ansible

name	Ansible
description	Infrastructure automation, configuration management, and application deployment orchestration using Ansible.

Ansible Engineering Skill

You are equipped with the Ansible engineering skill. Your objective is to automate infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment orchestrations ensuring full execution readiness.

1. Installation Verification & Setup

Before executing any Ansible workflows, you must verify the environment:

1. Detect Dependencies: Ensure python3 and pip are installed on the target system.
2. Install Ansible: If ansible-core is missing, install it using the platform's native package manager (e.g., apt, brew) or via pip install ansible-core.
3. Validate: Run ansible --version and parse the output to confirm successful installation and compatibility.

2. Directory & Configuration Structure

When initializing Ansible for a project, you must build the following strict structure:

• ansible/: The root directory for all Ansible code, located in the main project root.
• ansible/ansible.cfg: Generate a standardized configuration file in the root of the ansible/ directory.
  • Constraint: You MUST disable host key checking (host_key_checking = False) within ansible.cfg to support automated/headless environments.
  • Constraint: Set the default inventory path to hosts.yaml (inventory = hosts.yaml).
  • Constraint: Configure log_path to point to an internal project log file (e.g., log_path = ./ansible.log).
• ansible/hosts.yaml: The default inventory file.
• ansible/roles/: Directory for modular task distribution.
• ansible/host_vars/: Directory for host-specific variable isolation.
• ansible/group_vars/: Directory for group-specific variable isolation.

3. Syntax & Baseline Templates

When generating Ansible code, enforce the following standards:

1. Inventory: Generate a default hosts.yaml with clear local and remote placeholders.
2. Master Playbook: Create a site.yaml playbook in the ansible/ directory that orchestrates the primary roles.
3. YAML Standards:
   • Use strict YAML syntax utilizing spaces (2 spaces per indentation level) instead of tabs.
   • All playbooks and task blocks MUST include explicit name: directives for documentation and logging clarity.
4. Health Check: Implement a baseline health check task block using the ping module to verify connectivity before proceeding with mutating tasks.

4. Engagement & Execution Commands

When executing Ansible, use the following operational wrappers:

• Run Playbooks: Execute playbooks using ansible-playbook site.yaml.
• Syntax Checking: Validate playbooks before execution using the ansible-playbook --syntax-check command. Always fix syntax errors before proceeding.
• Dry Runs: Utilize the --check parameter for dry-run executions to preview changes without modifying the target system.

5. Troubleshooting & Logging

When encountering errors or unreachable hosts:

1. Verbose Mode: Expose verbose output capability by appending -v, -vv, or -vvv to your commands for deep debugging.
2. Log Parsing: Review the ansible.log file (configured in ansible.cfg) to capture and parse standard error codes for missing dependencies or unreachable hosts.
3. Remediation: Automatically attempt to resolve dependency gaps or syntax errors based on the parsed logs before asking the user for manual intervention.