Install Ansible 2.x and Manage Windows Machines

This notes contains steps to install Ansible 2.x on Ubuntu 14.04 server and manage Windows Server.

– Install git

$ apt-get install git

– Clonning git repo

$ git clone https://github.com/ansible/ansible.git --recursive

– Install Development Tools

$ apt-get install build-essential
$ apt-get install python-pip libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev python-dev
 pip install paramiko PyYAML Jinja2 httplib2 six pycrypto markupsafe xmltodict pywinrm

– Setup Ansible Environment

$ mv ansible /opt/
$ cd /opt/ansible
$ source /opt/ansible/hacking/env-setup
$ export ANSIBLE_CONFIG="/opt/ansible/config/ansible.cfg"

Note: Add above lines in your ~/.bashrc

– Create Ansible Configuration File

$ mkdir /opt/ansible/config
$ vi /opt/ansible/config/ansible.cfg
[defaults]
hostfile = /opt/ansible/hosts
library = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/modules
remote_tmp = $HOME/.ansible/tmp
pattern = *
forks = 5
poll_interval = 15
sudo_user = root
transport = smart
remote_port = 22
roles_path = /opt/ansible/roles
sudo_exe = sudo
timeout = 10
ansible_managed = Ansible managed: {file} modified on %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S by {uid} on {host}

action_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/action
callback_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/callback_
connection_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/connection
lookup_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup
vars_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/vars
filter_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/filter
inventory_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/inventory
shell_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/shell
strategy_plugins = /opt/ansible/lib/ansible/plugins/strategy

[paramiko_connection]

[ssh_connection]

[accelerate]
accelerate_port = 5099
accelerate_timeout = 30
accelerate_connect_timeout = 5.0

– Create Ansible group variables

$ mkdir /opt/ansible/group_vars
$ ansible-vault create /opt/ansible/group_vars/windows.yml
ansible_hosts: windows
ansible_user: user_name@MY.DOMAIN.COM
ansible_password: password
ansible_port: 5986
ansible_connection: winrm
# The following is necessary for Python 2.7.9+ when using default WinRM self-signed certificates:
ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation: ignore

 

Note: As we are storing password information in windows.yml, we have encrypted that file using “ansible-vault”. Ansible-valut will ask for password to encrypt file.

– Create Ansible host inventory file

$ vi /opt/ansible/hosts
[windows]
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

AD integration (Optional):
If we have AD authentication in place, you need to configure Kerberos first on your machine.

$ apt-get install python-dev libkrb5-dev 
$ pip install kerberos
$ apt-get install krb5-user
$ mv /etc/krb5.conf /etc/krb5.conf_Original
$ vi /etc/krb5.conf
[realms]
MY.DOMAIN.COM = {
 kdc = dc1.my.domain.com
 kdc = dc2.my.domain.com
}
[domain_realm]
 .my.domain.com = MY.DOMAIN.COM

Note: To Get kdc list on any domain logged in machine just try: nltest /dclist:my.domain.com

$ kinit user_name@MY.DOMAIN.COM
$ klist

 

– Check Ping to Windows host from Ansible

$ ansible windows -i hosts -m win_ping --ask-vault-pass

Note: –ask-vault-pass will ask for password to decrypt group_vars/windows.yml.
Note: To Prepare Windows Server, you need to enable WinRM service. Follow steps given on http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/intro_windows.html#windows-system-prep
Or Just download this Powershell script https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/examples/scripts/ConfigureRemotingForAnsible.ps1
And open Powershell by using “Run as Administrator” It should enable WinRM along with firewall rules on Port 5986
Also note that you must have PowerShell Version 3+ . You can get current version using $PSVersionTable.PSVersion

To Get Facts about Windows System, which we can use later as variables:

$ ansible windows -i hosts -m setup

To Create empty file c:\test.txt:

$ ansible windows -i hosts -m win_file -a 'path=c:\\test.txt state=touch' --ask-vault-pass

To Stop and start Windows Time Service:

$ ansible windows -i hosts -m win_service -a 'name="Windows Time" state=stopped' --ask-vault-pass
$ ansible windows -i hosts -m win_service -a 'name="Windows Time" state=started' --ask-vault-pass

To Copy file from Linux Controller host to Windows Host:

$ ansible windows -i hosts -m win_copy -a 'src=playbooks/files/application1.ini dest=c:\\work' --ask-vault-pass

My directory structure is :
/opt/ansible
├── ansible-core-sitemap.xml
├── group_vars
│                      ├── all
│                      └── windows.yml
├── playbooks
│                  ├── file_demo.yml
│                  ├── files
│                  │           └── application1.ini
│                  ├── service_demo.yml
│                  ├── template_demo.yml
│                  ├── templates
│                  │            └── settings.ini
│                  └── win_package_demo.yml
├── hosts

I am executing command inside /opt/ansible

Content of /opt/ansible/all

DocRoot: 'C:\work'

Content of /opt/ansible/playbooks/templates/settings.ini

Hostname of Windows Server = {{ansible_hostname}}
FQDN of Windows Server = {{ansible_fqdn}}
IPv4 Address of Windows Server = {{ ansible_ip_addresses[0]}}
Document Root of Server = {{DocRoot}}

Content of /opt/ansible/playbooks/file_demo.yml

---
- name: Create Files and Directories
  hosts: windows
  tasks:
   - name: Create Empty file C:\test.txt
     win_file: path=C:\\test.txt state=touch
   - name: Create Empty Directory C:\work
     win_file: path=C:\\Work state=directory

Content of /opt/ansible/playbooks/copy_demo.yml

---
- name: Copy file from Controller machine to Windows Server
  hosts: windows
  tasks:
   - name: Copying file application1.ini to C:\work
     win_copy: src=files/application1.ini to C:\\work

Content of /opt/ansible/playbooks/template_demo.yml

---
- name: Template Demo
  hosts: windows
  gather_facts: yes
  tasks:
   - name: Deploy settings.ini to C:\work
     win_template: src=templates/settings.ini dest=C:\\work

Content of /opt/ansible/playbooks/win_package_demo.yml

---
- hosts: windows
  tasks:
   - name: Install Jenkins from Windows Share
     win_package: path=\\\\<ServerIP of Share>\\work\\jenkins-1.533.msi product_id="{A8699B6B-8EF5-41BC-9D4D-EAD3070D383E}" state=present

To Get Product ID of an installed package run below command in powershell:

get-wmiobject Win32_Product | Format-Table IdentifyingNumber, Name

Invoke Playbook using:

$ cd /opt/ansible
$ ansible-playbook -i hosts playbooks/file_demo.yml --ask-vault-pass
$ ansible-playbook -i hosts playbooks/copy_demo.yml --ask-vault-pass
$ ansible-playbook -i hosts playbooks/template_demo.yml --ask-vault-pass 
$ ansible-playbook -i hosts playbooks/win_package_demo.yml --ask-vault-pass 

– file_demo.yml will Create empty file C:\test.txt and Empty directory C:\work on Windows Server
– copy_demo.yml will Copy application1.ini from Ansible machine to c:\work on Windows Server
– template_demo.yml will deploy settings.ini from Ansible machine to C:\work on Windows Server. it will also get varialbe information from aansible facts and group_vars/all
– win_package_demo.yml will install jenkins…msi stored on remote Windows Share.