Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Installation Guide
This guide provides procedures and reference information for the supported installation scenarios for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
Abstract
Preface Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Thank you for your interest in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Ansible Automation Platform is a commercial offering that helps teams manage complex multi-tier deployments by adding control, knowledge, and delegation to Ansible-powered environments.
This guide helps you to understand the installation requirements and processes behind installing Ansible Automation Platform. This document has been updated to include information for the latest release of Ansible Automation Platform.
Making open source more inclusive Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. We are beginning with these four terms: master, slave, blacklist, and whitelist. Because of the enormity of this endeavor, these changes will be implemented gradually over several upcoming releases. For more details, see our CTO Chris Wright’s message.
Chapter 1. Planning your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use this section to help plan your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation. Before installation, review information on the setup installer, system requirements, and supported installation scenarios.
1.1. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform system requirements Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Use this information when planning your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installations and designing automation mesh topologies that fit your use case.
Your system must meet the following minimum system requirements to install and run Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
| Required | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Valid Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | |
| OS | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 or later 64-bit (x86) | |
| Ansible | version 2.11 required |
If Ansible is not already present on the system, the setup playbook will install |
| Python | 3.8 or later |
The following are necessary for you to work with project updates and collections:
Ensure that the following domain names are part of either the firewall or the proxy’s allowlist for successful connection and download of collections from automation hub or Galaxy server:
-
galaxy.ansible.com -
cloud.redhat.com -
console.redhat.com -
sso.redhat.com
-
- SSL inspection must be disabled either when using self signed certificates or for the Red Hat domains.
1.1.1. Automation controller Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Automation controller is a distributed system, where different software components can be co-located or deployed across multiple compute nodes. In the installer, node types of control, hybrid, execution, and hop are provided as abstractions to help the user design the topology appropriate for their use case. The following table provides recommendations for node sizing:
On all nodes except hop nodes, allocate a minimum of 20 GB to /home/awx for execution environment storage.
| Execution nodes | Required | Notes |
| RAM | 16 GB | |
| CPUs | 4 |
|
| Control nodes | Required | Notes |
| RAM | 16 GB | |
| CPUs | 4 |
|
| Hybrid nodes | Required | Notes |
| RAM | 16 GB |
|
| CPUs | 4 |
|
| Hop nodes | Required | Notes |
| RAM | 16 GB | |
| CPUs | 4 |
|
| Disk: service node | 40 GB dedicated hard disk space |
|
| Database node | Required | Notes |
| RAM | 16 GB | |
| CPUs | 4 | |
| Disk | 20 GB dedicated hard disk space |
|
| Browser | A currently supported version of Mozilla FireFox or Google Chrome | |
| Database | PostgreSQL version 12 |
| Required | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| RAM | 8 GB minimum |
|
| CPUs | 2 minimum |
|
| Disk: service node | 60 GB dedicated hard disk space |
|
| Database node | Required | Notes |
| RAM | 16 GB | |
| CPUs | 4 | |
| Disk | 20 GB dedicated hard disk space |
|
| Browser | A currently supported version of Mozilla FireFox or Google Chrome | |
| Database | PostgreSQL version 12 |
- All automation controller data is stored in the database. Database storage increases with the number of hosts managed, number of jobs run, number of facts stored in the fact cache, and number of tasks in any individual job. For example, a playbook run every hour (24 times a day) across 250, hosts, with 20 tasks will store over 800000 events in the database every week.
- If not enough space is reserved in the database, old job runs and facts will need cleaned on a regular basis. Refer to Management Jobs in the Automation Controller Administration Guide for more information
Amazon EC2
- Instance size of m5.large or larger
- An instance size of m4.xlarge or larger if there are more than 100 hosts
Additional notes for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform requirements
-
Actual RAM requirements vary based on how many hosts automation controller will manage simultaneously (which is controlled by the
forksparameter in the job template or the systemansible.cfgfile). To avoid possible resource conflicts, Ansible recommends 1 GB of memory per 10 forks + 2 GB reservation for automation controller, see Automation controller Capacity Determination and Job Impact for further details. Ifforksis set to 400, 42 GB of memory is recommended. - A larger number of hosts can of course be addressed, though if the fork number is less than the total host count, more passes across the hosts are required. These RAM limitations are avoided when using rolling updates or when using the provisioning callback system built into automation controller, where each system requesting configuration enters a queue and is processed as quickly as possible; or in cases where automation controller is producing or deploying images such as AMIs. All of these are great approaches to managing larger environments. For further questions, please contact Ansible support via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
- The requirements for systems managed by Ansible Automation Platform are the same as for Ansible. See Getting Started in the Ansible User Guide.
Notable PostgreSQL changes
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform uses PostgreSQL 12.
- PostgreSQL user passwords will now be hashed with SCRAM-SHA-256 secure hashing algorithm before storing in the database.
-
You will no longer need to provide a
pg_hashed_passwordin your inventory file at the time of installation because PostgreSQL 12 can now store the user’s password more securely. If users supply a password in the inventory file for the installer (pg_password), that password will be SCRAM-SHA-256 hashed by PostgreSQL as part of the installation process. DO NOT use special characters inpg_passwordas it may cause the setup to fail. -
Since automation controller and automation hub are using a Software Collections version of PostgreSQL in 3.8, the
rh-postgresql10scl must be enabled in order to access the database. Administrators can use theawx-manage dbshellcommand, which will automatically enable the PostgreSQL SCL. -
If you just need to determine if your automation controller instance has access to the database, you can do so with the command,
awx-manage check_db.
PostgreSQL Configurations
Optionally, you can configure the PostgreSQL database as separate nodes that are not managed by the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer. When the Ansible Automation Platform installer manages the database server, it configures the server with defaults that are generally recommended for most workloads. However, you can adjust these PostgreSQL settings for standalone database server node where ansible_memtotal_mb is the total memory size of the database server:
max_connections == 1024 shared_buffers == ansible_memtotal_mb*0.3 work_mem == ansible_memtotal_mb*0.03 maintenance_work_mem == ansible_memtotal_mb*0.04
max_connections == 1024
shared_buffers == ansible_memtotal_mb*0.3
work_mem == ansible_memtotal_mb*0.03
maintenance_work_mem == ansible_memtotal_mb*0.04
Refer to the PostgreSQL documentation for more detail on tuning your PostgreSQL server.
Ansible software requirements
While Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform depends on Ansible Playbooks and requires the installation of the latest stable version of Ansible before installing automation controller, manual installations of Ansible are no longer required.
Upon new installations, automation controller installs the latest release package of Ansible 2.11.
If performing a bundled Ansible Automation Platform installation, the installation program attempts to install Ansible (and its dependencies) from the bundle for you.
If you choose to install Ansible on your own, the Ansible Automation Platform installation program will detect that Ansible has been installed and will not attempt to reinstall it. Note that you must install Ansible using a package manager like yum and that the latest stable version must be installed for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to work properly. Ansible version 2.9 is required for |at| versions 3.8 and later.
1.2. Choosing and obtaining a Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Choose the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer you need based on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment internet connectivity. Review the scenarios below and determine which Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer meets your needs.
A valid Red Hat customer account is required to access Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer downloads on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
Installing with internet access
Choose the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer if your Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment is connected to the internet. Installing with internet access will retrieve the latest required repositories, packages, and dependencies.
- Navigate to https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/480
- Click for the Ansible Automation Platform <latest-version> Setup.
Extract the files:
tar xvzf ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>.tar.gz
$ tar xvzf ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>.tar.gzCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
Installing without internet access
Use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Bundle installer if you are unable to access the internet, or would prefer not to install separate components and dependencies from online repositories. Access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux repositories is still needed. All other dependencies are included in the tar archive.
- Navigate to https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/480
- Click for the Ansible Automation Platform <latest-version> Setup Bundle.
Extract the files:
tar xvzf ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>.tar.gz
$ tar xvzf ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>.tar.gzCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
1.3. Attaching your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform subscription Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You must have valid subscriptions attached on all nodes before installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Attaching your Ansible Automation Platform subscription allows you to access subcription-only resources necessary to proceed with the installation.
Attaching a subscription is unnecessary if you have enabled Simple Content Access Mode on your Red Hat account. Once enabled, you will need to register your systems to either Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM) or Satellite before installing the Ansible Automation Platform. See Simple Content Access Mode for more information.
Procedure
Obtain the
pool_idfor your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform subscription:subscription-manager list --available --all | grep "Ansible Automation Platform" -B 3 -A 6
# subscription-manager list --available --all | grep "Ansible Automation Platform" -B 3 -A 6Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow Example
An example output of the
subsciption-manager listcommand. Obtain thepool_idas seen in thePool ID:section:Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow Attach the subscription:
subscription-manager attach --pool=<pool_id>
# subscription-manager attach --pool=<pool_id>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
You have now attached your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform subscriptions to all nodes.
Verification
- Verify the subscription was successfully attached:
subscription-manager list --consumed
# subscription-manager list --consumed
Troubleshooting
If you are unable to locate certain packages that came bundled with the Ansible Automation Platform installer, or if you are seeing a
Repositories disabled by configurationmessage, try enabling the repository using the command:subscription-manager repos --enable ansible-automation-platform-2.1-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms
subscription-manager repos --enable ansible-automation-platform-2.1-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpmsCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
1.4. Supported installation scenarios Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Red Hat supports the following installations scenarios for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
1.4.1. Standalone automation controller with a database on the same node, or a non-installer managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of automation controller, including the web frontend, REST API backend, and database on a single machine. It installs PostgreSQL, and configures the automation controller to use that as its database. This is considered the standard automation controller installation scenario.
See Installing automation controller with a database on the same node in Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform components on a single machine to get started.
1.4.2. Standalone automation controller with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of the automation controller server on a single machine and configures communication with a remote PostgreSQL instance as its database. This remote PostgreSQL can be a server you manage, or can be provided by a cloud service such as Amazon RDS.
See Installing automation controller with an external managed database in Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform components on a single machine to get started.
1.4.3. Standalone automation hub with a database on the same node, or a non-installer managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of automation hub, including the web frontend, REST API backend, and database on a single machine. It installs PostgreSQL, and configures the automation hub to use that as its database.
See Installing automation hub with a database on the same node in Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform components on a single machine to get started.
1.4.4. Standalone automation hub with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of the automation hub server on a single machine, and installs a remote PostgreSQL database, managed by the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer.
See Installing automation hub with an external database in Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform components on a single machine to get started.
1.4.5. Platform installation with a database on the automation controller node, or non-installer managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of automation controller and automation hub with a database on the automation controller node, or a non-installer managed database.
See Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with a database on the automation controller node or non-installer managed database in Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to get started.
1.4.6. Platform installation with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of automation controller and automation hub and configures communication with a remote PostgreSQL instance as its database. This remote PostgreSQL can be a server you manage, or can be provided by a cloud service such as Amazon RDS.
See Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with an external managed database in Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to get started.
1.4.7. Multi-machine cluster installation with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This scenario includes installation of multiple automation controller nodes and an automation hub instance and configures communication with a remote PostgreSQL instance as its database. This remote PostgreSQL can be a server you manage, or can be provided by a cloud service such as Amazon RDS. In this scenario, all automation controller are active and can execute jobs, and any node can receive HTTP requests.
Running in a cluster setup requires any database that automation controller uses to be external—PostgreSQL must be installed on a machine that is not one of the primary or secondary tower nodes. When in a redundant setup, the remote PostgreSQL version requirements is PostgreSQL 12.
- See Clustering for more information on configuring a clustered setup.
-
Provide a reachable IP address for the
[automationhub]host to ensure users can sync content from Private Automation Hub from a different node.
See Installing a multi-node Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with an external managed database in Multi-machine cluster installation to get started.
Chapter 2. Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform components on a single machine Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can install Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform components on a single machine in one of the following supported scenarios.
2.1. Installing automation controller with a database on the same node Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install a standalone instance of automation controller with a database on the same node, or a non-installer managed database. This scenario includes installation of automation controller, including the web frontend, REST API backend, and database on a single machine. It installs PostgreSQL, and configures the automation controller to use that as its database. This is considered the standard automation controller installation scenario.
2.1.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
2.1.2. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
2.1.3. Example Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform single node inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file for a single node installation of automation controller.
-
Do not use special characters for
pg_password. It may cause the setup to fail. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
- 1
- This should be set as a FQDN/IP.
2.1.4. Additional inventory file variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can further configure your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation by including additional variables to the inventory file. These configurations add various optional features for managing your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Add these variables by editing the inventory file using a text editor.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
When set to |
|
Example
-
To enable the api access log, add the variable to the inventory and flag as
true:
2.1.5. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
2.1.6. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
2.1.7. Verifying automation controller installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation controller has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation controller node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
The automation controller server is accessible from port 80 (https://<TOWER_SERVER_NAME>/) but will redirect to port 443 so 443 needs to be available also.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation controller, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
2.1.7.1. Additional automation controller configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation controller configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Set up automation controller and run your first playbook | |
| Configure automation controller administration through customer scripts, management jobs, etc. | |
| Configuring proxy support for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | Set up automation controller with a proxy server |
| Managing usability analytics and data collection from automation controller | Manage what automation controller information you share with Red Hat |
| Review automation controller functionality in more detail |
2.1.8. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
2.1.8.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
2.1.8.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.1.8.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.1.8.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
2.1.8.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
2.2. Installing automation controller with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install a standalone automation controller server on a single machine configured to communicate with a remote PostgreSQL instance as its database. This remote PostgreSQL can be a server you manage, or can be provided by a cloud service such as Amazon RDS.
2.2.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
2.2.2. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
2.2.3. Example inventory file for a standalone automation controller with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file to deploy an installation of automation controller with an external database.
-
Do not use special characters for
pg_password. It may cause the setup to fail. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
2.2.4. Additional inventory file variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can further configure your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation by including additional variables to the inventory file. These configurations add various optional features for managing your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Add these variables by editing the inventory file using a text editor.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
When set to |
|
Example
-
To enable the api access log, add the variable to the inventory and flag as
true:
2.2.5. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
2.2.6. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
2.2.7. Verifying automation controller installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation controller has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation controller node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
The automation controller server is accessible from port 80 (https://<TOWER_SERVER_NAME>/) but will redirect to port 443 so 443 needs to be available also.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation controller, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
2.2.7.1. Additional automation controller configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation controller configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Set up automation controller and run your first playbook | |
| Configure automation controller administration through customer scripts, management jobs, etc. | |
| Configuring proxy support for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | Set up automation controller with a proxy server |
| Managing usability analytics and data collection from automation controller | Manage what automation controller information you share with Red Hat |
| Review automation controller functionality in more detail |
2.2.8. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
2.2.8.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
2.2.8.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.2.8.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.2.8.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
2.2.8.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
2.3. Installing automation hub with a database on the same node Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install a standalone instance of automation hub with a database on the same node, or a non-installer managed database.
2.3.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
2.3.2. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation settings Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the following settings when installing automation hub:
-
automationhub_importer_settings: Dictionary of settings/configuration to pass togalaxy-importer. It will end up in/etc/galaxy-importer/galaxy-importer.cfg -
automationhub_require_content_approval: Whether or not automation hub enforces the approval mechanism before collections are made available -
automationhub_disable_https: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with TLS enabled -
automationhub_disable_hsts: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) web-security policy mechanism enabled -
automationhub_ssl_validate_certs: Whether or not automation hub should validate certificate when requesting itself (default = False) because by default, Platform deploys with self-signed certificates -
automationhub_ssl_cert: Same asweb_server_ssl_certbut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_ssl_key: Same asweb_server_ssl_keybut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_backup_collections: automation hub provides artifacts in/var/lib/pulp. By default, this is set totrueso automation controller automatically backs up the artifacts by default. If a partition (e.g., LVM, NFS, CephFS, etc.) was mounted there, an enterprise organization would ensure it is always backed up. If this is the case, you can setautomationhub_backup_collections = falseand the backup/restore process will not have to backup/restore/var/lib/pulp.
2.3.3. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
2.3.4. Example standalone automation hub inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file to deploy a standalone instance of automation hub.
-
For Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform or automation hub: Add an automation hub host in the
[automationhub]group. You cannot install automation controller and automation hub on the same node. -
Provide a reachable IP address or fully qualified domain name (FDQN) for the
[automationhub]host to ensure users can sync and install content from automation hub from a different node. Do not use 'localhost'. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
2.3.5. Additional inventory file variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can further configure your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation by including additional variables to the inventory file. These configurations add various optional features for managing your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Add these variables by editing the inventory file using a text editor.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
When set to |
|
Example
-
To enable the api access log, add the variable to the inventory and flag as
true:
2.3.6. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
2.3.7. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
2.3.8. Verifying automation hub installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation hub has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation hub node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation hub, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
2.3.8.1. Additional automation hub configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation hub configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Configure user access for automation hub | |
| Managing Red Hat Certified and Ansible Galaxy collections in automation hub | Add content to your automation hub |
| Publishing proprietary content collections in automation hub | Publish internally developed collections on your automation hub |
2.3.9. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
2.3.9.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
2.3.9.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.3.9.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.3.9.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
2.3.9.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
2.4. Installing automation hub with an external database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install a standalone instance of automation hub with an external managed database. This installs the automation hub server on a single machine and installs a remote PostgreSQL database using the Ansible Automation Platform installer.
2.4.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
2.4.2. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation settings Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the following settings when installing automation hub:
-
automationhub_importer_settings: Dictionary of settings/configuration to pass togalaxy-importer. It will end up in/etc/galaxy-importer/galaxy-importer.cfg -
automationhub_require_content_approval: Whether or not automation hub enforces the approval mechanism before collections are made available -
automationhub_disable_https: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with TLS enabled -
automationhub_disable_hsts: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) web-security policy mechanism enabled -
automationhub_ssl_validate_certs: Whether or not automation hub should validate certificate when requesting itself (default = False) because by default, Platform deploys with self-signed certificates -
automationhub_ssl_cert: Same asweb_server_ssl_certbut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_ssl_key: Same asweb_server_ssl_keybut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_backup_collections: automation hub provides artifacts in/var/lib/pulp. By default, this is set totrueso automation controller automatically backs up the artifacts by default. If a partition (e.g., LVM, NFS, CephFS, etc.) was mounted there, an enterprise organization would ensure it is always backed up. If this is the case, you can setautomationhub_backup_collections = falseand the backup/restore process will not have to backup/restore/var/lib/pulp.
2.4.3. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
2.4.4. Example standalone automation hub inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file to deploy a standalone instance of automation hub.
- For Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform or automation hub: Add an automation hub host in the `[automationhub] group. You cannot install automation controller and automation hub on the same node.
-
Provide a reachable IP address or fully qualified domain name (FDQN) for the
[automationhub]host to ensure users can sync and install content from automation hub from a different node. Do not use 'localhost'. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
2.4.5. Additional inventory file variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can further configure your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation by including additional variables to the inventory file. These configurations add various optional features for managing your Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Add these variables by editing the inventory file using a text editor.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
|
When set to |
|
Example
-
To enable the api access log, add the variable to the inventory and flag as
true:
2.4.6. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
2.4.7. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
2.4.8. Verifying automation controller installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation controller has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation controller node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
The automation controller server is accessible from port 80 (https://<TOWER_SERVER_NAME>/) but will redirect to port 443 so 443 needs to be available also.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation controller, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
2.4.8.1. Additional automation hub configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation hub configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Configure user access for automation hub | |
| Managing Red Hat Certified and Ansible Galaxy collections in automation hub | Add content to your automation hub |
| Publishing proprietary content collections in automation hub | Publish internally developed collections on your automation hub |
2.4.9. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
2.4.9.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
2.4.9.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.4.9.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
2.4.9.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
2.4.9.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
Chapter 3. Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation involves deploying automation controller and automation hub.
The Ansible Automation Platform installer allows you to deploy only one automation hub per inventory. You can use the Ansible Automation Platform installer for a standalone instance of automation hub and run the installer any number of times with any number of different inventories to deploy multiple automation hub nodes.
This installation option includes two supported scenarios:
3.1. Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with a database on the automation controller node or non-installer managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform (both automation controller and automation hub) with a database on the automation controller node, or a non-installer managed database.
3.1.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
3.1.2. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation settings Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the following settings when installing automation hub:
-
automationhub_importer_settings: Dictionary of settings/configuration to pass togalaxy-importer. It will end up in/etc/galaxy-importer/galaxy-importer.cfg -
automationhub_require_content_approval: Whether or not automation hub enforces the approval mechanism before collections are made available -
automationhub_disable_https: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with TLS enabled -
automationhub_disable_hsts: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) web-security policy mechanism enabled -
automationhub_ssl_validate_certs: Whether or not automation hub should validate certificate when requesting itself (default = False) because by default, Platform deploys with self-signed certificates -
automationhub_ssl_cert: Same asweb_server_ssl_certbut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_ssl_key: Same asweb_server_ssl_keybut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_backup_collections: automation hub provides artifacts in/var/lib/pulp. By default, this is set totrueso automation controller automatically backs up the artifacts by default. If a partition (e.g., LVM, NFS, CephFS, etc.) was mounted there, an enterprise organization would ensure it is always backed up. If this is the case, you can setautomationhub_backup_collections = falseand the backup/restore process will not have to backup/restore/var/lib/pulp.
3.1.3. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
3.1.4. Example inventory file for a database on the automation controller node or a non-installer managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file to install Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. This installation inventory file includes both automation controller and automation hub with a database on the automation controller node or non-installer managed database.
- You cannot install automation controller and automation hub on the same node.
-
Provide a reachable IP address for the
[automationhub]host to ensure users can sync content from Private Automation Hub from a different node. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
3.1.5. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
3.1.6. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
3.1.7. Verifying automation controller installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation controller has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation controller node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
The automation controller server is accessible from port 80 (https://<TOWER_SERVER_NAME>/) but will redirect to port 443 so 443 needs to be available also.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation controller, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
3.1.7.1. Additional automation controller configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation controller configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Set up automation controller and run your first playbook | |
| Configure automation controller administration through customer scripts, management jobs, etc. | |
| Configuring proxy support for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | Set up automation controller with a proxy server |
| Managing usability analytics and data collection from automation controller | Manage what automation controller information you share with Red Hat |
| Review automation controller functionality in more detail |
3.1.8. Verifying automation hub installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation hub has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation hub node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation hub, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
3.1.8.1. Additional automation hub configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation hub configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Configure user access for automation hub | |
| Managing Red Hat Certified and Ansible Galaxy collections in automation hub | Add content to your automation hub |
| Publishing proprietary content collections in automation hub | Publish internally developed collections on your automation hub |
3.1.9. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
3.1.9.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
3.1.9.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
3.1.9.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
3.1.9.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
3.1.9.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
3.2. Installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform (both automation controller and automation hub) with an external managed database.
3.2.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
3.2.2. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation settings Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the following settings when installing automation hub:
-
automationhub_importer_settings: Dictionary of settings/configuration to pass togalaxy-importer. It will end up in/etc/galaxy-importer/galaxy-importer.cfg -
automationhub_require_content_approval: Whether or not automation hub enforces the approval mechanism before collections are made available -
automationhub_disable_https: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with TLS enabled -
automationhub_disable_hsts: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) web-security policy mechanism enabled -
automationhub_ssl_validate_certs: Whether or not automation hub should validate certificate when requesting itself (default = False) because by default, Platform deploys with self-signed certificates -
automationhub_ssl_cert: Same asweb_server_ssl_certbut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_ssl_key: Same asweb_server_ssl_keybut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_backup_collections: automation hub provides artifacts in/var/lib/pulp. By default, this is set totrueso automation controller automatically backs up the artifacts by default. If a partition (e.g., LVM, NFS, CephFS, etc.) was mounted there, an enterprise organization would ensure it is always backed up. If this is the case, you can setautomationhub_backup_collections = falseand the backup/restore process will not have to backup/restore/var/lib/pulp.
3.2.3. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
3.2.4. Example Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform inventory file with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file to install Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. This installation inventory file includes both automation controller and automation hub with an external managed database.
- You cannot install automation controller and automation hub on the same node.
-
Provide a reachable IP address for the
[automationhub]host to ensure users can sync content from Private Automation Hub from a different node. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
3.2.5. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
3.2.6. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
3.2.7. Verifying automation controller installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation controller has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation controller node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
The automation controller server is accessible from port 80 (https://<TOWER_SERVER_NAME>/) but will redirect to port 443 so 443 needs to be available also.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation controller, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
3.2.7.1. Additional automation controller configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation controller configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Set up automation controller and run your first playbook | |
| Configure automation controller administration through customer scripts, management jobs, etc. | |
| Configuring proxy support for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | Set up automation controller with a proxy server |
| Managing usability analytics and data collection from automation controller | Manage what automation controller information you share with Red Hat |
| Review automation controller functionality in more detail |
3.2.8. Verifying automation hub installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation hub has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation hub node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation hub, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
3.2.8.1. Additional automation hub configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation hub configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Configure user access for automation hub | |
| Managing Red Hat Certified and Ansible Galaxy collections in automation hub | Add content to your automation hub |
| Publishing proprietary content collections in automation hub | Publish internally developed collections on your automation hub |
3.2.9. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
3.2.9.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
3.2.9.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
3.2.9.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
3.2.9.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
3.2.9.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
Chapter 4. Multi-machine cluster installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can install Ansible Automation Platform as clustered automation controller with automation hub with an external managed database. In this mode, multiple automation controller nodes are installed and active. Any node can receive HTTP requests and all nodes can execute jobs. This installs the Ansible Automation Platform server in a cluster and configures it to talk to a remote instance of PostgreSQL as its database. This remote PostgreSQL can be a server you manage, or can be provided by a cloud service such as Amazon RDS.
The Ansible Automation Platform installer allows you to deploy only one automation hub per inventory. You can use the Ansible Automation Platform installer for a standalone instance of automation hub and run the installer any number of times with any number of different inventories to deploy multiple automation hub nodes.
4.1. Installing a multi-node Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with an external managed database Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use these instructions to install Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform as multiple automation controller nodes and automation hub with an external managed database.
4.1.1. Prerequisites Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
- You chose and obtained a platform installer from the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Product Software.
- You are installing on a machine that meets base system requirements.
- You have created a Red Hat Registry Service Account, following the instructions in the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide.
4.1.2. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation settings Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the following settings when installing automation hub:
-
automationhub_importer_settings: Dictionary of settings/configuration to pass togalaxy-importer. It will end up in/etc/galaxy-importer/galaxy-importer.cfg -
automationhub_require_content_approval: Whether or not automation hub enforces the approval mechanism before collections are made available -
automationhub_disable_https: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with TLS enabled -
automationhub_disable_hsts: Whether or not automation hub should be deployed with the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) web-security policy mechanism enabled -
automationhub_ssl_validate_certs: Whether or not automation hub should validate certificate when requesting itself (default = False) because by default, Platform deploys with self-signed certificates -
automationhub_ssl_cert: Same asweb_server_ssl_certbut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_ssl_key: Same asweb_server_ssl_keybut for automation hub UI and API -
automationhub_backup_collections: automation hub provides artifacts in/var/lib/pulp. By default, this is set totrueso automation controller automatically backs up the artifacts by default. If a partition (e.g., LVM, NFS, CephFS, etc.) was mounted there, an enterprise organization would ensure it is always backed up. If this is the case, you can setautomationhub_backup_collections = falseand the backup/restore process will not have to backup/restore/var/lib/pulp.
4.1.3. Editing the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can use the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer inventory file to specify your installation scenario.
- Using external databases: ensure the database sections of your inventory file are properly setup.
-
Add automation hub information in the
[automationhub]group - automation hub and automation controller cannot be installed on the same node.
- automation controller will not configure replication or failover for the database that it uses. automation controller should work with any replication you have.
- The database server should be on the same network or in the same data center as the automation controller server for performance reasons.
-
A container registry service is required to install the Ansible Automation Platform. Access to a container registry enables you to load automation execution environments onto the Ansible Automation Platform, giving you a consistent and containerized environment for executing Ansible playbooks and roles. By default, the Ansible Automation Platform uses
registry.redhat.io, which requires a Red Hat registry service account. See the Creating Registry Service Accounts guide to create a registry service account. - For upgrading an existing cluster: When upgrading a cluster, you may decide that you want to also reconfigure your cluster to omit existing instances or instance groups. Omitting the instance or the instance group from the inventory file will not be enough to remove them from the cluster. In addition to omitting instances or instance groups from the inventory file, you must also deprovision instances or instance groups before starting the upgrade. Otherwise, omitted instances or instance groups will continue to communicate with the cluster, which can cause issues with tower services during the upgrade.
-
For clustered installations: If you are creating a clustered setup, you must replace
localhostwith the hostname or IP address of all instances. All nodes/instances must be able to reach any others using this hostname or address. In other words, you cannot use thelocalhost ansible_connection=localon one of the nodes AND all of the nodes should use the same format for the host names.
- Root access to remote machines is required. With Ansible, this can be achieved in different ways:
-
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_pass=”your_password_here”inventory host or group variables -
ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=”path_to_your_keyfile.pem”inventory host or group variables -
ANSIBLE_BECOME_METHOD=’sudo’ ANSIBLE_BECOME=True ./setup.sh
For more information on become plugins, see Understanding privilege escalation.
Procedure
Navigate to the installer
[bundled installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-bundle-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow [online installer]
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>
$ cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-<latest-version>Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
Open the
inventoryfile with a text editor. -
Edit
inventoryfile parameters to specify your installation scenario. Follow the example below.
4.1.4. Example Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform multi-node inventory file Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This example describes how you can populate the inventory file for a multi-node cluster installation of automation controller.
- You cannot install automation controller and automation hub on the same node.
-
Provide a reachable IP address for the
[automationhub]host to ensure users can sync content from Private Automation Hub from a different node. -
Do not use special characters for
pg_password. It may cause the setup to fail. -
Enter your Red Hat Registry Service Account credentials in
registry_usernameandregistry_passwordto link to the Red Hat container registry.
- 1
- Field should be empty.
4.1.5. Setup script flags and extra variables Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can also pass flags and extra variables when running the setup script to install automation controller:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
|
| Show this help message and exit |
|
|
Path to Ansible inventory file (default: |
|
| Set additional Ansible variables as key=value or YAML/JSON |
|
| Perform a database backup in lieu of installing |
|
| Perform a database restore in lieu of installing |
|
| Generate and dsitribute a SECRET_KEY |
Use the -- separator to add any Ansible arguments you wish to apply. For example: ./setup.sh -i my_awesome_inventory.yml -e matburt_is_country_gold=True — -K.
When passing
-rto perform a database restore default restore path is used unless EXTRA_VARS are provided with a non-default path. See the example below that passed an EXTRA_VAR specifying the restore path:./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -rCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow You can force an online installation by passing
-e bundle_install=false:./setup.sh -e bundle_install=false
$ ./setup.sh -e bundle_install=falseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
|
| When installing automation controller make sure Ansible is also up to date |
|
|
| When installing Tower also create the Demo Org, project, credential, Job Template, etc. |
|
|
| When installing from a bundle where to put the bundled repos |
|
|
| Disable HTTPS traffic through nginx, this is useful if offloading HTTPS to a load balancer |
|
|
| Disable HSTS web-security policy mechanism |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTP |
|
|
| Port to configure nginx to listen to for HTTPS |
|
|
| A temp location to use when backing up |
|
|
| Specify an alternative backup file to restore from | None |
|
| The minimum RAM required to install Tower (should only be changed for test installation) |
|
|
| The minimum open file descriptions (should only be changed for test installations) | None |
|
|
Ignore preflight checks, useful when installing into a template or other non-system image (overrides |
|
Examples
- To upgrade core:
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
./setup.sh -e upgrade_ansible_with_tower=1
- To disable https handling at nginx:
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
./setup.sh -e nginx_disable_https=true
- To specify a non-default path when restoring from a backup file:
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
./setup.sh -e 'restore_backup_file=/path/to/nondefault/location' -r
4.1.6. Running the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installer setup script Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can run the setup script once you finish updating the inventory file with required parameters for installing your Private Automation Hub.
Procedure
Run the
setup.shscript./setup.sh
$ ./setup.shCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
The installation will begin.
4.1.7. Verifying automation controller installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation controller has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation controller node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
The automation controller server is accessible from port 80 (https://<TOWER_SERVER_NAME>/) but will redirect to port 443 so 443 needs to be available also.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation controller, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
4.1.7.1. Additional automation controller configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation controller configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Set up automation controller and run your first playbook | |
| Configure automation controller administration through customer scripts, management jobs, etc. | |
| Configuring proxy support for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | Set up automation controller with a proxy server |
| Managing usability analytics and data collection from automation controller | Manage what automation controller information you share with Red Hat |
| Review automation controller functionality in more detail |
4.1.8. Verifying automation hub installation Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Once the installation completes, you can verify your automation hub has been installed successfully by logging in with the admin credentials you inserted into the inventory file.
Procedure
-
Navigate to the IP address specified for the automation hub node in the
inventoryfile. -
Log in with the Admin credentials you set in the
inventoryfile.
If the installation fails and you are a customer who has purchased a valid license for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, please contact Ansible via the Red Hat Customer portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
Upon a successful login to automation hub, your installation of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 is now complete.
4.1.8.1. Additional automation hub configuration and resources Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
See the following resources to explore additional automation hub configurations.
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Configure user access for automation hub | |
| Managing Red Hat Certified and Ansible Galaxy collections in automation hub | Add content to your automation hub |
| Publishing proprietary content collections in automation hub | Publish internally developed collections on your automation hub |
4.1.9. What’s next with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Whether you are a new Ansible Automation Platform user looking to start automating, or an existing administrator looking to migrate old Ansible content to your latest installed version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, explore the next steps to begin leveraging the new features of Ansible Automation Platform 2.1:
4.1.9.1. Migrating data to Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
For platform administrators looking to complete an upgrade to the Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, there may be additional steps needed to migrate data to a new instance:
4.1.9.1.1. Migrating from legacy virtual environments (venvs) to automation execution environments Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 moves you away from custom Python virtual environments (venvs) in favor of automation execution environments - containerized images that package the necessary components needed to execute and scale your Ansible automation. This includes Ansible Core, Ansible Content Collections, Python dependencies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux UBI 8, and any additional package dependencies.
If you are looking to migrate your venvs to execution environments, you will (1) need to use the awx-manage command to list and export a list of venvs from your original instance, then (2) use ansible-builder to create execution environments. For more information, see the Upgrading to Automation Execution Environments guide and the Ansible Builder Guide.
4.1.9.1.2. Migrating to Ansible Engine 2.9 images using Ansible Builder Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To migrate Ansible Engine 2.9 images for use with Ansible Automation Platform 2.1, the ansible-builder tool automates the process of rebuilding images (including its custom plugins and dependencies) for use with automation execution environments. For more information on using Ansible Builder to build execution environments, see the Ansible Builder Guide.
4.1.9.1.3. Migrating to Ansible Core 2.12 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When upgrading to Ansible Core 2.12, you will need to update your playbooks, plugins, or other parts of your Ansible infrastructure in order to be supported by the latest version of Ansible Core. For instructions on updating your Ansible content to be Ansible Core 2.12 compatible, see the Ansible-core 2.12 Porting Guide.
4.1.9.2. Scale up your automation using automation mesh Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
The automation mesh component of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform simplifies the process of distributing automation across multi-site deployments. For enterprises with multiple isolated IT environments, automation mesh provides a consistent and reliable way to deploy and scale up automation across your execution nodes using a peer-to-peer mesh communication network.
When upgrading from version 1.x to the latest version of the Ansible Automation Platform, you will need to migrate the data from your legacy isolated nodes into execution nodes necessary for automation mesh. You can implement automation mesh by planning out a network of hybrid and control nodes, then editing the inventory file found in the Ansible Automation Platform installer to assign mesh-related values to each of your execution nodes.
For instructions on how to migrate from isolated nodes to execution nodes, see the upgrade & migration guide.
For information about automation mesh and the various ways to design your automation mesh for your environment, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform automation mesh guide.
Chapter 5. Configuring proxy support for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can configure Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to communicate with traffic using a proxy. Proxy servers act as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service or available resource from a different server, and the proxy server evaluates the request as a way to simplify and control its complexity. The following sections describe the supported proxy configurations and how to set them up.
5.1. Enable proxy support Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To provide proxy server support, automation controller handles proxied requests (such as ALB, NLB , HAProxy, Squid, Nginx and tinyproxy in front of automation controller) via the REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS list variable in the automation controller settings. By default, REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS is set to ["REMOTE_ADDR", "REMOTE_HOST"].
To enable proxy server support, edit the REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS field in the settings page for your automation controller:
Procedure
- On your automation controller, navigate to → .
In the REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS field, enter the following values:
[ "HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR", "REMOTE_ADDR", "REMOTE_HOST" ]
[ "HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR", "REMOTE_ADDR", "REMOTE_HOST" ]Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
Automation controller determines the remote host’s IP address by searching through the list of headers in REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS until the first IP address is located.
5.2. Known proxies Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
When automation controller is configured with REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS = ['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', 'REMOTE_ADDR', 'REMOTE_HOST'], it assumes that the value of X-Forwarded-For has originated from the proxy/load balancer sitting in front of automation controller. If automation controller is reachable without use of the proxy/load balancer, or if the proxy does not validate the header, the value of X-Forwarded-For can be falsified to fake the originating IP addresses. Using HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR in the REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS setting poses a vulnerability.
To avoid this, you can configure a list of known proxies that are allowed using the PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LIST field in the settings menu on your automation controller. Load balancers and hosts that are not on the known proxies list will result in a rejected request.
5.2.1. Configuring known proxies Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
To configure a list of known proxies for your automation controller, add the proxy IP addresses to the PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LIST field in the settings page for your automation controller.
Procedure
- On your automation controller, navigate to → .
In the PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LIST field, enter IP addresses that are allowed to connect to your automation controller, following the syntax in the example below:
Example PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LIST entry
[ "example1.proxy.com:8080", "example2.proxy.com:8080" ]
[ "example1.proxy.com:8080", "example2.proxy.com:8080" ]Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
-
PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LISTrequires proxies in the list are properly sanitizing header input and correctly setting anX-Forwarded-Forvalue equal to the real source IP of the client. Automation controller can rely on the IP addresses and hostnames inPROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LISTto provide non-spoofed values for theX-Forwarded-Forfield. Do not configure
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FORas an item in `REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS`unless all of the following conditions are satisfied:- You are using a proxied environment with ssl termination;
-
The proxy provides sanitization or validation of the
X-Forwarded-Forheader to prevent client spoofing; -
/etc/tower/conf.d/remote_host_headers.pydefinesPROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LISTthat contains only the originating IP addresses of trusted proxies or load balancers.
5.3. Configuring a reverse proxy Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can support a reverse proxy server configuration by adding HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR to the REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS field in your automation controller settings. The X-Forwarded-For (XFF) HTTP header field identifies the originating IP address of a client connecting to a web server through an HTTP proxy or load balancer.
Procedure
- On your automation controller, navigate to → .
In the REMOTE_HOST_HEADERS field, enter the following values:
[ "HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR", "REMOTE_ADDR", "REMOTE_HOST" ]
[ "HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR", "REMOTE_ADDR", "REMOTE_HOST" ]Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
Chapter 6. Configuring automation controller websocket connections Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can configure automation controller in order to align the websocket configuration with your nginx or load balancer configuration.
6.1. Websocket configuration for automation controller Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Automation controller nodes connect to all other automation controller nodes via websockets. This interconnect is used to distribute all websocket emitted messages to all other automation controller nodes. This is required because any browser client websocket can subscribe to any job that may be running on any automation controller node. Websocket clients are not routed to specific automation controller nodes. Any automation controller node can handle any websocket request and each automation controller node must know about all websocket messages destined for all clients.
Automation controller will automatically handle discovery of other automation controller nodes via the Instance record in the database.
- It is intended that your nodes are broadcasting websocket traffic across a private, trusted subnet (and not the open Internet). Therefore, if you turn off HTTPS for websocket broadcasting, the websocket traffic, comprised mostly of Ansible playbook stdout, is sent between automation controller nodes unencrypted.
6.1.1. Configuring automatic discovery of other automation controller nodes Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can configure websocket connections to enable automation controller to automatically handle discovery of other automation controller nodes through the Instance record in the database.
Edit automation controller websocket information for port, protocol, and whether or not to verify certificates when establishing the websocket connections.
BROADCAST_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL = 'http' BROADCAST_WEBSOCKET_PORT = 80 BROADCAST_WEBSOCKET_VERIFY_CERT = False
BROADCAST_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL = 'http' BROADCAST_WEBSOCKET_PORT = 80 BROADCAST_WEBSOCKET_VERIFY_CERT = FalseCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
Chapter 7. Managing usability analytics and data collection from automation controller Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can change how you participate in usability analytics and data collection from automation controller by opting out or changing your settings in the automation controller user interface.
7.1. Usability analytics and data collection Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Usability data collection is included with automation controller to collect data to better understand how automation controller users specifically interact with automation controller, to help enhance future releases, and to continue streamlining your user experience.
Only users installing a trial of automation controller or a fresh installation of automation controller are opted-in for this data collection.
7.1.1. Controlling data collection from automation controller Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can control how automation controller collects data by setting your participation level in the User Interface tab in the settings menu.
Procedure
- Log in to your automation controller
- Navgate to Settings → User Interface
Select the desired level of data collection from the User Analytics Tracking State drop-down list:
- Off: Prevents any data collection.
- Anonymous: Enables data collection without your specific user data.
- Detailed: Enables data collection including your specific user data.
- Click Save to apply the settings or Cancel to abandon the changes.
Chapter 8. Supported inventory plugins templates Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
On upgrade, existing configurations will be migrated to the new format that will produce a backwards compatible inventory output. Use the templates below to help aid in migrating your inventories to the new style inventory plugin output.
8.1. Amazon Web Services EC2 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
8.2. Google Compute Engine Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
8.3. Microsoft Azure Resource Manager Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
8.4. VMware vCenter Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
8.5. Red Hat Satellite 6 Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
8.6. OpenStack Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
expand_hostvars: true fail_on_errors: true inventory_hostname: uuid plugin: openstack.cloud.openstack
expand_hostvars: true
fail_on_errors: true
inventory_hostname: uuid
plugin: openstack.cloud.openstack
8.7. Red Hat Virtualization Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
8.8. Automation controller Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
include_metadata: true inventory_id: <inventory_id or url_quoted_named_url> plugin: awx.awx.tower validate_certs: <true or false>
include_metadata: true
inventory_id: <inventory_id or url_quoted_named_url>
plugin: awx.awx.tower
validate_certs: <true or false>
Chapter 9. Supported attributes for custom notifications Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
This section describes the list of supported job attributes and the proper syntax for constructing the message text for notifications. The supported job attributes are:
-
allow_simultaneous- (boolean) indicates if multiple jobs can run simultaneously from the JT associated with this job -
controller_node- (string) the instance that managed the isolated execution environment -
created- (datetime) timestamp when this job was created -
custom_virtualenv- (string) custom virtual environment used to execute job -
description- (string) optional description of the job -
diff_mode- (boolean) if enabled, textual changes made to any templated files on the host are shown in the standard output -
elapsed- (decimal) elapsed time in seconds that the job ran -
execution_node- (string) node the job executed on -
failed- (boolean) true if job failed -
finished- (datetime) date and time the job finished execution -
force_handlers- (boolean) when handlers are forced, they will run when notified even if a task fails on that host (note that some conditions - e.g. unreachable hosts - can still prevent handlers from running) -
forks- (int) number of forks requested for job -
id- (int) database id for this job -
job_explanation- (string) status field to indicate the state of the job if it wasn’t able to run and capture stdout -
job_slice_count- (integer) if run as part of a sliced job, the total number of slices (if 1, job is not part of a sliced job) -
job_slice_number- (integer) if run as part of a sliced job, the ID of the inventory slice operated on (if not part of a sliced job, attribute is not used) -
job_tags- (string) only tasks with specified tags will execute -
job_type- (choice) run, check, or scan -
launch_type- (choice) manual, relaunch, callback, scheduled, dependency, workflow, sync, or scm -
limit- (string) playbook execution limited to this set of hosts, if specified -
modified- (datetime) timestamp when this job was last modified -
name- (string) name of this job -
playbook- (string) playbook executed -
scm_revision- (string) scm revision from the project used for this job, if available -
skip_tags- (string) playbook execution skips over this set of tag(s), if specified -
start_at_task- (string) playbook execution begins at the task matching this name, if specified -
started- (datetime) date and time the job was queued for starting -
status- (choice) new, pending, waiting, running, successful, failed, error, canceled -
timeout- (int) amount of time (in seconds) to run before the task is canceled -
type- (choice) data type for this job -
url- (string) URL for this job -
use_fact_cache- (boolean) if enabled for job, Tower acts as an Ansible Fact Cache Plugin, persisting facts at the end of a playbook run to the database and caching facts for use by Ansible -
verbosity- (choice) 0 through 5 (corresponding to Normal through WinRM Debug) host_status_counts(count of hosts uniquely assigned to each status)-
skipped(integer) -
ok(integer) -
changed(integer) -
failures(integer) -
dark(integer) -
processed(integer) -
rescued(integer) -
ignored(integer) -
failed(boolean)
-
summary_fields:inventory-
id- (integer) database ID for inventory -
name- (string) name of the inventory -
description- (string) optional description of the inventory -
has_active_failures- (boolean) (deprecated) flag indicating whether any hosts in this inventory have failed -
total_hosts- (deprecated) (int) total number of hosts in this inventory. -
hosts_with_active_failures- (deprecated) (int) number of hosts in this inventory with active failures -
total_groups- (deprecated) (int) total number of groups in this inventory -
groups_with_active_failures- (deprecated) (int) number of hosts in this inventory with active failures -
has_inventory_sources- (deprecated) (boolean) flag indicating whether this inventory has external inventory sources -
total_inventory_sources- (int) total number of external inventory sources configured within this inventory -
inventory_sources_with_failures- (int) number of external inventory sources in this inventory with failures -
organization_id- (id) organization containing this inventory -
kind- (choice) (empty string) (indicating hosts have direct link with inventory) or ‘smart’
-
project-
id- (int) database ID for project -
name- (string) name of the project -
description- (string) optional description of the project -
status- (choices) one of new, pending, waiting, running, successful, failed, error, canceled, never updated, ok, or missing -
scm_type(choice) - one of (empty string), git, hg, svn, insights
-
job_template-
id- (int) database ID for job template -
name- (string) name of job template -
description- (string) optional description for the job template
-
unified_job_template-
id- (int) database ID for unified job template -
name- (string) name of unified job template -
description- (string) optional description for the unified job template -
unified_job_type- (choice) unified job type (job, workflow_job, project_update, etc.)
-
instance_group-
id- (int) database ID for instance group -
name- (string) name of instance group
-
created_by-
id- (int) database ID of user that launched the operation -
username- (string) username that launched the operation -
first_name- (string) first name -
last_name- (string) last name
-
labels-
count- (int) number of labels -
results- list of dictionaries representing labels (e.g. {“id”: 5, “name”: “database jobs”})
-
Information about a job can be referenced in a custom notification message using grouped curly braces {{ }}. Specific job attributes are accessed using dotted notation, for example {{ job.summary_fields.inventory.name }}. Any characters used in front or around the braces, or plain text, can be added for clarification, such as ‘#’ for job ID and single-quotes to denote some descriptor. Custom messages can include a number of variables throughout the message:
{{ job_friendly_name }} {{ job.id }} ran on {{ job.execution_node }} in {{ job.elapsed }} seconds.
{{ job_friendly_name }} {{ job.id }} ran on {{ job.execution_node }} in {{ job.elapsed }} seconds.
In addition to the job attributes, there are some other variables that can be added to the template:
approval_node_name - (string) the approval node name
approval_status - (choice) one of approved, denied, and timed_out
url - (string) URL of the job for which the notification is emitted (this applies to start, success, fail, and approval notifications)
workflow_url - (string) URL to the relevant approval node. This allows the notification recipient to go to the relevant workflow job page to see what’s going on (i.e., This node can be viewed at: {{ workflow_url }}). In cases of approval-related notifications, both url and workflow_url are the same.
job_friendly_name - (string) the friendly name of the job
job_metadata - (string) job metadata as a JSON string, for example: