What is Ansible?

Short answer

Ansible is an open-source automation tool for configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration. It uses SSH and does not require agents on target machines.

How it works

Ansible connects to nodes via SSH and executes modules written in Python. Playbooks define the desired state in YAML. The inventory file lists the target hosts.

Example

---
- name: Install nginx
  hosts: webservers
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Ensure nginx is installed
      apt:
        name: nginx
        state: present

Why it matters

Ansible is simple to learn and agentless, making it easy to adopt. It is ideal for configuration drift correction, patch management, and repeatable deployments.

Tips

• Use roles to organize playbooks.
• Use Ansible Vault for secrets.
• Test playbooks with Molecule.

Common issues

• SSH connectivity must be configured.
• Idempotency is not guaranteed for all modules.
• Large inventories slow down execution.