DevOps-Cheatsheet: Add Ansible Cheatsheet - Beginner to Advanced

- Introduced Ansible basics: inventory, ad-hoc commands, and playbooks
- Explained variables, loops, conditionals, and facts with examples
- Covered Ansible roles for structured automation
- Included Ansible Vault for securing sensitive data
- Provided essential Ansible commands for debugging and troubleshooting
- Added a detailed Ansible interview questions section

Signed-off-by: ProDevOpsGuy Tech <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: NotHarshhaa <[email protected]>

Author: prodevopsguytech

Cloud/Ansible.md

@@ -0,0 +1,327 @@
+# 📜 **Ansible Cheatsheet**  
+
+![ansible](https://imgur.com/XwECXoK.png)
+
+## **🔹 Introduction to Ansible**  
+
+### ✅ What is Ansible?  
+
+Ansible is an **open-source automation tool** used for:  
+✅ **Configuration Management** (e.g., installing & managing software on servers)  
+✅ **Application Deployment** (e.g., deploying a web app on multiple servers)  
+✅ **Orchestration** (e.g., managing multi-tier applications like load balancer + DB)  
+✅ **Provisioning** (e.g., setting up cloud infrastructure with AWS, Azure, GCP)  
+
+### ✅ Why Use Ansible?  
+
+🔹 **Agentless:** No need to install agents on target machines (uses SSH & WinRM)  
+🔹 **Idempotent:** Runs multiple times without unwanted changes  
+🔹 **Human-Readable:** Uses YAML playbooks  
+🔹 **Cross-Platform:** Works on **Linux, Windows, macOS, Cloud Servers**  
+
+---
+
+## **🛠️ 1. Installing & Setting Up Ansible**  
+
+### ✅ Installing Ansible on Linux  
+
+```bash
+# Ubuntu/Debian
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y ansible
+
+# CentOS/RHEL
+sudo yum install -y ansible
+```
+
+### ✅ Checking Installation  
+
+```bash
+ansible --version
+```
+
+### ✅ Setting Up an Inventory File  
+
+An **inventory file** (`/etc/ansible/hosts`) tells Ansible where to connect.  
+Example:  
+
+```ini
+[webservers]
+server1 ansible_host=192.168.1.10 ansible_user=ubuntu
+server2 ansible_host=192.168.1.11 ansible_user=ubuntu
+
+[dbservers]
+db1 ansible_host=192.168.1.20 ansible_user=root
+```
+
+### ✅ Testing Connectivity with `ping`  
+
+```bash
+ansible all -m ping
+```
+
+📌 If successful, you'll see:  
+
+```bash
+server1 | SUCCESS => {"changed": false, "ping": "pong"}
+server2 | SUCCESS => {"changed": false, "ping": "pong"}
+```
+
+---
+
+## **🚀 2. Running Ad-Hoc Commands (Quick Tasks Without a Playbook)**  
+
+✅ **Check disk usage**  
+
+```bash
+ansible all -m command -a "df -h"
+```
+
+✅ **Check system uptime**  
+
+```bash
+ansible all -m command -a "uptime"
+```
+
+✅ **Create a directory on remote hosts**  
+
+```bash
+ansible all -m file -a "path=/opt/newdir state=directory"
+```
+
+✅ **Copy files to remote servers**  
+
+```bash
+ansible all -m copy -a "src=/tmp/file.txt dest=/home/ubuntu/file.txt"
+```
+
+✅ **Install a package (e.g., nginx) on all web servers**  
+
+```bash
+ansible webservers -m apt -a "name=nginx state=present" --become
+```
+
+✅ **Restart a service (e.g., nginx)**  
+
+```bash
+ansible webservers -m service -a "name=nginx state=restarted" --become
+```
+
+---
+
+## **📜 3. Writing Ansible Playbooks (Automation Scripts)**  
+
+✅ **What is a Playbook?**  
+A **playbook** is a YAML file that contains tasks to **automate configuration**.  
+
+### **🔹 Basic Playbook Example**  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Install and Start Nginx
+  hosts: webservers
+  become: yes  # Run as sudo
+  tasks:
+    - name: Install Nginx
+      apt:
+        name: nginx
+        state: present
+
+    - name: Start Nginx
+      service:
+        name: nginx
+        state: started
+```
+
+✅ **Run the Playbook**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-playbook playbook.yml
+```
+
+---
+
+## **🔹 4. Using Variables in Ansible**  
+
+✅ **Define Variables in a Playbook**  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Install a Package with a Variable
+  hosts: webservers
+  vars:
+    package_name: nginx
+  tasks:
+    - name: Install Package
+      apt:
+        name: "{{ package_name }}"
+        state: present
+```
+
+✅ **Use Built-in Ansible Facts**  
+
+```bash
+ansible all -m setup
+```
+
+Example Fact Usage in Playbook:  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Display System Information
+  hosts: all
+  tasks:
+    - debug:
+        msg: "This server is running {{ ansible_distribution }} {{ ansible_distribution_version }}"
+```
+
+---
+
+## **🔹 5. Loops & Conditionals**  
+
+✅ **Loop Example (Install Multiple Packages)**  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Install Multiple Packages
+  hosts: webservers
+  become: yes
+  tasks:
+    - name: Install Packages
+      apt:
+        name: "{{ item }}"
+        state: present
+      loop:
+        - nginx
+        - curl
+        - unzip
+```
+
+✅ **Conditional Execution**  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Restart Nginx Only If Needed
+  hosts: webservers
+  become: yes
+  tasks:
+    - name: Check if Nginx is Running
+      shell: pgrep nginx
+      register: nginx_running
+      ignore_errors: yes
+
+    - name: Restart Nginx
+      service:
+        name: nginx
+        state: restarted
+      when: nginx_running.rc == 0
+```
+
+---
+
+## **📂 6. Ansible Roles (Best Practices for Large Projects)**  
+
+✅ **Generate an Ansible Role Structure**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-galaxy init my_role
+```
+
+📌 This creates a structured directory like:  
+
+```plaintext
+my_role/
+├── tasks/
+│   └── main.yml
+├── handlers/
+│   └── main.yml
+├── templates/
+├── files/
+├── vars/
+│   └── main.yml
+├── defaults/
+│   └── main.yml
+├── meta/
+│   └── main.yml
+├── README.md
+```
+
+✅ **Use Roles in a Playbook**  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Deploy Web Server
+  hosts: webservers
+  roles:
+    - nginx_role
+```
+
+---
+
+## **🔐 7. Ansible Vault (Encrypting Secrets)**  
+
+✅ **Create an Encrypted File**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-vault create secrets.yml
+```
+
+✅ **Edit an Encrypted File**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-vault edit secrets.yml
+```
+
+✅ **Use Vault in Playbooks**  
+
+```yaml
+- name: Deploy with Encrypted Secrets
+  hosts: webservers
+  vars_files:
+    - secrets.yml
+  tasks:
+    - debug:
+        msg: "The secret password is {{ secret_password }}"
+```
+
+✅ **Run Playbook with Vault Password Prompt**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-playbook playbook.yml --ask-vault-pass
+```
+
+---
+
+## **🎯 8. Useful Ansible Commands**  
+
+✅ **Check Playbook Syntax**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-playbook playbook.yml --syntax-check
+```
+
+✅ **Dry Run (Test Without Executing Changes)**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-playbook playbook.yml --check
+```
+
+✅ **List All Available Modules**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-doc -l
+```
+
+✅ **Get Help for a Specific Module**  
+
+```bash
+ansible-doc apt
+```
+
+---
+
+## 🎯 **Conclusion**  
+
+This **Ansible Cheatsheet** provides a **step-by-step guide** from **beginner to advanced**.  
+
+🚀 **Next Steps:**  
+✅ **Practice with real-world playbooks**  
+✅ **Use roles for better structuring**  
+✅ **Secure credentials with Ansible Vault**  
+✅ **Automate cloud infrastructure with Terraform + Ansible**  
+
+🔗 **Contribute to the Cheatsheet Collection:** [GitHub Repo](https://github.com/NotHarshhaa/devops-cheatsheet)  

README.md

@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ Welcome to the **DevOps Tools Cheatsheet Collection** – your go-to resource fo
 ├── Cloud/
 │   ├── AWS.md
 │   ├── Azure.md
+│   ├── Ansible.md
 │   ├── GCP.md
 │   ├── Kubernetes-on-AWS.md
 │   └── Terraform.md
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ Efficiently manage repositories and collaboration:
 Provision and manage infrastructure the right way:  
 ☁️ [AWS](./Cloud/AWS.md)  
 ☁️ [Azure](./Cloud/Azure.md)  
+☁️ [Ansible](./Cloud/Ansible.md)  
 ☁️ [Google Cloud Platform (GCP)](./Cloud/GCP.md)  
 ☁️ [Terraform](./Cloud/Terraform.md)  
 ☁️ [Kubernetes on AWS](./Cloud/Kubernetes-on-AWS.md)