Ansible Project Setup

Create a project directory on your host machine to store your Ansible files:

Playbooks: Describe your tasks (e.g., playbook.yml).
Inventory:Specify the hosts you want to manage (e.g., inventory.yml).
Optional Configuration:Add an ansible.cfg file if you need custom configurations.

ansible-project/
├── playbook.yml
├── inventory.yml
└── ansible.cfg (optional)

Use an existing image like cytopia/ansible:latest from Docker Hub to save time and ensure consistency.

• Option A: Managing External Hosts (Including the Host Machine)

  Run this command from your ansible-project directory:

  docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd):/ansible cytopia/ansible:latest /bin/sh

  -it: Starts an interactive shell.
  --rm: Removes the container after you exit, keeping things clean.
  --network host: Uses the host’s network, simplifying access to external hosts.
  -v $(pwd):/ansible: Mounts your current directory (ansible-project) to /ansible in the container.
  

  Inside the container, navigate to the project and run the playbook:

  cd /ansible
  ansible-playbook playbook.yml

• Option B: Managing Other Docker Containers

  Follow these steps:

  1. Create a Docker Network:

     docker network create mynet

  2. Run Managed Containers:

     docker run -d --name web1 --network mynet nginx

  3. Run the Ansible Container:

     docker run -it --rm --network mynet -v $(pwd):/ansible cytopia/ansible:latest /bin/sh

     Reference the managed container (web1) in your inventory:

     # inventory.yml
     webservers:
       hosts:
         web1:
           ansible_connection: ssh

     Run the playbook:

     cd /ansible
     ansible-playbook playbook.yml

Mount your SSH key for secure access:

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd):/ansible -v 
~/.ssh/id_rsa:/ansible/key.pem cytopia/ansible:latest /bin/sh

Inside the container, run the playbook with the private key:

cd /ansible
ansible-playbook --private-key /ansible/key.pem playbook.yml