Red Hat Enterprise Linux Automation with Ansible
In this exercise, you will create a simple template file that your playbook will use to install a customized Message of the Day file on each managed host.
Outcomes
You should be able to:
Build a template file.
Use the template file in a playbook.
Log in to workstation as student using student as the password.
On workstation, run the lab file-template start command. This script ensures that Ansible is installed on workstation, creates the /home/student/file-template directory, and downloads the ansible.cfg file into that directory.
[student@workstation ~]$lab file-template start
Note
All the files used during this exercise are available for reference on workstation in the /home/student/file-template/files directory.
Procedure 5.2. Instructions
On
workstation, navigate to the/home/student/file-templateworking directory. Review theinventoryfile in the current working directory. This file configures two groups:webserversandworkstations. Theservera.lab.example.comsystem is in thewebserversgroup, and theworkstation.lab.example.comsystem is in theworkstationsgroup.Navigate to the
/home/student/file-templateworking directory.[student@workstation ~]$cd ~/file-template[student@workstation file-template]$Display the content of the
inventoryfile.[webservers] servera.lab.example.com [workstations] workstation.lab.example.com
Create a template for the Message of the Day and include it in the
motd.j2file in the current working directory. Include the following variables and facts in the template:ansible_facts['fqdn'], to insert the FQDN of the managed host.ansible_facts['distribution']andansible_facts['distribution_version'], to provide distribution information.system_owner, for the system owner's email. This variable needs to be defined with an appropriate value in thevarssection of the playbook template.
This is the system {{ ansible_facts['fqdn'] }}. This is a {{ ansible_facts['distribution'] }} version {{ ansible_facts['distribution_version'] }} system. Only use this system with permission. Please report issues to: {{ system_owner }}.Create a playbook file named
motd.ymlin the current working directory. Define thesystem_ownervariable in thevarssection, and include a task for thetemplatemodule that maps themotd.j2Jinja2 template to the remote file/etc/motdon the managed hosts. Set the owner and group toroot, and the mode to 0644.--- - name: configure SOE hosts: all remote_user: devops become: true vars: - system_owner: clyde@example.com tasks: - name: configure /etc/motd template: src: motd.j2 dest: /etc/motd owner: root group: root mode: 0644Before running the playbook, use the
ansible-playbook --syntax-checkcommand to verify the syntax. If it reports any errors, correct them before moving to the next step. You should see output similar to the following:[student@workstation file-template]$ansible-playbook --syntax-check motd.ymlplaybook: motd.ymlRun the
motd.ymlplaybook.[student@workstation file-template]$ansible-playbook motd.ymlPLAY [all] ****************************************************************** TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************** ok: [servera.lab.example.com] ok: [workstation.lab.example.com] TASK [template] ************************************************************* changed: [servera.lab.example.com] changed: [workstation.lab.example.com] PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************** servera.lab.example.com : ok=2 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 workstation.lab.example.com : ok=2 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0Log in to
servera.lab.example.comas thedevopsuser to verify that the MOTD is correctly displayed when logged in. Log off when you have finished.[student@workstation file-template]$ssh devops@servera.lab.example.comThis is the system servera.lab.example.com. This is a RedHat version 8.4 system. Only use this system with permission. Please report issues to: clyde@example.com. ...output omitted...[devops@servera ~]#exitConnection to servera.lab.example.com closed.
