Using Ansible to set up a workstation ====== ![](https://fedoramagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ansible-workstation-816x345.png) Ansible is an extremely popular [open-source configuration management and software automation project][1]. While IT professionals almost certainly use Ansible on a daily basis, its influence outside the IT industry is not as wide. Ansible is a powerful and flexible tool. It is easily applied to a task common to nearly every desktop computer user: the post-installation “checklist”. Most users like to apply one “tweak” after a new installation. Ansible’s idempotent, declarative syntax lends itself perfectly to describing how a system should be configured. ### Ansible in a nutshell The _ansible_ program itself performs a **single task** against a set of hosts. This is roughly conceptualized as: ``` for HOST in $HOSTS; do ssh $HOST /usr/bin/echo "Hello World" done ``` To perform more than one task, Ansible defines the concept of a “playbook”. A playbook is a YAML file describing the _state_ of the targeted machine. When run, Ansible inspects each host and performs only the tasks necessary to enforce the state defined in the playbook. ``` - hosts: all tasks: - name: Echo "Hello World" command: echo "Hello World" ``` Run the playbook using the _ansible-playbook_ command: ``` $ ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml ``` ### Configuring a workstation Start by installing ansible: ``` dnf install ansible ``` Next, create a file to store the playbook: ``` touch ~/post_install.yml ``` Start by defining the host on which to run this playbook. In this case, “localhost”: ``` - hosts: localhost ``` Each task consists of a _name_ field and a module field. Ansible has **a lot** of [modules][2]. Be sure to browse the module index to become familiar with all Ansible has to offer. #### The package module Most users install additional packages after a fresh install, and many like to remove some shipped software they don’t use. The _[package][3]_ module provides a generic wrapper around the system package manager (in Fedora’s case, _dnf_ ). ``` - hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Install Builder become: yes package: name: gnome-builder state: present - name: Remove Rhythmbox become: yes package: name: rhythmbox state: absent - name: Install GNOME Music become: yes package: name: gnome-music state: present - name: Remove Shotwell become: yes package: name: shotwell state: absent ``` This playbook results in the following outcomes: * GNOME Builder and GNOME Music are installed * Rhythmbox is removed * On Fedora 28 or greater, nothing happens with Shotwell (it is not in the default list of packages) * On Fedora 27 or older, Shotwell is removed This playbook also introduces the **become: yes** directive. This specifies the task must be run by a privileged user (in most cases, _root_ ). #### The DConf Module Ansible can do a lot more than install software. For example, GNOME includes a great color-shifting feature called Night Light. It ships disabled by default, however the Ansible _[dconf][4]_ module can very easily enable it. ``` - hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Enable Night Light dconf: key: /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/color/night-light-enabled value: true - name: Set Night Light Temperature dconf: key: /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/color/night-light-temperature value: uint32 5500 ``` Ansible can also create files at specified locations with the _[copy][5]_ module. In this example, a local file is copied to the destination path. ``` - hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Enable "AUTH_ADMIN_KEEP" for pkexec become: yes copy: src: files/51-pkexec-auth-admin-keep.rules dest: /etc/polkit-1/rules.d/51-pkexec-auth-admin-keep.rules ``` #### The Command Module Ansible can still run commands even if no specialized module exists (via the aptly named _[command][6]_ module). This playbook enables the [Flathub][7] repository and installs a few Flatpaks. The commands are crafted in such a way that they are effectively idempotent. This is an important behavior to consider; a playbook should succeed each time it is run on a machine. ``` - hosts: localhost tasks: - name: Enable Flathub repository become: yes command: flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo - name: Install Fractal become: yes command: flatpak install --assumeyes flathub org.gnome.Fractal - name: Install Spotify become: yes command: flatpak install --assumeyes flathub com.spotify.Client ``` Combine all these tasks together into a single playbook and, in one command, ** Ansible will customize a freshly installed workstation. Not only that, but 6 months later, after making changes to the playbook, run it again to bring a “seasoned” install back to a known state. ``` $ ansible-playbook -K ~/post_install.yml ``` This article only touched the surface of what’s possible with Ansible. A follow-up article will go into more advanced Ansible concepts such as _roles,_ configuring multiple hosts with a divided set of responsibilities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- via: https://fedoramagazine.org/using-ansible-setup-workstation/ 作者：[Link Dupont][a] 选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972) 译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID) 校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID) 本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出 [a]:https://fedoramagazine.org/author/linkdupont/ [1]:https://ansible.com [2]:https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/list_of_all_modules.html [3]:https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/package_module.html#package-module [4]:https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/dconf_module.html#dconf-module [5]:https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/copy_module.html#copy-module [6]:https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/modules/command_module.html#command-module [7]:https://flathub.org