Introduction to Event-Driven Ansible

Figure 0.1: Classroom environment

In this course, the main computer system used for hands-on learning activities is workstation.

The workstation machine has a standard user account, student, which has the password student. The root password on the workstation machine is redhat.

A code editor, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), is installed on the workstation machine. You can use it in this course to view and edit files, interact with Git repositories, and run the ansible-rulebook command.

You also use the servera machine and the arista1 network device for some activities. The servera machine has a standard user account, student, which has the password student. The arista1 network device has a privileged user account, student, which uses SSH keys for authentication.

The https://controller.lab.example.com URL provides access to the web-based user interface of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation controller server in your classroom environment. You can log in as the admin user, with redhat as the password.

The https://eda-controller.lab.example.com URL provides access to the web-based user interface of the Event-Driven Ansible controller server in your classroom environment. You can log in as the admin user, with redhat as the password.

The https://hub.lab.example.com URL provides access to the web-based user interface of the private automation hub server in your classroom environment. You can log in as the student user, with redhat123 as the password.

Some Ansible content in this course is stored under version control in Git repositories on the GitLab server, git.lab.example.com. The https://git.lab.example.com URL provides access to the web-based user interface of the GitLab server in your classroom environment. You can log in as the student user, with Stud3nt123 as the password.

The classroom and bastion machines must always be running for the lab environment to function properly.

All machines are in the lab.example.com DNS domain.

Controlling Your Systems

You are assigned remote computers in a Red Hat Online Learning (ROLE) classroom. Self-paced courses are accessed through a web application that is hosted at . Log in to this site with your Red Hat Customer Portal user credentials.

Controlling the Virtual Machines

The virtual machines in your classroom environment are controlled through web page interface controls. The state of each classroom virtual machine is displayed on the Lab Environment tab.

Figure 0.2: An example course lab environment management page

Table 2. Machine States

Virtual machine state	Description
building	The virtual machine is being created.
active	The virtual machine is running and available. If the virtual machine just started, then it might still be starting services.
stopped	The virtual machine is shut down. On starting, the virtual machine boots into the same state that it was in before shutdown. The disk state is preserved.

Table 3. Classroom Actions

Button or action	Description
CREATE	Create the ROLE classroom. Creates and starts all the necessary virtual machines for this classroom.
CREATING	The ROLE classroom virtual machines are being created. Creation can take several minutes to complete.
DELETE	Delete the ROLE classroom. Deletes all virtual machines in the classroom. All saved work on those systems' disks is lost.
START	Start all virtual machines in the classroom.
STARTING	All virtual machines in the classroom are starting.
STOP	Stop all virtual machines in the classroom.

Table 4. Machine Actions

Button or action	Description
OPEN CONSOLE	Connect to the system console of the virtual machine in a new browser tab. You can log in directly to the virtual machine and run commands, when required. Normally, log in to the workstation virtual machine only, and from there, use ssh to connect to the other virtual machines.
ACTION → Start	Start (power on) the virtual machine.
ACTION → Shutdown	Gracefully shut down the virtual machine, and preserve disk contents.
ACTION → Power Off	Forcefully shut down the virtual machine, and still preserve disk contents. This action is equivalent to removing the power from a physical machine.
ACTION → Reset	Forcefully shut down the virtual machine and reset the associated storage to its initial state. All saved work on that system's disks is lost.

At the start of an exercise, if you are instructed to reset a single virtual machine node, then click ACTION → Reset for that specific virtual machine only.

At the start of an exercise, if you are instructed to reset all virtual machines, then click ACTION → Reset on every virtual machine in the list.

To return the classroom environment to its original state at the start of the course, you can click DELETE to remove the entire classroom environment. After the lab is deleted, click CREATE to provision a new set of classroom systems.

Warning

The DELETE operation cannot be undone. All completed work in the classroom environment is lost.

The Auto-stop and Auto-destroy Timers

The Red Hat Online Learning enrollment entitles you to a set allotment of computer time. To help to conserve your allotted time, the ROLE classroom uses timers, which shut down or delete the classroom environment when the appropriate timer expires.

To adjust the timers, locate the two + buttons at the bottom of the course management page. Click the auto-stop + button to add another hour to the auto-stop timer. Click the auto-destroy + button to add another day to the auto-destroy timer. Auto-stop has a maximum of 11 hours, and auto-destroy has a maximum of 14 days. Be careful to keep the timers set while you are working, so that your environment is not unexpectedly shut down. Be careful not to set the timers unnecessarily high, which could waste your subscription time allotment.