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Increasing Ansible Security

Being able to use Ansible to secure your nodes is an in-demand skill, and understanding how to use playbooks for security is excellent knowledge to have. This value is shown by the fact that it is one of the objectives of the *Red Hat Certified Ansible Specialist* exam. In this hands-on lab, we will make use of the various modules to help secure your nodes in a reproducible manner. This hands-on lab is not meant to be an exhaustive example of security; instead it showcases ways to enhance your nodes security. **Note:** Ansible has been set up and configured for use on the Control server and two nodes. This will save you time when doing the hands-on lab. *This course is not approved or sponsored by Red Hat.*

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Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 30m
Last updated
Clock icon Aug 07, 2025

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Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Log in to the Ansible Control Node Server and Change to the `ansible` User

    1. Sign in to the Ansible Control Node server using the cloud_user credentials, and change to the ansible user.

    2. Test that Ansible is working:

      ansible all -m ping

      Note: It may take several minutes after the start of the lab, for the test to work as expected.

  2. Challenge

    Use an Ad Hoc Ansible Command to Check the Uptime on All the Nodes

    1. Show the uptime on all the servers:

      ansible all -a /usr/bin/uptime

  3. Challenge

    Create a Playbook Called `selinux-check.yml`and Ensure SELinux Is Enabled on All Nodes

    1. Use the selinux module and create a playbook called selinux-check.yml:

      vim selinux-check.yml

    2. Check the playbook, ensuring all the nodes have SELinux installed and that it's set to enabled on all nodes.

    Note: More information about the selinux module can be found here: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/selinux_module.html

  4. Challenge

    Test the Playbook `selinux-check.yml` to Ensure It Works

    1. Test the playbook selinux-check.yml against all the nodes and ensure there are no errors:

      ansible-playbook selinux-check.yml

  5. Challenge

    Create a Playbook Called `firewalld.yml` and Verify the Installation of `firewalld`

    1. Use the firewalld module (and any other modules as required) in a playbook called firewalld.yml to ensure firewalld is installed, enabled, and started on all the nodes.

    Note: More information about the firewalld module can be found here: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/firewalld_module.html?highlight=firewalld

  6. Challenge

    Test the `firewalld.yml` Playbook and Verify Task Completion

    1. Test the playbook and ensure that firewalld is installed, enabled, and started on each of the nodes:

      sudo systemctl status firewalld
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Pluralsight Skills

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

What's a lab?

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.

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