Chapter 2. New features and enhancements

Starting with Ansible Automation Platform 2.5, three different on-premise deployment models are fully tested. In addition to the existing RPM-based installer and operator, support for the containerized installer is being added.

As the platform moves toward a container-first model, the RPM-based installer will be removed in a future release, and a deprecation warning is being issued with the release of Ansible Automation Platform 2.5. While the RPM installer will still be supported for Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 until it is removed, the investment will focus on the container-based installation for RHEL deployments and the operator-based installation for OpenShift deployments. Upgrades from 2.4 containerized Ansible Automation Platform Technology Preview to 2.5 containerized Ansible Automation Platform are unsupported at this time.

Red Hat tests Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 with a defined set of topologies to provide you with opinionated deployment options. While it is possible to install the Ansible Automation Platform on different infrastructure topologies and with different environment configurations, Red Hat guarantees support for the topologies outlined in the following table.

At the time of the Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 GA release, a limited set of topologies are fully tested. Red Hat will regularly add new topologies to iteratively expand the scope of fully tested deployment options. As new topologies roll out, we will include them in the release notes.

The following table shows the tested topologies for Ansible Automation Platform 2.5:

For more information, see Tested deployment models.

In versions before 2.5, the Ansible Automation Platform was split into three primary services: automation controller, automation hub, and Event-Driven Ansible controller. Each service included standalone user interfaces, separate deployment configurations, and separate authentication schemas.

In Ansible Automation Platform 2.5, the platform gateway is provided as a service that handles authentication and authorization for the Ansible Automation Platform. With the platform gateway, all services that make up the Ansible Automation Platform are consolidated into a single unified UI. The unified UI provides a single entry into the Ansible Automation Platform and serves the platform user interface to authenticate and access all of the Ansible Automation Platform services from a single location.

With Ansible Automation Platform 2.5, Event-Driven Ansible functionality has been enhanced with the following features:

You can use a newly installed version of Event-Driven Ansible from Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 with some existing versions of the automation controller. A hybrid configuration is supported with the following versions:

You can only use new installations of Event-Driven Ansible in this configuration. RPM-based hybrid deployments are fully supported by Red Hat. For details on setting up this configuration, see the chapter Installing Event-Driven Ansible controller 1.1 and configuring automation controller 4.4 or 4.5 in the Using Event-Driven Ansible 2.5 with Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 guide.

A hybrid configuration means you can install a new Event-Driven Ansible service and configure rulebook activations to execute job templates on a 2.4 version of the automation controller.

Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed with IBM watsonx Code Assistant is a generative AI service that helps automation teams create, adopt, and maintain Ansible content more efficiently; it is now available as an on-premise deployment on the Ansible Automation Platform 2.5.

The on-premise deployment provides the Ansible Automation Platform customers more control over their data and supports compliance with enterprise security policies. For example, organizations in sensitive industries with data privacy or air-gapped requirements can use on-premise deployments of both Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed and IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed on Cloud Pak for Data. Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed on-premise deployments are supported on Ansible Automation Platform 2.5. For more information, see the chapter Setting up Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed on-premise deployment in the Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed with IBM watsonx Code Assistant User Guide.

The Ansible plug-ins for Red Hat Developer Hub deliver an Ansible-first Red Hat Developer Hub user experience that simplifies creating Ansible content, such as playbooks and collections, for Ansible users of all skill levels. The Ansible plug-ins provide curated content and features to accelerate Ansible learner onboarding and streamline Ansible use case adoption across your organization.

The Ansible plug-ins provide the following capabilities:

For more information, see the Ansible plug-ins for Red Hat Developer Hub documentation.

Ansible development tools is a suite of tools provided with the Ansible Automation Platform to help automation creators create, test, and deploy playbook projects, execution environments, and collections on Linux, MacOS, and Windows platforms. Consolidating core Ansible tools into a single package simplifies tool management and promotes recommended practices in the automation content creation experience.

Ansible development tools are distributed in an RPM package for RHEL systems, and in a supported container distribution that can be used on Linux, Mac, and Windows OS.

Ansible development tools comprise the following tools:

For more information, see Developing Ansible automation content.