Ansible Archiving

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Ansible Archiving

Being able to do normal system tasks, such as performing archives and backups, is one of the key skills for success with using Ansible. The ability to do this is also an objective now, on the *Red Hat Certified Ansible Specialist* exam. In this hands-on lab we will use a playbook with the archive module. We'll make it archive a folder, then transfer the resulting archives from several servers back to the Ansible control server. This will be used for backup purposes. Note: Ansible has been setup and configured for use on the Control server and two nodes. This will save time when doing the hands-on lab. *This course is not approved or sponsored by Red Hat.*

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Sep 04, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Sign onto the Ansible Control Node Server as cloud_user and Change to the ansible User. Test to Ensure Ansible Has Been Set up for You
Sign into the server called Ansible Control Node using the cloud_user and change to the ansible user via the su - ansible command.

Test that ansible is working via an ad-hoc command.

A possible command to use is the following:
```
ansible all -m ping
```
Note: It may take several minutes after the start of the lab for the test to work as expected.
Challenge

Create an Ansible Playbook Called backup-logs.yml. The Playbook Should Create a Compressed Backup of the /var/log Folder on Each of the Nodes

The Ansible playbook should create a backup of the /var/log folder to the /home/ansible folder and call the compressed copy of the log files, logs.tar.gz.
Challenge

Using Another Ansible Module, Copy the Compressed Log Files to the Control Node. Ensure the Name Is Unique and Related to Which Node It Has Come From

Using the fetch module, fetch from each node a copy of the compressed log file back to the control node. The file on the control node should be a name that relates to which node it came from.
Challenge

Uncompress One of the Files That Has Been Downloaded and Make Sure It Is a Copy of the Files That Are in the /var/log Folder on the Node

Uncompress one of the archived files that has been copied to the control node and test to ensure it is a valid copy of the files as they exist on the node.

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