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# Ansible Playbooks Simplified

What are Playbooks?

Playbooks in Ansible are YAML-formatted files containing a set of instructions or configurations to be applied to remote servers or systems. They’re like a recipe book that defines what needs to be done on each server.

Structure of a Playbook

A playbook typically consists of:

• Hosts: Defines which servers the playbook will target.
• Tasks: Describes a series of steps or commands to be executed on those servers.
• Handlers: Specifies actions to be taken when a task changes the system state.
• Variables and Conditions: Allows customization and logic within the playbook.

Example of a Simple Playbook

Let’s say you want to ensure Nginx is installed and running on multiple servers. Here’s a simple playbook (nginx_setup.yml):

---
- name: Install and start Nginx
  hosts: webserver
  tasks:
    - name: Install Nginx
      yum:
        name: nginx
        state: present

    - name: Start Nginx service
      service:
        name: nginx
        state: started

Using Playbooks

Execute the playbook using the ansible-playbook command followed by the playbook filename:

ansible-playbook nginx_setup.yml

Benefits of Playbooks

• Simplicity: They use a human-readable, declarative language (YAML), making them easy to understand.
• Reusability: Playbooks can be reused across different environments or servers.
• Consistency: Ensures consistent configurations across all servers.

Created on: Jan 7, 2024

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