Structuring Ansible Projects
Guide to starting and organizing Ansible projects, from basic inventory setups to advanced collections and execution environments.
Category: Guideline
Securely Accessing Ansible Vault in Development
Guideline for securely accessing Ansible Vault during development without storing passwords in plain files, using environment variables and scripts.
Categories:
Managing Dictionary Merging in C2 Platform Ansible Projects
Best practices for utilizing dictionary merging in C2 Ansible inventory projects.
Categories:
What is Docker-in-docker ( DinD )?
Docker-in-Docker (DinD) is a common technique used in GitLab CI/CD pipelines on Kubernetes to run Docker commands within Docker containers.
Distinguish Between Ansible Engineering and Operations
Ansible engineering and operations should be treated as distinct disciplines to promote high-quality, maintainable automation. This separation ensures that engineering focuses on building scalable, reusable code, while operations handles deployment, monitoring, and day-to-day execution.
Categories:
Group-based Environments
Use a group-based approach to organize your Ansible inventory and variables for different environments.
Categories:
Automating RHEL Registration and Subscription
Automate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) registration and subscription in C2 Platform development environments using Vagrant for seamless access to Red Hat resources.
Categories:
Slashes vs Backslashes When Targeting MS Windows Hosts
When targeting MS Windows hosts, use slashes for all paths. Convert to backslashes only if necessary.
Categories:
Story Points and Velocity in Ansible Projects with Scrum
In Scrum-based Ansible projects, story points and velocity should be estimated and measured accurately, with a strong emphasis on the business value derived from automation content. Story points aren’t about time but about relative effort, complexity, and risk.
Categories:
Managing Secrets with Ansible Vault in AAP / AWX
Guidance on managing secrets using Ansible Vault in Ansible projects, with a focus on Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) and AWX.
Categories:
Semantic Sprints ( SemSprint )
Adopt consistent and meaningful naming for sprints, inspired by Semantic Versioning (SemVer) principles. This “SemSprint” approach makes sprint names descriptive, improving communication and traceability.
Categories:
Ansible Service Account Guidelines
Guidelines for creating Ansible service accounts with a phased permissions strategy, leveraging IaC and GitOps for risk mitigation, and applying logical analysis for PoLP in automation environments.
Categories:
Vagrant Sync Folders
Learn how to effortlessly synchronize a folder from your host machine to the guest machine.
Categories:
Variable prefix
Prefix variable names with role or project prefix.
Categories:
Avoid Hardcoding Download URLs and Paths in Tasks
Guidelines and examples on how to make Ansible flexible and easy to use.
Categories:
Definition of Done ( DoD )
Establish effective Definition of Done (DoD) criteria specifically for Ansible projects to ensure that deliverables are complete, tested, and ready for production. DoD acts as a checklist to prevent “done” from meaning “mostly done.”
Categories:
Local Stuff
Ansible configuration that should be local and ignored by Git.
Categories:
Enhancing Ansible Roles with Tags
Implement a structured tagging system in Ansible roles to increase task flexibility, enhance maintainability, and improve reusability, optimizing both development and operational efficiency.
Categories:
Branching and Merging Strategy
Guidelines for implementing branching and merging policies in GitOps pipelines for Ansible inventory projects to promote changes across environments.
Categories:
Clone script
Automate setup of the development environment with multiple Git repositories.
Categories:
Using GitLab Runner as Ansible Control Node
Guideline for using GitLab Runner as an Ansible control node when Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) is unavailable.
Categories:
Lazy naming convention
Naming with the least amount of keystrokes.
Categories:
Ansible Guideline: Using Internal Roles
This guideline is tailored for teams that are relatively new to Ansible and wish to gain experience by using internal roles.