Master in Ansible Automation & Orchestration

Become an expert in IT automation and orchestration with our comprehensive Ansible Master program. Learn to automate configuration management, application deployment, and continuous delivery across diverse IT environments, from on-premise servers to multi-cloud infrastructure, leveraging advanced features like **Ansible Tower/AWX**, **Roles**, **Collections**, and **Vault**.

Automate Your Operations!

Who Should Enroll?

This master program is ideal for IT professionals seeking to streamline operations and enhance efficiency:

Prerequisites

Key Ansible Concepts & Tools Covered

Playbooks

Inventory

Modules

Roles

Collections

Ansible Vault

Ansible Tower/AWX

Dynamic Inventory

Troubleshooting

Idempotency

Molecule Testing

CI/CD Integration

Hands-on practical training with real-world scenarios for immediate application.

Job Roles After This Course

Comprehensive Ansible Automation Master Syllabus: Orchestrate, Configure, Conquer!

Module 1: Ansible Fundamentals & Core Concepts

  • Introduction to Automation & Ansible: Benefits, architecture (agentless).
  • Ansible Installation & Configuration: Control node setup, `ansible.cfg`.
  • **Inventory Management:** Static inventory (INI/YAML), hosts, groups, variables.
  • **Ad-Hoc Commands:** Quick tasks with Ansible modules (ping, command, shell).
  • **Ansible Playbooks:** YAML syntax, plays, tasks, modules.
  • Gathering Facts: System information collection.
  • **Jinja2 Templating:** Dynamic configuration files.
  • Lab: Set up Ansible, create static inventory, run ad-hoc commands, write first playbook for basic server config.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Ansible CLI, YAML, Inventory, Modules, Facts, Jinja2.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Understand core Ansible architecture and principles.
  • Write basic playbooks for configuration management.
  • Effectively manage hosts and groups in inventory.

Module 2: Advanced Playbook Design & Execution

  • **Control Flow:** Loops (`loop`, `with_items`, `with_dict`), Conditionals (`when`).
  • **Handlers:** Executing tasks based on changes.
  • Error Handling: `block`, `rescue`, `always`, `ignore_errors`.
  • Delegation & Local Actions: Running tasks on control node or different hosts.
  • Playbook Strategies: `linear`, `free`, `debug`.
  • Registering Variables: Capturing output from tasks.
  • Includes & Imports: Reusing tasks and playbooks.
  • Lab: Create complex playbooks with loops and conditionals, implement robust error handling.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Loops, Conditionals, Handlers, `block/rescue`, `delegate_to`.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Design sophisticated and robust Ansible playbooks.
  • Implement advanced control flow and error handling.
  • Master playbook execution strategies.

Module 3: Roles & Collections for Reusability

  • **Ansible Roles:** Purpose, directory structure, best practices.
  • Creating & Using Roles: `tasks`, `handlers`, `vars`, `defaults`, `templates`, `files`.
  • Role Dependencies: Managing role execution order.
  • **Ansible Galaxy:** Finding and using community roles.
  • **Ansible Collections:** Introduction, purpose, using collections from Galaxy.
  • Developing Custom Collections (Conceptual): Structure and benefits.
  • Lab: Develop a reusable role for a common application (e.g., Nginx, Apache), publish it locally, and integrate it into a playbook.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Ansible Roles, Ansible Galaxy, Ansible Collections.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Structure automation into reusable, modular roles.
  • Leverage Ansible Galaxy and Collections for existing automation.
  • Promote reusability and maintainability in large projects.

Module 4: Dynamic Inventory & Advanced Inventory Management

  • Static vs. Dynamic Inventory: Advantages and use cases.
  • **Dynamic Inventory Plugins:** Integrating with Cloud Providers (AWS EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine).
  • **Inventory Scripts:** Creating custom dynamic inventory scripts.
  • Group Variables & Host Variables: Precedence and organization.
  • Inventory Filtering & Targeting: Limiting plays, tags.
  • Lab: Set up dynamic inventory for a cloud provider, filter hosts based on tags/attributes, and use `group_vars`/`host_vars`.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Dynamic Inventory, Cloud Provider plugins, `group_vars`, `host_vars`.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Automate inventory management for dynamic cloud environments.
  • Effectively manage host and group specific configurations.
  • Handle large and evolving infrastructure inventories.

Module 5: Securing Ansible & Vault

  • **Ansible Vault:** Encrypting sensitive data (passwords, API keys, certs).
  • Vault Commands: `create`, `edit`, `encrypt`, `decrypt`, `rekey`.
  • Managing Vault Passwords: CLI, file, prompt.
  • Storing Vault Passwords Securely (Best Practices): Environment variables, `pass` command.
  • Secure Connections: SSH keys, `become` (sudo/su).
  • Privileged Escalation: `become_method`, `become_user`.
  • Lab: Encrypt sensitive data using Ansible Vault, integrate vaulted variables into playbooks, and secure SSH connections.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Ansible Vault, `become`, SSH, Secure Credential Management.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Secure sensitive information within Ansible projects.
  • Implement privileged access for automation tasks.
  • Follow best practices for Ansible security.

Module 6: Enterprise Automation with Ansible Tower/AWX

  • **Ansible Tower / AWX Overview:** Centralized control, web UI, API.
  • Installation & Configuration (Conceptual): Understanding components.
  • **Projects, Inventories, Credentials:** Setting up resources in Tower/AWX.
  • **Job Templates:** Creating reusable execution units.
  • **Workflows:** Orchestrating multi-playbook automation sequences.
  • **Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):** Managing users, teams, and permissions.
  • Notifications & Reporting: Integrating with external systems.
  • API Integration: Automating Tower/AWX itself.
  • Lab: Deploy AWX (local setup), create organizations/users, configure projects, inventories, and run job templates/workflows.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Ansible Tower/AWX, Web UI, API, RBAC, Job Templates, Workflows.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Centralize and manage Ansible automation at scale.
  • Implement role-based access control for team collaboration.
  • Build complex automation workflows for enterprise operations.

Module 7: Testing, Troubleshooting & Best Practices

  • **Ansible Lint:** Ensuring code quality and adherence to best practices.
  • **Molecule for Testing:** Unit and integration testing of Ansible roles.
  • **Debugging Playbooks:** `debug` module, `ansible-playbook -vvv`, `ansible-console`.
  • Performance Tuning: Forks, pipelining, control path.
  • **Idempotency:** Ensuring tasks produce consistent results.
  • **CI/CD Integration:** Running Ansible in Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions.
  • Structuring Large Ansible Projects: Recommended layouts.
  • Lab: Lint and test an Ansible role using Molecule, debug a failing playbook, integrate a playbook into a CI pipeline.

Tools & Concepts:

  • `ansible-lint`, Molecule, Debugging techniques, CI/CD pipelines.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Write high-quality, testable, and maintainable Ansible code.
  • Effectively troubleshoot and debug complex automation issues.
  • Implement Ansible in production-grade CI/CD workflows.

Module 8: Orchestration & Advanced Use Cases

  • **Complex Application Orchestration:** Deploying multi-tier applications.
  • **Network Automation with Ansible:** Managing network devices (conceptual overview).
  • **Windows Automation with Ansible:** Configuring Windows servers (conceptual overview).
  • Cloud Provisioning with Ansible: Using cloud modules for infrastructure build.
  • Integrating Ansible with other tools (e.g., monitoring, logging).
  • Event-Driven Automation with Ansible (overview of Event-Driven Ansible).
  • Capstone Project: Design and implement an end-to-end automation solution for a real-world scenario.
  • Lab: Orchestrate a multi-tier web application deployment across several servers.

Tools & Concepts:

  • Multi-tier app deployments, Network/Windows modules, Event-Driven Ansible (conceptual).

Expected Outcomes:

  • Orchestrate complex IT processes and application deployments.
  • Understand Ansible's capabilities across diverse IT domains.
  • Be ready to tackle any automation challenge using Ansible.

This master program equips you with the skills to lead automation initiatives and transform IT operations in any organization.

Student Testimonials

"As a System Admin, this Ansible course was a revelation! I've automated tasks that used to take hours into minutes. The modules on dynamic inventory and roles were incredibly useful."

- **Rahul Sharma**, Systems Administrator, Hyderabad

"Ansible Tower/AWX section alone was worth the course fee. Centralizing our playbooks and managing access with RBAC has streamlined our DevOps workflow significantly."

- **Priya Singh**, DevOps Engineer, Bengaluru

"The deep dive into Ansible Vault gave me the confidence to handle sensitive data securely. This course made complex concepts easy to understand and apply."

- **Akash Verma**, Cloud Security Analyst, Pune

"I appreciated the practical approach to testing with Molecule. It's transformed how we ensure our automation scripts are robust before deployment. Excellent content for SREs!"

- **Emily Chen**, Site Reliability Engineer, New York

"The instructors covered so many real-world scenarios. I can now confidently automate our multi-tier application deployments across various cloud providers. Truly a master class!"

- **Siddharth Rao**, Cloud Automation Specialist, Chennai

"From basic playbooks to advanced error handling, every module was meticulously designed. My team now uses Ansible for almost everything, thanks to this comprehensive training."

- **Divya Patil**, Infrastructure Lead, Mumbai

"Learning about Ansible Collections helped us organize our growing automation content efficiently. It's a game-changer for large-scale enterprise environments."

- **Harish Kumar**, IT Automation Architect, Delhi

"The debugging techniques shared were invaluable. I can now troubleshoot complex Ansible issues quickly, which saves a lot of time. Highly recommended for anyone serious about automation."

- **Nisha Gupta**, Network Automation Engineer, Kolkata

Have Questions? Reach Out!