provisioner

Ansible AWS training provisioner

aws_lab_setup is an automated lab setup for Ansible training on AWS (Amazon Web Services). There are currently three modes:

• Ansible Engine Workshop for demonstrating Ansible capabilities on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
• Ansible Networking Workshop for demonstrating Ansible’s capabilities on network equipment (e.g. Cisco Systems IOS).
• Ansible F5 Workshop for demonstrating Ansible’s capabilities on F5 BIG-IP

Table Of Contents

• Requirements
• Lab Setup
  • One Time Setup
  • Setup (per workshop)
  • Accessing student documentation and slides
• Lab Teardown
• FAQ

Requirements

• This provisioner must be run with Ansible Engine v2.7.0 or higher.
• AWS Account (follow directions on one time setup below)

Lab Setup

For One Time Setup - click here

Setup (per workshop)

1. Define the following variables in a file passed in using -e @extra_vars.yml

---
ec2_region: us-east-1                  # region where the nodes will live
ec2_name_prefix: TESTWORKSHOP          # name prefix for all the VMs
student_total: 2                       # creates student_total of workbenches for the workshop
#OPTIONAL VARIABLES
admin_password: ansible                # password for Ansible control node, defaults to ansible
networking: true                       # Set this if you want the workshop in networking mode
create_login_page: true                # creates AWS S3 website for ec2_name_prefix.workshop_dns_zone
workshop_dns_zone: rhdemo.io           # Sets the Route53 DNS zone to use for the S3 website
towerinstall: true                     # automatically installs Tower to control node
#autolicense: true                     # automatically licenses Tower if license is provided
#xrdp: true                            # install xrdp with xfce for graphical interface

If you want to license it you must copy a license called tower_license.json into this directory. If you do not have a license already please request one using the Workshop License Link.

For more extra_vars examples, look at the following:

• sample-vars.yml - example for the Ansible Engine Workshop
• sample-vars-networking.yml - example for the Ansible Network Workshop
• sample-vars-f5.yml - example for Ansible F5 Workshop
• sample-vars-auto.yml - example for Tower installation and licensing

2. Run the playbook:

    ansible-playbook provision_lab.yml -e @extra_vars.yml
   

3. Login to the EC2 console and you should see instances being created like:

    `TESTWORKSHOP-student1-ansible`
   

Accessing student documentation and slides

• Exercises and instructor slides are hosted at http://ansible.com/linklight
• Workbench information is stored in two places after you provision:
  • in a local directory named after the workshop (e.g. TESTWORKSHOP/instructor_inventory)
  • if create_login_page: true is enabled, there will be a website ec2_name_prefix.workshop_dns_zone (e.g. TESTWORKSHOP.rhdemo.io)

Lab Teardown

The teardown_lab.yml playbook deletes all the training instances as well as local inventory files.

To destroy all the EC2 instances after training is complete:

1. Run the playbook:

    ansible-playbook teardown_lab.yml -e @extra_vars.yml
   

FAQ

For frequently asked questions see the FAQ