Ansible and Windows
How PowerShell enables a Linux configuration manager to work in a Windows world
Paul Broadwith
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Paul BroadwithTechnical Engineering Manager at Chocolatey Software, Inc.
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Agenda
- The TL;DR History of Ansible.
- Ansible infrastructure.
- How Ansible works on Windows …. is it maybe … PowerShell?
- DEMO: Writing an Ansible Windows module.
- Questions?
The TL;DR History of Ansible
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February 2012
First Ansible code written by Michael DeHaan.
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March 2013
AnsibleWorks was born.
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January 2014
AnsibleWorks becomes Ansible.
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August 2014
Ansible 1.7 released with Windows Beta support.
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October 2015
Red Hat buys Ansible.
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July 2019
IBM buys Red Hat for $34B.
‘Ansible’
Was coined by Ursula K. Le Guin and used in her book ‘Rocannon’s World’ published in 1966.
It describes an ‘answerable device’ or ‘instantaneous communication systems’
Ansible Infrastructure
%%{init: {'theme': 'default', 'themeVariables': { 'fontSize': '25px'}} }%%
flowchart LR
collections(("Ansible Galaxy
Roles
Plugins
Modules
Collections")) -.-> config subgraph sgcomponents ["Ansible Control Node running on Linux"] components>Playbooks
Modules
Plugins
Roles
] -.-> config{"Ansible Config"} inventory>Inventory
Local, Cloud or CMDB] -.-> config end sgcomponents -- SSH ----> linuxclients["Linux Hosts
(agentless)"] sgcomponents -- WinRM / OpenSSH ----> winclients["Windows Hosts
(agentless)"] sgcomponents -- SSH / API ----> networking["Networking
(agentless)"] sgcomponents -- API ----> cloud["Cloud Services"] classDef green fill:#9f6,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px; classDef orange fill:#f96,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; classDef blue fill:#9cbacc,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px class dis blue
Roles
Plugins
Modules
Collections")) -.-> config subgraph sgcomponents ["Ansible Control Node running on Linux"] components>Playbooks
Modules
Plugins
Roles
] -.-> config{"Ansible Config"} inventory>Inventory
Local, Cloud or CMDB] -.-> config end sgcomponents -- SSH ----> linuxclients["Linux Hosts
(agentless)"] sgcomponents -- WinRM / OpenSSH ----> winclients["Windows Hosts
(agentless)"] sgcomponents -- SSH / API ----> networking["Networking
(agentless)"] sgcomponents -- API ----> cloud["Cloud Services"] classDef green fill:#9f6,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px; classDef orange fill:#f96,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; classDef blue fill:#9cbacc,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px class dis blue
How Does Ansible Work on Windows?
Ansible has the following minimum requirements for Windows hosts:
- Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8.1
- PowerShell 3.0
- .NET 4.0
- WinRM configured and listening
Ansible Control node cannot run on a Windows host natively.
Options to run Ansible Control node on Windows:
- Windows Subsystem for Linux
- Linux Virtual Machine
- Docker container
- Cygwin (not officially supported)
Whatever you use, Python 3.8 and the pywinrm module is required.
Writing Your First Windows Ansible Module
- Code is in the PowerShell script, documentation in the Python script
- Don’t use Write-Host / Debug / Verbose / Error
- Exceptions / Errors can be returned back to Ansible
- Can specify minimum PowerShell or OS requirements
- Modules are run under StrictMode version 2
Summary
- We know the TL;DR history of Ansible.
- We understand Ansible infrastructure.
- We know how Ansible works on Windows and how it does not run as a control node on Windows.
- We know how Windows Ansible modules are structured.
Resources
- The Origins Of Ansible (WaybackMachine).
- Introducing AnsibleWorks (WaybackMachine).
- A Quest for Simplicity: AnsibleWorks is now Ansible.
- Michael DeHaan telling us where the name Ansible came from (WaybackMachine)
- Ansible 1.7 Released - Windows Beta (WaybackMachine)
- Modules and plugins: what is the difference?
- Ansible Roles
Resources
| blog.pauby.com |
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| @pauby | ||
| github.com/pauby | ||
| pau.by/linkedin |
pau.by/talks
Ansible and Windows How PowerShell enables a Linux configuration manager to work in a Windows world Paul Broadwith