What is Ansible in DevOps?

If you are familiar with DevOps, you must have wondered, ‘What is Ansible in DevOps?’

Ansible takes on the repetitive, complex tasks of configuration management, cloud provisioning, software deployment, and intra-service orchestration.

Ansible simplifies the process by sending small programs, called ‘Ansible Modules,’ to connect with nodes. It can deploy and connect using the SSH agent to execute and remove the modules.

You can manage content changes using any text editor, terminal program, and version control system. Ansible has more than 750 modules.

DevOps uses Ansible, an open-source automation tool, to manage IT infrastructure. It provides comfort in several areas, such as tedious tasks, provisioning, configuration management, deployment, and orchestration.

Ansible can automate application deployments and configurations across all servers or network devices, enabling efficient implementation of DevOps.

However, in the blog below, let’s learn more about Ansible in DevOps. Keep Reading!

What is Ansible in DevOps?

Ansible is an open-source, cross-platform app development resource provisioning tool that enables the integration of internally developed applications within your applications and simplifies the DevOps process.

The DevOps community utilizes it the most for orchestrating, automating, configuring, and managing IT infrastructure. It quickens the deployment process, increasing teams’ productivity.

The DevOps teams declare their desired infrastructure or application states using Ansible’s declarative language in Playbooks, which contains the steps to perform on the target systems.

Teams use Ansible modules to achieve specific tasks, such as creating, modifying, or removing files. Idempotence ensures that running the same Playbook safely several times produces the same outcome.

Teams use Ansible’s inventory to organize and group target systems and roles, providing reusability and structure to the Playbooks.

The DevOps community largely prefers it for its simplicity, flexibility, and wide community support.

It helps automate repetitive work, increase efficiency, and maintain consistency in configuring infrastructure and applications, making it a valuable tool for practicing DevOps.

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Why is Ansible Used in DevOps?

If you have a question, why is Ansible used in DevOps? Ansible supports various DevOps tasks, including Docker management, deployment automation, configuration management, and provisioning.

It is highly adaptable to different systems and can streamline complex, multi-step processes, making it ideal for fast-paced DevOps environments.

Ansible helps keep complex DevOps processes manageable, benefiting backend developers responsible for the system infrastructure.

There are several reasons; let’s take a look below:

1. Ansible for DevOps

It simplifies the deployment of applications designed within your organization to your production to make DevOps easier.

DevOps teams use Ansible as one of the most popular automation tools for orchestration, automation, configuration, and IT infrastructure management.

Some benefits of using Ansible in DevOps include adapting and scaling according to demand.

The following are the advantages of Ansible in DevOps using Ansible:

👉 The feedback loop accelerates faster.

👉 Installations are dependable.

👉 IT architecture is coordinated.

👉 Deployments are faster.

2. Management of Docker Containers with Ansible

Docker is a high-performance framework for efficiently constructing and executing containers on local devices and servers. It allows you to compare Docker vs containers to lightweight virtual devices.

Ansible delivers a robust collection of capabilities and built-in modules, and its straightforward design makes building automation scripts easier.

This enables the user to develop tasks and to run them in your preferred setting. This tool utilizes the “yet another markup language” or YAML language, in the form of playbooks.

3. Applying Ansible to Automation

Automating the deployment of any hardware is the first step toward automating the operational service lifecycle in your application.

Ansible can automate IT infrastructures on bare metal servers, virtualization platforms, and cloud servers.

It can also automate the setup of different systems, devices, databases, storage devices, networks, and firewalls.

4. Configuration Management

Ansible is a simple, trustworthy, and consistent configuration management solution.

If you already have some IT experience, you can install it quickly. Ansible configurations describe basic infrastructural information that humans may read and that a computer can process.

You only need a password or an SSH (Secure Socket Shell) key to start monitoring machines.

5. Installing Web Applications Using Ansible

You can deploy applications with multiple tiers quickly and easily by using Ansible.

In other words, one doesn’t have to build an entire code base to govern processes.

one just has to specify the intended actions in a playbook, and Ansible will then figure out how to get those processes to the desired outcome.

You will not have to create configurations for each machine manually. Ansible relies on the ability to SSH into remote networks and execute all commands when a module is run from a control device.

6. Provisioning

The first stage of automating the system development life cycle of your applications is to provision your hardware.

Teams use Ansible to deploy cloud development platforms, network hardware devices, virtualized hosts, and servers, among other equipment.

Users can provisionally install the many servers needed in the computer network.

7. Compliance and Security

Site-wide security policies, such as rules for firewall software, can be combined with other automated processes.

When you configure the security information on the control device and run the associated Playbook, Ansible automatically adjusts the security information on all connected servers.

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Features of Ansible Tool in DevOps

It is a multi-featured tool with many functions that are applied to make DevOps processes simpler and faster.

Ansible offers essential features such as configuration management, application deployment, orchestration, and cloud provisioning.

Its flexibility, ease of integration, and Python support make it suitable for both small and large-scale DevOps needs.

Let us find out more: 

1. Configuration Management

Configuration management is one of the Ansible tool's major features, enabling IT infrastructure management.

It allows deployment automation and minimizes risks associated with unintended changes, auditing, and tracking changes, thereby offering high visibility to DevOps teams.

2. Application Deployment

It is one of Ansible’s most prominent features. Pre-packaged modules make deployment much easier and help simplify applications, even when you are using Maven for DevOps.

3. Orchestration

Ansible manages orchestrated workflows with declarative language, making simplifying complex processes easier.

You can automate elaborate processes like rolling updates, system configuration changes, and application deployments.

4. Security and Compliance

Ansible offers several in-built security options that automatically secure communication protocols, encryption, and authentication methods.

5. Cloud Provisioning

It helps provision cloud resources such as virtual computers, storage, and networking components. It also supports various cloud providers, including AWS, Google, Azure, and others.

Additionally, using web application architecture in combination with cloud provisioning creates scalable and resilient applications.

6. Support for Python

One could use Ansible in a variety of ways from an API perspective.

Nodes can be managed, Ansible can be extended by its capacity to react to other Python events, plugins can be created through the Ansible Python API, and inventory data can be imported from external sources.

Mobile app development using Python enables codes written in Python, and Ansible has a relatively shallow learning curve.

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Benefits of Ansible in DevOps

Key benefits of Ansible include its cost-effectiveness, simplicity, flexibility, and agentless design, making it easy to install and operate.

Trends in DevOps indicate a rising interest in agentless tools, and Ansible’s straightforward installation positions it as an ideal choice for various teams.

Let’s learn more:

1. Free of Cost

Ansible provides a free option to resource-bound DevOps teams. Thus, it can be used by businesses of any size.

2. Simple to Set Up

Ansible’s interface is simple, and one doesn’t have to go through complicated procedures or configurations. Its user-friendly interface allows DevOps teams to set it up quickly.

Besides that, it provides rich documentation, making the implementation and automation procedures much easier for the team to understand.

3. Strong Tool

It is a DevOps tool that helps keep the complex DevOps process under control. It has modules that help a person maintain all parts related to IT infrastructure.

Ansible’s user-friendly interface allows teams to set it up quickly, enhancing productivity. The documentation, which covers API development, makes implementation easier, especially for businesses new to DevOps practices.

4. Flexible

The tool makes it much easier to adapt to the environment. It can work with different operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and Unix.

This tool also supports multiple transport methods and is integrated with other DevOps tools.

5. Agentless

This tool does not require extra software or agents to be installed, which makes its installation and maintenance much easier.

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How Does Ansible Work?

Ansible generally has two computer types: the managed and control nodes.

The control node, a computer, runs Ansible. Teams need at least one control node, but a backup control node can coexist in parallel. A managed node can be anything that the control node manages.

Furthermore, automated data management and AI-driven protocols streamline secure communication in Ansible setups.

Ansible first connects to nodes like servers, clients, or other systems that need configuration and then sends a small program known as the Ansible module to the node.

The same modules run on the target node with SSH provided by Ansible, and Ansible automatically erases them once execution is complete.

For secure communication, Ansible control nodes require some form of login access to managed nodes. Teams use SSH keys for access; additional authentication methods provide further security.

Configuration Management

Ansible records and updates the enterprise hardware and software details to maintain consistent product performance.

Application Deployment

When you define and manage the applications using Ansible, they can be managed in Ansible from Development to Production.

Orchestration

To manage as a whole and how the configurations interact.

Security and Compliance

Ansible allows teams to deploy wide security policies across the infrastructure.

Provisioning

Helps to automate and manage the process

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What is Ansible in DevOps Architecture?

Ansible’s architecture comprises modules, playbooks, plugins, inventories, APIs, and a configuration management database (CMDB).

A CMDB acts as a data repository, which, when combined with an Android app development framework, improves system-wide consistency.

These elements collectively support automation across different systems, enhancing structure, reusability, and integration within IT environments.

Here is a preview of some of the different entities that make up the Ansible structure:

1. Modules

Servers, daemons, or a list of databases cannot reside anywhere on the machine without the Ansible modules.

Ansible dispatches modules from the command computer to all nodal network points or distant hosts.

They are predefined instructions that are carried out directly on remote hosts. Playbooks execute modules that manage applications, packages, and files.

Ansible runs all modules needed to complete an update or accomplish the task and eliminates them once done.

2. Playbooks

Ansible playbooks guide tasks, allowing easy control over DevOps functions.

The flexibility of playbooks, much like Ecommerce app development (single Vendor), enables teams to tailor processes according to their specific requirements.

They are simple text files created in YAML, and they’re really at the heart of what makes Ansible so appealing because they define the tasks one must execute quickly without the need to remember specific terminology.

Besides describing environments, they might also orchestrate the phases of any scheduled manual task and execute tasks in parallel or serial.

3. Plugins

Plugins are small modules of code that augment a website’s functionality.

Ansible has a few of these, but one can also come up with his or her own. Plugins are what has happened here and are a type of module. The plugins are executed before a module is performed on the nodes.

You run plugins for logging purposes on the primary control unit, mainly because the results of a playbook execution are recorded on the primary control unit.

There are callback plugins because they can connect you to different Ansible events for you to display and report accordingly. Cache plugins are used to minimize the cost of fact-gathering processes.

Action plugins are front-end modules that perform actions on the controller system before invoking the modules directly.

4. Inventories

The inventory consists of all the nodes or hosts one needs to manage, along with their IP addresses, server details, databases, etc.

All the machines used with Ansible are listed in a single, easy-to-read file containing all this information. Register the inventory and assign parameters to multiple hosts using a simple text-based format.

5. Application programming interfaces (APIs)

Application programming interfaces (APIs) allow one to extend Ansible’s connectivity options. This goes far beyond using SSH for transmission and includes things like callbacks.

Ansible APIs serve as channels for connecting with public and private cloud applications.

6. Hosts and Networking

The Ansible architecture includes the following nodes in its structures: hosts, which can be any computer, such as RedHat, Linux, Windows, etc.

It uses a data model unique to the Ansible automation engines and does not encounter any complications when traversing multiple hardware platforms.

7. Cloud

Private or public cloud services aggregate, categorize, and process information on remote servers. Instead of writing data into a local server, these systems are 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 an IT system data repository that behaves like a database, including a list of databases.

With the Ansible-CMDB code, users can automatically generate the results of Ansible’s collecting function as a static HTML summary page.

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What is Ansible Tower?

Ansible Tower is a web-based GUI and commercial automation platform that helps manage Ansible at scale.

Ansible Tower enhances the management, visibility, and scalability of Ansible automation.

A powerful solution like Ansible Tower gives you the tools to address complex automation workflows in enterprise environments.

Ansible Tower is the management console, extending open-source Ansible with enterprise-class features to manage, monitor, and control Ansible automation across large-scale IT trends and environments.

People now simply call Ansible Tower the Automation Controller.

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What are the Key features of Ansible Tower?

As we have established, with cost-effective tools like Ansible, it’s easy to meet core buying motives for your business by optimizing DevOps resources.

So, let’s see some of the key features of Ansible Tower:

Centralized Management

Ansible Tower offers a centralized point through which Ansible creation—such as playbooks, scheduling jobs, and managing inventory—can be easily managed across large, complex environments.

Role-Based Access Control

Fine-grained access allows administrators to manage users, teams, and permissions based on the end-user’s role and responsibility.

Job Scheduling and Logging

Ansible Tower supports the scheduling and queuing of Ansible jobs and provides detailed logging and reporting to improve visibility into job execution and results.

Dashboard and Analytics

Ansible Tower also introduces a graphical dashboard with real-time insights and analytics that enable better monitoring and troubleshooting of Ansible automation activities.

Inventory Management

Ansible Tower provides an option for a web-based interface for inventory management. This supports easy management of hosts and groups for Ansible automation.

REST API

The Ansible Tower offers a Rest API for integration with other tools and workflows, enabling seamless automation across the DevOps toolchain.

Scalability and High Availability

Ansible Tower is designed to accommodate large-scale automation demands and provides scalability and high availability features to ensure reliable and efficient automation across large infrastructures.

Final Thoughts

To answer the question, “What is Ansible in DevOps?” We can say it is a DevOps automation and deployment tool.

Ansible is a powerful, flexible, and user-friendly tool in the DevOps ecosystem, supporting essential tasks like configuration management, automation, and application deployment.

With features like its agentless design, comprehensive module library, and Ansible Tower for scalability, Ansible helps DevOps teams maintain consistent, secure, and efficient IT infrastructure.

Its broad community support and straightforward interface make it accessible for various organizational needs, from startups to large enterprises.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Ansible in DevOps used for?

Ans: Ansible is used in DevOps to automate repetitive and complex tasks, such as configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, and orchestration. It enables IT teams to efficiently manage and deploy software across multiple servers efficiently, ensuring consistent infrastructure configurations and streamlined operations.

Q. What is the Ansible role?

Ans: In Ansible, a role is a pre-defined way to organize tasks, variables, and files, making it easier to reuse and manage automation tasks. Roles allow DevOps teams to bundle specific functions, such as setting up a web server or configuring security settings, and apply them across multiple environments.

Q. What is a playbook in Ansible?

Ans: A playbook in Ansible is a YAML file that contains a series of instructions for automating tasks. It defines what actions to perform on which servers, allowing DevOps teams to automate complex workflows, including system updates, application deployments, and configuration changes, with clear and readable instructions.

Q. Can Ansible manage cloud environments?

Ans: Yes, Ansible supports cloud provisioning and can manage resources on various cloud platforms, including AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. It allows DevOps teams to automate the setup and configuration of cloud instances, storage, networking, and other cloud services, ensuring consistency and scalability in cloud infrastructure.