GDT

module Description: dgt_devops06 – Ansible – Vars, Loops, When, and Templating

Welcome to “dgt_devops06 – Ansible – Vars, Loops, When, and Templating,” a comprehensive module designed to deepen your understanding of configuration management using Ansible. This module focuses on the advanced features of Ansible that enable dynamic and efficient automation across various environments.

module Overview:

• Introduction to Configuration Management:
  Explore the fundamentals of configuration management and its significance in maintaining consistency, reliability, and efficiency within IT infrastructure. Understand how Ansible fits into this paradigm as a powerful tool for automating repetitive tasks.

• Idempotency Principles:
  Learn about the concept of idempotency, which ensures that running the same playbook multiple times produces identical results without causing unintended changes. This principle is crucial in maintaining system stability and consistency across deployments.

• Using Variables Vars:
  Delve into Ansibles variable management to customize your playbooks for different environments. Learn how to define, use, and override variables within tasks to make your automation more flexible and reusable.

• Leveraging Loops:
  Gain proficiency in using loops to iterate over lists or dictionaries within your playbooks. This allows you to efficiently manage repetitive tasks without redundant code, making your automation scripts cleaner and more maintainable.

• Conditional Execution with When:
  Discover how to use the when statement to execute tasks conditionally based on specific criteria. This feature enhances playbook flexibility by allowing conditional logic that adapts to different scenarios or states of target systems.

• Templating with Jinja2:
  Master templating using Ansibles integration with Jinja2, enabling dynamic content generation in configuration files and scripts. Learn how to incorporate variables, loops, and conditionals within templates to create highly adaptable automation solutions.

Practical Application:

Throughout the module, youll engage with practical examples and exercises designed to reinforce theoretical concepts through real-world application. Youll have the opportunity to write and execute Ansible playbooks that utilize vars, loops, when conditions, and templating to manage configurations effectively.

Example Snippet of an Ansible Playbook:

“`yaml

• name: Configure web servers with dynamic settings
  hosts: webservers
  vars:
  http_port: 80
  max_clients: 200

tasks:
– name: Ensure the Apache package is installed
apt:
name: apache2
state: present

- name: Template the Apache configuration file
  template:
    src: templates/httpd.conf.j2
    dest: /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf
  notify:
    - Restart Apache

handlers:
– name: Restart Apache
service:
name: apache2
state: restarted

“`

In this example, variables http_port and max_clients are used within a template to configure an Apache web server dynamically. The playbook showcases the integration of tasks with conditional execution, variable management, templating, and handlers for service restarts.

Who Should Enroll:

• IT professionals looking to enhance their skills in configuration management.
• DevOps engineers seeking advanced proficiency with Ansible automation.
• System administrators aiming to streamline and automate infrastructure management.

Join us on this journey to master the power of Ansibles vars, loops, when conditions, and templating, all while understanding the core principles of configuration management and idempotency. Equip yourself with the skills necessary to drive efficiency and reliability in your IT operations.
The students can push their exercises to the Academy DevOps & SRE GIT project. For this module, create a folder with your username as its name in the following subfolder: https://github.com/Garanti-Del-Talento/gdt_academy