Usage

There are several ways to run the Ansible Labs.
Choose the method that works best for you.
- Killercoda (Recommended)
- 🐳 Docker
- 📜 From Source
- Using Google Cloud Shell

Killercoda (Recommended)🐳 Docker📜 From Source

Using Google Cloud Shell

The easiest way to get started with the labs
Learn Ansible in your browser without any local installation

🌐 Launch on Killercoda

Benefits:

No installation required
Pre-configured environment
Works on any device with a web browser
All tools pre-installed

Using Docker is the easiest way to get started locally with the labs:

# Change to the Labs directory
cd Labs/000-setup

# Run the setup lab using Docker Compose
docker-compose up -d

Prerequisites:

Docker and Docker Compose installed on your system
No additional setup required

For those who prefer to run it directly on their machine:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/nirgeier/AnsibleLabs.git
# Change to the Labs directory
cd AnsibleLabs/Labs
# Start with the setup lab
cd 000-setup
# Follow the instructions in the README of each lab
cat README.md

Prerequisites:

Ansible installed on your system
A Unix-like operating system (Linux, macOS, or Windows with WSL)
Basic command-line tools

Google Cloud Shell provides a free, browser-based environment with all necessary tools pre-installed.
Click on the Open in Google Cloud Shell button below:

The repository will automatically be cloned into a free Cloud instance.
Use CTRL + click to open it in a new window.
Follow the instructions in the README of each lab.

Benefits:

No local installation required
Pre-configured environment
Works on any device with a web browser
All tools pre-installed
Free tier available

Lab Breakdown

If you choose to run the labs locally using Docker or From Source, follow the steps below to set up your environment.
Make sure you have the necessary tools installed.
Follow the instructions in the README of each lab.
Review the Dockerfile(s) and docker-compose.yml for container configurations.

02. Build from source¶

Clone the git repo:

git clone https://github.com/nirgeier/AnsibleLabs.git

Navigate to the Labs directory:
```
cd AnsibleLabs/Labs/000-setup
```

Run the setup script:

./_setup.sh

Setup scripts breakdown:

Script	Content
🗞️ `00-build-containers.sh`	📒 Init the shared folders
	🐳 Build the container(s)
🗞️ `01-init-servers.sh`	⏯ Initialize the containers
	🔐 Extract the ssh certificates
	✓ verify that the ssh service is running in the containers
🗞️ `02-init-ansible.sh`	🚀 Initialize the ansible files
	📚 `ansible.cfg`
	📚 `ssh.config`
	📚 `inventory`

The lab contains a docker-compose file alongside a Dockerfile.
The containers are based on Ubuntu OS and are published on DockerHub as well.
Build the demo containers by running:
```
docker-compose up -d
```
The docker-compose will create ansible-controller which will server as our controller to execute ansible playbooks on our demo servers defined by the names linux-server-X

Labs containers

Container	Content
🐳 `ansible-controller`	Linux container with ansible installed
🐳 `linux-server-1`	Linux container with ssh only (no ansible installed)
🐳 `linux-server-2`	Linux container with ssh only (no ansible installed)
🐳 `linux-server-3`	Linux container with ssh only (no ansible installed)

For the demo we will also need a shared folder(s) where the certificates and the configuration will be stored
The shared folder(s) will be mounted into the containers
The containers will have access to the shared folder(s) for reading and writing files
The shared folder(s) will be used to store the Ansible playbooks and inventory files
The shared folder(s) will be mounted at /labs-scripts in the containers