How to Install Ansible on CentOS 8

In this article we are going cover How to install Ansible on CentOS 8, Configure Ansible, exchanged SSH keys from master to slave node and Tested the Ansible setup.

There are two methods from which you can install Ansible on CentOS 8.

Prerequisites:

• Minimum 3 instance of CentOS 1 for Ansible server and another 2 for Nodes
• SSH access with sudo privileges
• A good internet connection

Method #1.Install Ansible on CentOS 8 with yum package

Now we are going to run below commands on Ansible server 

Step1: Firstly we need to install EPEL repository on CentOS 8:

yum install epel-release -y

Step2: If you wants to check repositories on CentOS then run the below command:

yum repolist | grep epel

Output:

epel               Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64
epel-modular       Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux Modular 8 - x86_64

Step3: Install ansible on CentOS 8 using below command:

yum install ansible -y

Step4: To check ansible version:

ansible --version

Output:

ansible [core 2.11.8]
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/centos/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/centos/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /usr/local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.6.8 (default, Sep 10 2021, 09:13:53) [GCC 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-3)]
  jinja version = 2.10.1
  libyaml = True

Uninstall ansible on CentOS 8:

yum remove ansible -y

Method #2.Install Ansible on CentOS 8 using pip

Now we are going to run below commands on Ansible server 

Step1: If you’re using Python3, install the python3-pip package.

sudo dnf -y install python3-pip

sudo pip3 install --upgrade pip

For Python2 users you have to install python2-pip

sudo dnf -y install python2-pip

sudo pip2 install --upgrade pip

Step2: Install ansible on CentOS using pip:

pip3 install ansible

Step3: To check ansible version:

/usr/local/bin/ansible --version

Output:

ansible [core 2.11.8]
  config file = None
  configured module search path = ['/root/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /root/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /usr/local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.6.8 (default, Apr 16 2020, 01:36:27) [GCC 8.3.1 20191121 (Red Hat 8.3.1-5)]
  jinja version = 2.10.1
  libyaml = True

#3.Create Inventory file in Ansible

Step1: To test Ansible, firstly ensure that ssh is up and running on your Ansible server:

sudo systemctl status sshd

Step2: Create ansible inventory file using below command in Ansible server:

sudo mkdir /etc/ansible  

 cd /etc/ansible

sudo touch hosts

sudo vi /etc/ansible/hosts

Copy the IP address of your remote servers and paste in host file

You can create group and paste ip address like below:

[devopshint]
65.2.140.xx
65.2.144.xx

#4.Configuration of Ansible server

Step1: Now this host file is only working after updating ansible.cfg file so we need to update config file in Ansible server using below command:

sudo vi /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

Then uncommited two file

i) inventory = /etc /ansible / hosts
ii) sudo-user = root

Step2: Now, create one user in all these instance(Ansible server and nodes)

sudo adduser ansible

sudo passwd ansible

now navigate the Ansible user 

su - ansible 

try to create a some file and install some package

you got some error like this 

This ansible user doesn’t have sudo privileges right now. 

If you want to give sudo privileges to ansible user then run below command

#5.Add User to the sudo Group

Step1: Then give some privileged in all nodes(ansible server and node) using below command:

  sudo visudo 

go to inside this file and add 

ansible ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

#6.Update ssh_config file

For SSH connection to node from Ansible server make changes in sshd_config file

Step1: Now we have to some changes in ssh-config file in Ansible server and nodes:

vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Then you need to uncomment these two lines

PubkeyAuthentication yes
PasswordAuthentication yes

Now we need to restart sshd service in Ansible server and nodes:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

sudo systemctl status sshd

#7.Establish connection between server and node

 Go to ansible server run the below command

Step1: login to ansible in ansible server using below command:

su - ansible

Step2: Run the below command to connect node:

ssh ip_address ( node ip)

#8.Setup SSH keys and share it among managed nodes

To communicate with client we have to genrate SSH key on Ansible server node and exchange with Slave/Client Systems.

Step1: we need to generate ssh keygen in Ansible server

ssh-keygen 

Step2: you need to inside .ssh:

cd .ssh

Step3:Now run the below command using private ip of your node:

ssh-copy-id ansible@{private address } 

Conclusion:

In this article we have covered How to install Ansible on CentOS 8, Configure Ansible, exchanged SSH keys from master to slave node and Tested the Ansible setup.

Related Articles:

How to Install Ansible on Ubuntu 18.04/16.04 LTS

How to Install Ansible on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Reference:

Ansible Installation official page