We will learn how to create Ansible Role for provisioning a new EC2 instance in AWS cloud. We will pick a playbook which has all the logic and we will refactor into reusable ansible role.
What is Ansible Role?
Ansible also lets you organize tasks in a directory structure called a Role. Using Ansible roles you can break down complex playbooks into smaller and manageable chunks. Ansible role enables reuse and share our Ansible code efficiently.
How to create Ansible Role?
Using ansible galaxy command, we can create Ansible role. This will create the below directory with all the files.
directory structure of Ansible role
aws-infra-role/
├── README.md
├── create.yml
├── defaults
│ └── main.yml
├── handlers
│ └── main.yml
├── meta
│ └── main.yml
├── tasks
│ ├── create-ec2.yml
│ └── create-sg.yml
├── tests
│ ├── inventory
│ └── test.yml
└── vars
└── main.yml
Directory structure explained
tasks - contains the main list of tasks to be executed by the role.
handlers - handlers are typically used to start, reload, restart, and stop services.
defaults - default variables for the role.
vars - other variables for the role. Vars has the higher priority than defaults.
meta - defines some data / information about this role (author, dependency, versions, examples, etc,.)
handlers - handlers are typically used to start, reload, restart, and stop services.
defaults - default variables for the role.
vars - other variables for the role. Vars has the higher priority than defaults.
meta - defines some data / information about this role (author, dependency, versions, examples, etc,.)
tests - test cases if you have any.
Pre-requisites:
- Ansible is installed and Boto is also installed on Ubuntu EC2 instance
- Make sure you create an IAM role with AmazonEC2FullAccess policy and attach the role to EC2 instance.
Steps to create EC2 instance using Ansible Role:
Add the below two lines in the end of the file:
[localhost]
local
That's it!! That is how you create a new EC2 instance using Ansible role in AWS cloud.
Login to EC2 instance using Git bash or ITerm/putty where you installed Ansible. Execute the below command:
Create an Inventory file first
sudo mkdir /etc/ansible
Edit Ansible hosts or inventory file
sudo vi /etc/ansible/hosts
Add the below two lines in the end of the file:
[localhost]
local
cd ~
mkdir roles
mkdir roles
cd roles
Create Ansible Role
ansible-galaxy role init aws-infra-role
We will convert this playbook into ansible role.
So all the variables will go inside vars folder.
vars
└── main.yml
sudo vi aws-infra-role/vars/main.yml
(copy below content)
keypair: myNov2023Key
instance_type: t2.small
image: ami-007855ac798b5175e
wait: yes
group: webserver
region: us-east-1
security_group: my-jenkins-security-grp1
Save the file and come out of it.
So all the tasks will go inside tasks folder. let's create security group first.
sudo vi aws-infra-role/tasks/create-sg.yml
---
- include_vars: "vars/main.yml"
tags: create
# tasks file for security group
- name: configuring security group for the instance
ec2_group:
name: "{{ security_group }}"
description: my-ajenkin-security_groAup
region: "{{ region }}"
rules:
- proto: tcp
from_port: 22
to_port: 22
cidr_ip: 0.0.0.0/0
- proto: tcp
from_port: 80
to_port: 80
cidr_ip: 0.0.0.0/0
- proto: tcp
from_port: 8080
to_port: 8080
cidr_ip: 0.0.0.0/0
rules_egress:
- proto: all
cidr_ip: 0.0.0.0/0
Let's create a task for ec2 instance creation.
sudo vi aws-infra-role/tasks/create-ec2.yml
---
- include_vars: "vars/main.yml"
tags: create
- name: creating ec2 instance
ec2_instance:
security_group: "{{ security_group }}"
name: test-stan
key_name: "{{ keypair }}"
instance_type: "{{ instance_type}}"
image_id: "{{ image }}"
region: "{{ region }}"
wait_timeout: 2
Let's create a task for creating s3 bucket.
sudo vi aws-infra-role/tasks/create-s3.yml ---
- include_vars: "vars/main.yml"
tags: create
- name: creating s3
s3_bucket:
name: myansibles3bucket1234
state: present
region: "{{ region }}"
versioning: yes
tags:
name: myansiblebucket
type: example
register: s3_url
- name: Display s3 url
debug: var=s3_url
Let's create Ansible main playbook.
sudo vi aws-infra-role/main.yml
---
# This Playbook creates infra in aws cloud
- hosts: local
connection: local
gather_facts: False
tags: ec2_create
tasks:
- include: tasks/create-sg.yml
- include: tasks/create-ec2.yml
- include: tasks/create-s3.yml
now execute the ansible playbook by
ansible-playbook aws-infra-role/main.yml
If everything is good, you should see the new instance, S3 bucket created on AWS console. make sure you are able to connect to that instance.
That's it!! That is how you create a new EC2 instance using Ansible role in AWS cloud.
Please watch steps in YouTube channel:
