Introduction
About the book
When we first encountered ansible, there was no configuration as code. The main
focus was on defining the infrastructure in code, so that systems could be rolled out
without errors.
The RedHat Ansible Automation Platform wasn't there yet, RedHat Ansible Tower
was what most large organizations were using. As already mentioned, configuration
as code did not yet exist and the configuration of tower was mainly secured by
snapshots or a backup schedule.
Now that configuration as code has been made "simple" by means of the infra
collections, there is no reason not to implement it. This is where the idea of this book
originated. Everything we encountered during our search for the (for us) ideal way to
capture it is described here. As much as possible with backgrounds and reasons for
doing it that way. In this book, we assume that you have the necessary experience
with ansible and yaml files. This is not an ansible or automation platform training, but
knowledge of GIT and the agile way of working is necessary.
All the necessary playbooks and pipeline code are in the book. All code has been
tested for operation in an extensive lab environment, which approximates the reality
of an Enterprise environment. Inevitably, there will be things that we have not
foreseen for the environment you are working with. This is where your own
experience with ansible and the knowledge of your own environment comes in
handy, especially adapt it to your environment... So that it works for you, then it will
be of use to you. OpenShift was not used in the lab environment, so that experience
could not be incorporated into the book. Maybe we'll add this at a later time. The
configuration as code, as described here, does work on an OpenShift environment.
Undoubtedly, new insights will emerge from this, which may make it possible to carry
out a fully automated recovery.
The main thing is that in the end you want to have an environment where you don't
have to worry about the amount of manual work if things do go wrong... There is
almost none.
In this book we assume that the reader is familiar with the configuration of the ansible
automation platform, if you hope to know all the configuration options of the controller
and automation hub by the end of this book, you will be disappointed. What we hope
you can get out of it is that you know how to record everything you configure and
save it for posterity.
We don't pretend to have all the wisdom, but we do have a lot of experience with the
subject and we hope to share that with you.
We hope that the reader will find it useful and that it will help you to manage your
environment without any problems.
About The Author
During my professional training, IT did not exist as a profession. Computers were
available, but not at school. The first computers appeared in schools during my final
year at the MTS. So I didn't choose IT as a profession, I started as an electrician at a
railway company. In the early 90s, IT started to advance there as well and they
started to apply process automation and they were looking for people who wanted to
grow within the company. Everyone who wanted to participate had to apply internally
for that position, after which a selection procedure would decide who would do it. My
boss at the time said to me "everyone has to apply, but you are going to do it", I am
still grateful for the trust and opportunities this has given me.
Over the years, I have been able to gain a lot of experience with various systems that
I have also been able to manage from different angles, write applications and have
other related tasks and functions, but never really left technology.
I also have to thank all my colleagues who have shared their knowledge with me over
the years. Without this sharing of knowledge, we would all have been able to do a lot
less.
Briefly:
- been there
- done that
- but still no T-shirt
I hope this book can help you and that it will be of use to you.