How to Use Ansible for Server Automation

Ansible automates repetitive server tasks using simple YAML playbooks without agents on remote servers.

Install and Configure Inventory

sudo apt install ansible -y
sudo nano /etc/ansible/hosts

[webservers]
web1.yourdomain.com
web2.yourdomain.com
[all:vars]
ansible_user=ubuntu

Test Connection

ansible all -m ping
ansible webservers -m command -a "uptime"

Write a Playbook

---
- name: Configure Web Servers
  hosts: webservers
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Install Nginx
      apt: name=nginx state=present
    - name: Start Nginx
      systemd: name=nginx enabled=yes state=started

Run

ansible-playbook setup-webserver.yml --check  # dry run
ansible-playbook setup-webserver.yml

Conclusion

Ansible eliminates manual server configuration drift. Our team uses Ansible for consistent server deployments.