Red Hat Ansible for Network Automation

Convert the INI format static inventory file that was created in the guided exercise into one that uses the YAML format.

1. The following is the ~/inventory file that was created in the guided exercise. If it does not already exist, create it now.

   [leafs]
   leaf[01:02]
   
   [spines]
   spine[01:02]
   
   [cloud-services]
   cs01
   
   [ios:children]
   cloud-services
   
   [vyos:children]
   spines
   leafs
   
   [network:children]
   vyos
   ios
   
   [servers]
   server[01:03]

2. Using that inventory file, the ansible-inventory -i inventory --graph command produces this output:

   [student@workstation ~]$ ansible-inventory -i inventory --graph
   @all:
     |--@network:
     |  |--@ios:
     |  |  |--@cloud-services:
     |  |  |  |--cs01
     |  |--@vyos:
     |  |  |--@leafs:
     |  |  |  |--leaf01
     |  |  |  |--leaf02
     |  |  |--@spines:
     |  |  |  |--spine01
     |  |  |  |--spine02
     |--@servers:
     |  |--server01
     |  |--server02
     |  |--server03
     |--@ungrouped:

3. Create a hosts inventory file named inventory.yml containing this text:

   servers:
     hosts:
       server[01:03]
   
   spines:
     hosts:
       spine[01:02]
   
   leafs:
     hosts:
       leaf[01:02]
   
   cloud-services:
     hosts:
       cs01
   
   ios:
     children:
       cloud-services:
   
   vyos:
     children:
       spines:
       leafs:
   
   network:
     children:
       vyos:
       ios:

Validate the inventory you created.

1. Use the ansible-inventory command with the INI format inventory file to generate a graph. Redirect the output to a file named ini-inventory-graph.out.

   [student@workstation proj]$ ansible-inventory -i inventory \
   > --graph > ini-inventory-graph.out

2. Repeat the same command, this time with the YAML format inventory file. Redirect the output to a file named yml-inventory-graph.out.

   [student@workstation proj]$ ansible-inventory -i inventory.yml \
   > --graph > yml-inventory-graph.out

3. Use the sdiff tool to compare the two files side by side.

   [student@workstation proj]$ sdiff -w 60 ini-inventory-graph.out yml-inventory-graph.out
   @all:                         @all:
   |--@network:                  |--@network:
   |  |--@ios:                   |  |--@ios:
   |  |  |--@cloud-services:     |  |  |--@cloud-services:
   |  |  |  |--cs01              |  |  |  |--cs01
   |  |--@vyos:                  |  |--@vyos:
   |  |  |--@leafs:              |  |  |--@leafs:
   |  |  |  |--leaf01            |  |  |  |--leaf01
   |  |  |  |--leaf02            |  |  |  |--leaf02
   |  |  |--@spines:             |  |  |--@spines:
   |  |  |  |--spine01           |  |  |  |--spine01
   |  |  |  |--spine02           |  |  |  |--spine02
   |--@servers:                  |--@servers:
   |  |--server01                |  |--server01
   |  |--server02                |  |--server02
   |  |--server03                |  |--server03
   |--@ungrouped:                |--@ungrouped: