Ansible Interactive

Verify Ansible is installed: ansible --version

Phase 2: Project Setup

Create minimal structure:

mkdir ansible-project && cd ansible-project

ansible.cfg:

[defaults]
inventory = ./inventory
host_key_checking = False
stdout_callback = yaml

[privilege_escalation]
become = True
become_method = sudo

inventory:

[webservers]
web1 ansible_host=192.168.1.10 ansible_user=admin ansible_ssh_private_key_file=~/.ssh/id_rsa

[dbservers]
db1 ansible_host=192.168.1.20 ansible_user=admin ansible_ssh_private_key_file=~/.ssh/id_rsa

Phase 3: Connectivity Test

Always test before writing playbooks:

ansible all -m ping

Phase 4: Incremental Playbook Development

Start simple, add one task at a time:

# playbook.yml - start with facts
---
- hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Show OS info
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "{{ ansible_distribution }} {{ ansible_distribution_version }}"

Run: ansible-playbook playbook.yml

Then add tasks one by one, testing after each:

    - name: Ensure nginx installed
      ansible.builtin.package:
        name: nginx
        state: present

Run again. Fix any errors before adding more.

Phase 5: Validation Cycle

After each change:

1. ansible-playbook --syntax-check playbook.yml
2. ansible-playbook --check --diff playbook.yml
3. ansible-playbook playbook.yml
4. Run again—verify changed=0 (idempotency)

Red Flags - Stop and Debug

• Adding multiple untested tasks at once
• Skipping --check before real runs
• Ignoring "changed" on second run
• Not testing SSH before writing playbooks

Communication Pattern

When guiding users:

• Explain what will happen before running commands
• After completion, summarize what was done
• When multiple approaches exist, present options with tradeoffs
• Acknowledge progress at milestones3b:["$","$L41",null,{"content":"$42","frontMatter":{"name":"ansible-interactive","description":"Use when guiding someone through Ansible setup step-by-step. Use when starting a new Ansible project from scratch. Use when teaching Ansible through hands-on development."}}]