Aquileo | Ansible Integration with Jenkins

Ansible is an open automation tool (written in Python) that helps automate tasks like setting up servers, installing apps, and managing systems. It is important to install Python on the machines it manages. Ansible uses YAML playbooks because they are simple and easy to read, even for people who are not programmers. Ansible playbooks contain all the tasks that Ansible has to perform.

Jenkins is a popular automation tool (built with Java) that helps build, test, and deploy software automatically. It supports many tools and programming languages through plugins, which is why it is widely used in CI/CD pipelines.

Prerequisites

Jenkins is installed and running
Ansible is installed on the Jenkins server
SSH access to target servers
Git installed (optional, for pulling playbooks)

Step-by-Step Process to use Ansible in Jenkins Pipeline

The below are the step-by-step process to use Ansible in Jenkins Pipeline:

Step 1: Launch EC2 Instance

First go to AWS Console and login by using your credentials or create new account.
Now go to EC2 dashboard and Launch two instances.

Now connect with terminal

Step 2: Install Ansible and Jenkins

Install Ansible and Jenkins in our local machine by using following commands:

sudo wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/jenkins.repo \https://pkg.jenkins.io/redhat-stable/jenkins.reposudo rpm --import https://pkg.jenkins.io/redhat-stable/jenkins.io-2023.key

Install java because Jenkins run times is java so we need to install java

sudo yum -y install java-17*

Now install Jenkins by using following command,

sudo yum -y install jenkins

After completion of Jenkins installation, now start and enable the Jenkins and also check status of the Jenkins by using following commands

sudo systemctl start Jenkinssudo systemctl enable Jenkinssudo systemctl status Jenkins

Now copy Public IP of your instance and Browse it along with Port 8080, because jenkins runs on port 8080.

Unlock Jenkins by using administration password, administration password was shown in while check in status of the jenkins or either we can see the password in below path

/var/lib/jenkins/secrets/initialPassword

Unlock-Jenkins-by-using-administration-password

Official page of jenkins

Now install Ansible by using following command

sudo amazon-linux-extras install ansible2

Step 3: Install Ansible Plugin

Go to jenkins Dashboard --> Manage Jenkins --> Available Plugins --> Ansible

Step 4: Configure Ansible in Jenkins

Now configure ansible in jenkins
Go to Jenkins dashboard --> Manage Jenkins --> Tool Configuration
Now add ansible installation by providing path to ansible executable

Step 5: Add Credentials

For ansible credentials are required for this
Go to manage Jenkins --> Credentials --> Add credentials

Step 6: Create Playbook

Now create playbook by using YAML file

<filename.yml>

- hosts: all  become: True  tasks:    - name: Install packages      yum:        name: "nginx"        state: "present"    - name: Start nginx server      service:        name: nginx        state: started        enabled: True    - name: Deploy static website      copy:        src: index.html # We have define a html page         dest: /var/www/html/

Step 7: Define Jenkins Pipeline

Now define jenkins pipeline
Go to jenkins dashboard and click on New item and choose pipeline

Give description to your project in pipeline script and write pipeline script

pipeline {    agent any        stages {        stage("SCM checkout") {            steps {                git "https://github.com/Sada-Siva-Reddt/blog1"            }        }                stage("Execute Ansible") {            steps {                ansiblePlaybook credentialsId: 'private-key',                                 disableHostKeyChecking: true,                                 installation: 'Ansible',                                 inventory: 'dev.inv',                                 playbook: 'apache.yml'            }            }        }}

Now run the pipeline

Step 8: Verify

Now go to EC2 dashboard copy Public IP of slave node and browse it.

Why Integrate Ansible with Jenkins?

Using Ansible in a CI/CD pipeline helps teams automate and manage software delivery more easily. Here are some points why it is useful:

1. Everything is written in Code

Instead of setting up things by hand, you write instructions in a file (in YAML format). This is called Infrastructure as Code. This file can be saved in Git, shared with others, and used again anytime.

2. Saves you from repeating the same work

Normally, when you want to install software, set up a server, or deploy an app, you run a lot of commands manually. With Ansible, you write all these steps once in a file (called a playbook), and Ansible does them for you every time automatically.

3. Faster Software Delivery

In a CI/CD pipeline, tools like Jenkins test and build your code. After that, Ansible can automatically deploy the app. This means new features or bug fixes can go live faster without manual work.

4. Works on many servers at once

If your app runs on 5, 10, or 100 servers, Ansible can handle them all at the same time. You don’t need to log into each one and run commands. Ansible does it all for you in one go.

5. Safe and Easy to Track

Ansible gives logs of what it did. If something breaks, you can check what happened.

It also protects passwords and secrets using something called Ansible Vault.
Jenkins (or any CI tool) can show you who ran which task and when so everything is clear and traceable.

Ansible Integration with Jenkins