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Writing Your First Ansible Playbook

Playbooks are the heart of Ansible. They provide a means of executing numerous tasks across any number of systems. This exercise sets you on the path to Ansible mastery by allowing you to craft and execute an Ansible playbook.

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Lab platform
Lab Info
Level
Intermediate
Last updated
Sep 23, 2025
Duration
1h 0m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Create a Basic Playbook for All Servers in the Ansible Inventory

    Create a basic playbook in /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml that completes the noted task required for all servers in the Ansible inventory.

    Create the file /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml and add the following content:

    ---
    - hosts: all
      become: yes
      tasks:
        - name: edit host file
          lineinfile:
            path: /etc/hosts
            line: "ansible.xyzcorp.com 169.168.0.1"
    
        - name: install elinks
          package:
            name: elinks
            state: latest
    
        - name: create audit user
          user:
            name: xyzcorp_audit
            state: present
    
        - name: update motd
          copy:
            src: /home/ansible/motd
            dest: /etc/motd
    
        - name: update issue
          copy:
            src: /home/ansible/issue
            dest: /etc/issue
    
  2. Challenge

    Add a Section to the Playbook for the Network Servers in the Ansible Inventory

    Add a section to the playbook in /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml that completes the noted task required for the network servers in the Ansible inventory.

    Create a play in the file /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml similar to the following:

     - hosts: network
       become: yes
       tasks:
         - name: install netcat
           yum:
             name: nmap-ncat
             state: latest
         - name: create network user
           user:
             name: xyzcorp_network
             state: present
    
  3. Challenge

    Add a Section to the Playbook for the SysAdmin Servers in the Ansible Inventory

    Add a section to the playbook in /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml that completes the noted task required for the sysadmin servers in the Ansible inventory.

    Create a play in the file /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml similar to the following:

    - hosts: sysadmin
      become: yes
      tasks:
        - name: copy tarball
          copy:
            src: /home/ansible/scripts.tgz
            dest: /mnt/storage/
    
  4. Challenge

    Execute Playbook to Verify Your Playbook Works Correctly

    Execute playbook /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml to verify your playbook works correctly.

    Run ansible-playbook /home/ansible/bootstrap.yml from the control node.

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