ansible-learnlinux

A multi-distro infrastructure automation project using Vagrant and Ansible to provision and configure a realistic multi-tier server environment across Rocky Linux and Ubuntu systems.

Built as a hands-on learning project demonstrating infrastructure-as-code principles, role-based Ansible structure, and cross-distribution configuration management.

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Architecture

Four virtual machines are provisioned automatically, each assigned a dedicated role:

Hostname	IP	OS	Role
ubuntu01	192.168.56.10	Ubuntu 22.04	Web Server
ubuntu02	192.168.56.11	Ubuntu 22.04	Database Server
rocky01	192.168.56.12	Rocky Linux 8	Web Server
rocky02	192.168.56.13	Rocky Linux 8	File Server

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Features

• Multi-distro support — handles package management, service names, and configuration differences between Rocky Linux (dnf) and Ubuntu (apt) automatically
• Role-based structure — clean separation of concerns across base, web, database, and file server roles
• group_vars — variables organized by group rather than per-host, keeping configuration DRY and scalable
• Idempotent playbooks — safe to run multiple times without unintended side effects
• Jinja2 templating — distro-specific SSH configuration generated from templates
• Tagged tasks — run specific parts of the playbook without executing everything
• Single entrypoint — site.yml orchestrates the full stack in the correct order

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Prerequisites

• Vagrant >= 2.3
• VirtualBox >= 6.1
• Ansible >= 2.12
• An SSH key pair at ~/.ssh/ansible (see Setup below)

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Configuration

Before running the playbooks, update group_vars/all.yml with your values:

admin_user: ansible
admin_ssh_key: "ssh-ed25519 YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY_HERE ansible"
server_admin_email: admin@example.com

To generate an SSH key for Ansible:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "ansible" -f ~/.ssh/ansible

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Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/zemation/ansible-learnlinux.git
cd ansible-learnlinux

2. Update group_vars/all.yml with your SSH public key and email as shown above.

3. Start the VMs:

vagrant up

4. Bootstrap the environment — creates the ansible service account, deploys the SSH key, and configures sudoers:

ansible-playbook bootstrap.yml

5. Run the full playbook:

ansible-playbook site.yml

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Project Structure

ansible-learnlinux/
├── ansible.cfg               # Ansible configuration (inventory, remote user, key)
├── Vagrantfile               # VM definitions (4 nodes, Rocky + Ubuntu)
├── inventory                 # Host groups (web_servers, db_servers, file_servers)
├── bootstrap.yml             # Initial setup — service account, SSH key, sudoers
├── site.yml                  # Main playbook — applies all roles in order
├── group_vars/
│   ├── all.yml               # Global variables (admin user, SSH key, email)
│   ├── web_servers.yml       # Web server package and service variables
│   ├── db_servers.yml        # Database server SSH variables
│   └── file_servers.yml      # File server SSH variables
├── files/
│   ├── default_site.html     # Default web server index page
│   └── sudoer_ansible        # Sudoers config for the ansible service account
└── roles/
    ├── base/                 # Applied to all hosts — SSH hardening, service account
    ├── web_servers/          # Apache + PHP installation and configuration
    ├── db_servers/           # MariaDB installation and service management
    └── file_servers/         # Samba installation and service management

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Usage

Run the full stack:

ansible-playbook site.yml

Run only specific roles using tags:

ansible-playbook site.yml --tags apache      # Web server tasks only
ansible-playbook site.yml --tags db          # Database tasks only
ansible-playbook site.yml --tags samba       # File server tasks only
ansible-playbook site.yml --tags ssh         # SSH configuration only

Target a specific host:

ansible-playbook site.yml --limit 192.168.56.10

Tear down the environment:

vagrant destroy -f

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Roles

base

Applied to all hosts. Deploys the Ansible service account SSH key and handles SSH hardening via distro-specific Jinja2 templates.

web_servers

Installs and configures Apache and PHP using distribution-appropriate package names. Starts and enables the web service and deploys a default index page. Configures the ServerAdmin email on Rocky Linux.

db_servers

Installs MariaDB using the correct package name for each distribution (mariadb on Rocky, mariadb-server on Ubuntu). Starts and enables the MariaDB service.

file_servers

Installs Samba and starts and enables the service for file sharing.

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Roadmap

• Upgrade Rocky Linux boxes to Rocky 9
• Wire web servers to query the database tier
• Add HAProxy load balancer node
• Add Kafka message broker as optional extension
• Add centralized logging (ELK/EFK) as optional extension

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License

MIT