible Vault for secret management
• Create a dynamic inventory script for cloud resources
• Implement a database server role (MySQL/PostgreSQL)
• Develop integration tests for your Ansible roles
• Create a CI pipeline to validate Ansible syntax

Deliverables

• Complete Ansible project with inventory, playbooks, and roles
• Documentation of role structure and variable usage
• Screenshots showing successful playbook execution
• Before/after verification of configured services
• Sample templates and configuration files
• README with instructions for using the Ansible configuration

Links

• Ansible Documentation
• Ansible Best Practices
• Ansible for DevOps (Book)
• Ansible Galaxy - Repository of roles
• Ansible Role Development Guide
• Jinja2 Template Designer Documentation
• Testing Ansible Roles with Molecule
• Ansible Security Automation

Once you have completed this project, you will be able to automate server configuration using Ansible - an essential skill for implementing consistent, repeatable, and scalable infrastructure management in a DevOps environment.