Chapter 7. Maintaining containerized Ansible Automation Platform

Procedure

1. Log in to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host as your dedicated non-root user.
2. Follow the steps in Downloading Ansible Automation Platform to download the latest version of containerized Ansible Automation Platform.
3. Copy the downloaded installation program to your Red Hat Enterprise Linux Host.
4. Edit the inventory file to match your required configuration. You can keep the same parameters from your existing Ansible Automation Platform deployment or you can change the parameters to match any modifications to your environment.

5. Run the install playbook:

   $ ansible-playbook -i inventory ansible.containerized_installer.install

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   • If your privilege escalation requires a password to be entered, append -K to the command. You will then be prompted for the BECOME password.
   • You can use increasing verbosity, up to 4 v’s (-vvvv) to see the details of the installation process. However it is important to note that this can significantly increase installation time, so it is recommended that you use it only as needed or requested by Red Hat support.

Procedure

1. Go to the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform installation directory on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux host.

2. To control compression of the backup artifacts before they are sent to the host running the backup operation, you can use the following variables in your inventory file:

   1. For control of compression for filesystem related backup files:

      # Global control of compression for filesystem backup files
      use_archive_compression=true
      
      # Component-level control of compression for filesystem backup files
      #controller_use_archive_compression=true
      #eda_use_archive_compression=true
      #gateway_use_archive_compression=true
      #hub_use_archive_compression=true
      #pcp_use_archive_compression=true
      #postgresql_use_archive_compression=true
      #receptor_use_archive_compression=true
      #redis_use_archive_compression=true

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   2. For control of compression for database related backup files:

      # Global control of compression for database backup files
      use_db_compression=true
      
      # Component-level control of compression for database backup files
      #controller_use_db_compression=true
      #eda_use_db_compression=true
      #hub_use_db_compression=true
      #gateway_use_db_compression=true

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3. Run the backup playbook:

   $ ansible-playbook -i <path_to_inventory> ansible.containerized_installer.backup

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   The backup process creates archives of the following data:

   • PostgreSQL databases
   • Configuration files
   • Data files

Procedure

1. Go to the installation directory on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux host.

2. Perform the relevant restoration steps:

   • If you are restoring to the same environment with the same hostnames, run the restore playbook:

     $ ansible-playbook -i <path_to_inventory> ansible.containerized_installer.restore

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     This restores the important data deployed by the containerized installer such as:

     • PostgreSQL databases
     • Configuration files

     • Data files

       By default, the backup directory is set to ./backups. You can change this by using the backup_dir variable in your inventory file.

   • If you are restoring to a different environment with different hostnames, perform the following additional steps before running the restore playbook:

     Important

     Restoring to a different environment with different hostnames is not recommended and is intended only as a workaround.

     1. For each component, identify the backup file from the source environment that contains the PostgreSQL dump file.

        For example:

        $ cd ansible-automation-platform-containerized-setup-<version_number>/backups

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        $ tar tvf gateway_env1-gateway-node1.tar.gz | grep db
        
        -rw-r--r-- ansible/ansible 4850774 2025-06-30 11:05 aap/backups/awx.db

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     2. Copy the backup files from the source environment to the target environment.

     3. Rename the backup files on the target environment to reflect the new node names.

        For example:

        $ cd ansible-automation-platform-containerized-setup-<version_number>/backups

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        $ mv gateway_env1-gateway-node1.tar.gz gateway_env2-gateway-node1.tar.gz

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     4. For enterprise topologies, ensure that the component backup file containing the component.db file is listed first in its group within the inventory file.

        For example:

        $ cd ansible-automation-platform-containerized-setup-<version_number>

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        $ ls backups/gateway*
        
        gateway_env2-gateway-node1.tar.gz
        gateway_env2-gateway-node2.tar.gz

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        $ tar tvf backups/gateway_env2-gateway-node1.tar.gz | grep db
        
        -rw-r--r-- ansible/ansible 416687 2025-06-30 11:05 aap/backups/gateway.db

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        $ tar tvf backups/gateway_env2-gateway-node2.tar.gz | grep db

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        $ vi inventory
        
        [automationgateway]
        env2-gateway-node1
        env2-gateway-node2

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Procedure

1. If you intend to reinstall Ansible Automation Platform and want to use the preserved databases, you must collect the existing secret keys:

   1. First, list the available secrets:

      $ podman secret list

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   2. Next, collect the secret keys by running the following command:

      $ podman secret inspect --showsecret <secret_key_variable> | jq -r .[].SecretData

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      For example:

      $ podman secret inspect --showsecret controller_secret_key | jq -r .[].SecretData

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2. Run the uninstall playbook:

   $ ansible-playbook -i inventory ansible.containerized_installer.uninstall

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   • This stops all systemd units and containers and then deletes all resources used by the containerized installer such as:

     • configuration and data directories and files
     • systemd unit files
     • Podman containers and images
     • RPM packages

   • To keep container images, set the container_keep_images parameter to true.

     $ ansible-playbook -i inventory ansible.containerized_installer.uninstall -e container_keep_images=true

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   • To keep PostgreSQL databases, set the postgresql_keep_databases parameter to true.

     $ ansible-playbook -i inventory ansible.containerized_installer.uninstall -e postgresql_keep_databases=true

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