ansible.example.com | SUCCESS => {\n    \"ansible_facts\": {\n        \"discovered_interpreter_python\": \"\/usr\/bin\/python3\"\n    },\n    \"changed\": false,\n    \"ping\": \"pong\"\n}<\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
If the connection worked correctly, you should see an output similar to the above example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are then ready to run the playbook on your Cloud Server. Use the command below to install the LAMP on your web server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ansible-playbook -i hosts.yml lamp-stack.yml<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
When run, you should see an output like the example below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PLAY [Installing LAMP stack on Ubuntu 20.04] *********************************\n\nTASK [Gathering Facts] *******************************************************\nok: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Update repository list and cache] **************************************\nchanged: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Upgrade all packages on the Cloud Server] ******************************\nchanged: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Install the latest versions of each component] *************************\nchanged: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Check that apache2 is enabled and running] *****************************\nok: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Check that mariadb is enabled and running] *****************************\nok: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Copy the php test page from remote] ************************************\nchanged: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nTASK [Confirm that the web server is working] ********************************\nok: [ansible.ezample.xyz]<\/span>\n\nPLAY RECAP *******************************************************************\n: ok=8<\/span> changed=4<\/span> unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
If you didn\u2019t include connection credentials in your inventory file, you can specify them at the command line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ansible-playbook -i hosts.yml -u root --private-key '\/path\/to\/ssh-private-key' lamp-stack.yml<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also possible to run commands targeting specific servers without an inventory file by defining the domain or IP address on the command line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ansible-playbook -i '{target-public-ip},' -u root --private-key '\/path\/to\/ssh-private-key' lamp-stack.yml<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This can be useful when integrating Ansible with other cloud infrastructure management tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Integrating Ansible with Terraform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ansible is a great tool for provisioning your Cloud Servers once deployed. However, you first need to get the servers up and running. For this purpose, look no further than Terraform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terraform is a popular open-source infrastructure-as-code software tool that allows you to define infrastructure as code. It uses simple, human-readable language to safely and predictably manage cloud infrastructure by codifying APIs into declarative configuration files. Once the infrastructure has been deployed, Terraform can call on Ansible to provision the new Cloud Servers as required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check out our guide on how to get started with Terraform if you haven\u2019t used it before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
How to get started with Terraform<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Running Ansible together with Terraform enables you to provision Cloud Servers directly after deployment. It allows you to make resources usable predictably, repeatably and much faster than configuring anything manually. It also enables easier maintenance and troubleshooting, thanks to the identical deployment steps which can eliminate human error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, you can use the code below in your Terraform configuration to have Ansible provision the new deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# SSH connection and authentication\nconnection {\n  host        = self.network_interface[0].ip_address\n  type        = \"ssh\"\n  user        = \"root\"\n  private_key = file(\"\/path\/to\/ssh-private-key\")\n}\n\n# Wait until the Cloud Server is availble\nprovisioner \"remote-exec\" {\n  inline = [\"echo 'Cloud Server ready!'\"]\n}\n\n# Provision the Cloud Server using Ansible\nprovisioner \"local-exec\" {\n  command = <<-EOT\n     ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING=False ansible-playbook \n     -u root \n     -i '${self.network_interface[0].ip_address},' \n     --private-key '\/path\/to\/ssh-private-key' \n     your-playbook.yml\n  EOT\n}<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The above example includes three sections:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Connection details to use the public IP address of the Cloud Server, username, and the private SSH key counterpart of a public key the Cloud Server was deployed with to authenticate the connection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
A remote execution provisioner is used to ensure the Cloud Server is reachable over SSH before continuing with the provisioning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
The local execution provisioner then calls Ansible to run the requested playbook.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
With the required configurations in place, you can deploy and provision a new Cloud Server from start to finish with a single command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
terraform apply<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Then kick back and let the automation take care of your entire deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
upcloud_server.server: Creating...\nupcloud_server.server: Still creating... [10s elapsed]\n...\nupcloud_server.server (remote-exec): Cloud Server ready!\nupcloud_server.server: Provisioning with 'local-exec'...\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): Executing: [\"\/bin\/sh\" \"-c\" \"ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING=False ansible-playbook n-u root n-i '94.237.49.179,' n--private-key '~\/.ssh\/terraform_rsa' nlamp-stack.ymln\"]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): PLAY [Installing LAMP stack on Ubuntu 20.04] ***********************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Gathering Facts] *********************************************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): ok: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Update repository list and cache] ****************************************\nupcloud_server.server: Still creating... [1m0s elapsed]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): changed: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Upgrade all packages on the Cloud Server] ********************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): changed: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Install the latest versions of each component] ***************************\n...\nupcloud_server.server: Still creating... [3m20s elapsed]\nupcloud_server.server: Still creating... [3m30s elapsed]\nupcloud_server.server: Still creating... [3m40s elapsed]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): changed: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Check that apache2 is enabled and running] *******************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): ok: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Check that mariadb is enabled and running] *******************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): ok: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Copy the php test page from remote] **************************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): changed: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): TASK [Confirm that the web server is working] **********************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): ok: [94.237.49.179]\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************\nupcloud_server.server (local-exec): 94.237.49.179              : ok=8    changed=4    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0\n\nupcloud_server.server: Creation complete after 3m50s [id=00cfc56b-06bb-4269-8a3b-dca2a34cd916]<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Once done, you should see an output like the above showing the provisioning was completed successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations! You should now have all the components in place to automate your Cloud Server deployment and provisioning. Ansible together with Terraform makes light work of managing even the largest cloud infrastructure saving you time and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that you\u2019ve gotten started, you might want to check out some other playbook examples<\/a> over at Ansible\u2019s GitHub repository. Also, if you\u2019d like to learn more about Terraform, head over to our tutorial below on how to automate Terraform deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
How to automate Terraform deployments<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","community-category":[113,117],"class_list":["post-24957","tutorial","type-tutorial","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","community-category-integrations","community-category-automation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorial\/24957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorial"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tutorial"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"community-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studiogo.tech\/upcloudold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/community-category?post=24957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}