Red Hat Enterprise Linux Automation with Ansible

Procedure 5.2. Instructions

1. On workstation, navigate to the /home/student/file-template working directory. Review the inventory file in the current working directory. This file configures two groups: webservers and workstations. The servera.lab.example.com system is in the webservers group, and the workstation.lab.example.com system is in the workstations group.

   1. Navigate to the /home/student/file-template working directory.

      [student@workstation ~]$ cd ~/file-template
      [student@workstation file-template]$

   2. Display the contents of the inventory file.

      [webservers]
      servera.lab.example.com
      
      [workstations]
      workstation.lab.example.com

2. Create a template for the Message of the Day file (/etc/motd) and save it as the motd.j2 file 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'] and ansible_facts['distribution_version'], to provide Linux distribution information.

   • system_owner, for the system owner's email. This variable is going to be set by the play in the motd.yml playbook, which you edit in the next step.

   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 }}.

3. Create a playbook file named motd.yml in the current working directory. Create a play in that file that defines the system_owner variable in its vars section. The play must have a task that uses the ansible.builtin.template module to deploy the motd.j2 Jinja2 template to the remote file /etc/motd on the managed hosts. It must set the owner and group of /etc/motd to root, 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
         ansible.builtin.template:
           src: motd.j2
           dest: /etc/motd
           owner: root
           group: root
           mode: 0644

4. Before running the playbook, use the ansible-navigator run --syntax-check command to verify its 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-navigator run \
   > -m stdout motd.yml --syntax-check
   playbook: /home/student/file-template/motd.yml

5. Run the motd.yml playbook.

   [student@workstation file-template]$ ansible-navigator run \
   > -m stdout motd.yml
   
   PLAY [Configure SOE] ***********************************************************
   
   TASK [Gathering Facts] *********************************************************
   ok: [servera.lab.example.com]
   ok: [workstation.lab.example.com]
   
   TASK [Configure /etc/motd] *****************************************************
   changed: [servera.lab.example.com]
   changed: [workstation.lab.example.com]
   
   PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
   servera.lab.example.com    : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
   workstation.lab.example.com : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

6. From workstation, use ssh to log in to servera.lab.example.com as the devops user to verify that the Message of the Day is correctly displayed on your terminal when you log in. Log off when you have finished.

   [student@workstation file-template]$ ssh devops@servera.lab.example.com
   This is the system servera.lab.example.com.
   This is a RedHat version 9.0 system.
   Only use this system with permission.
   Please report issues to: clyde@example.com.
   ...output omitted...
   [devops@servera ~]$ exit
   logout
   Connection to servera.lab.example.com closed.