Ansible for VMware by Examples : A Step-by-Step Guide to Automating Your VMware Infrastructure

s Chapter 1:​ Ansible for Beginners with Examples What Is Ansible?​ Ansible Three Main Use Cases Four Key Tenets of Ansible Six Values of Ansible Ansible History Ansible, Ansible Tower, and the Ansible Automation Platform Getting Started Ansible Architecture Connecting with Managed Nodes Ansible Installation Running Ad-Hoc Commands with Privilege Escalation on Ansible Recap Inventory Simple INI Inventory Simple YAML Inventory Adding Ranges of Hosts Hosting in Multiple Groups Host Variables Group Variables Inheriting Variable Values Using Multiple Inventory Sources The localhost Inventory Recap Playbook YAML Syntax helloworld.​yml Tip 1:​ ansible-playbook –check Option Tip 2:​ Debug Day-to-Day Usage Idempotency multipleplays.​yml privilege_​escalation.​yml Common Ansible Modules Recap Variables Not Permitted Variable Names variableprint.​yml variableprint.​yml - Extra Variables Host Variables and Group Variables Array Variables array.​yml Execution Registered Variables registeredvariab​les.​yml Execution Filters and Templates Recap Facts and Magic Variables Ansible Facts Magic Variables Recap Vault Creating an Encrypted File Viewing an Encrypted File Editing an Existing Encrypted File Encrypting an Existing File Decrypting an Existing File Changing the Password of an Encrypted File Playbooks and Ansible Vault Recap Conditional Basic Conditionals with “when” Conditionals Based on ansible_​facts Recap Loop with_​* Statement loop_​with_​items.​yml Recap Handler rollingupdate.​yml Role Role Tree Directories Using Ansible Roles in a Playbook Order of Execution Ansible Galaxy Installing Roles from Ansible Galaxy Manually Installing Roles from Ansible Galaxy requirements.​yml Collection Ansible Plugins Key Takeaways Chapter 2:​ Installing Ansible Ansible Community vs.​ ansible-core Packages ansible-core The Ansible Community Package Additional Collections Installation Installing the community.​vmware Collection via the ansible-galaxy Command Installing the community.​vmware Collection via the requirements.​yml File Verifying the Currently Installed Version of community.​vmware Links Ansible Installation for RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 Code Ansible Installation for Ubuntu 22.​04 LTS Code Ansible Installation for Fedora 36 Code Ansible Installation for CentOS 9 Stream Links Code Ansible Installation on Windows Links Code Ansible Installation for macOS Code Ansible Installation for SUSE SLES (Linux Enterprise Server) 15 SP3 Links Code Ansible Installation with PIP Code Ansible Installation for RedHat Enterprise Linux 9 Links Demo Ansible Installation for Amazon Linux 2 (AWS EC2) Links Code Ansible Installation for Debian 11 Code Key Takeaways Chapter 3:​ Ansible for VMware Configuring Ansible for VMware The Ansible vmware.​vmware_​rest Collection Configuring a Python Virtual Environment for Ansible VMware Ansible Troubleshooting:​ VMware Failed to Import pyVmomi Ansible Troubleshooting:​ VMware Unknown Error While Connecting to vCenter or ESXi Ansible Troubleshooting:​ VMware Certificate Verification Failed Connecting to vCenter or ESXi Creating a VMware Virtual Machine Deploying a VMware Virtual Machine from a Template Starting a VMware Virtual Machine Stopping a VMware Virtual Machine Taking a VMware Virtual Machine Snapshot Deleting a VMware Virtual Machine Snapshot Adding a New Hard Disk to a VMware Virtual Machine Expanding a Virtual Disk in a VMware Virtual Machine Gathering VMware Host Information on a Cluster Getting a VMware Virtual Machine UUID Ansible Dynamic Inventory For VMware Getting a VMware Virtual Machine Running Host Getting VMware Datastore Status Uploading a File to the VMware Datastore Getting the Status of VMware Guest Tools Upgrading VMware Guest Tools Live Migration of a VMware Virtual Machine Using vMotion Changing the Boot Device Order of a VMware Virtual Machine Key Takeaways Chapter 4:​ Closing Remarks Key Takeaways Index Learn to use the Ansible open source IT automation tool to automate your VMware infrastructure. This book contains all of the obvious and not-so-obvious best practices of Ansible automation. Each lesson summarizes a specific use case for the modern VMware infrastructure and is focused on a single module from the most important parameter, including live demo of code and real-life usage. You'll configure the Ansible Controller to interact with VMware infrastructure using the "community.VMware" Ansible documentation collection and the appropriate Python libraries. Next, learn how to automate the creation of a virtual machine manually and from a template, start and stop using the shutdown and forced-power off a Virtual Machine, take and delete and snapshot, add a new hard disk and expand a currently attached hard disk, as well as gather information for data centers, clusters, host systems, and virtual machines. By the end of this book, you'll be well-versed in efficiently maintaining a VMware infrastructure with Ansible Automation. You'll also be able to save time and reduce manual errors using simple human-readable automation technology. What You'll Learn Automate your VMware infrastructure using Ansible code Install Ansible in operating systems such as RedHat, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. Write and execute your first Ansible Playbook code Troubleshoot the most common error messages Who This Book Is For IT professionals of every industry who would like a jargon-free understanding of Ansible technology, including VMware, Linux, and Windows Systems Administrators, DevOps professionals, thought leaders, and infrastructure-as-code enthusiasts.