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Chapter 5. Automating Satellite management with Satellite Ansible Collection

Satellite Ansible Collection is a set of Ansible modules that interact with the Satellite API. You can use these modules to automate many aspects of Satellite administration.

5.1. Installing the Satellite Ansible modules
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Modules from the Satellite Ansible Collection are provided by the ansible-collection-redhat-satellite package. On your Satellite Server, the package is installed by default. If you want to execute your playbooks on a different system, you must first install the package that provides them.

Note

You can execute your playbooks on any system that can reach the Satellite API. This can also be your Satellite Server itself.

Procedure

  • Install the ansible-collection-redhat-satellite package: 

    # dnf install ansible-collection-redhat-satellite
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Verification

  • Display the list of Ansible modules that are now available on your system: 

    # ansible-doc --list redhat.satellite
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Next steps

  • You can now use the installed Ansible modules to execute playbooks.

Ansible modules from the Satellite Ansible Collection must be able to communicate with the Satellite API over HTTPS. In your playbooks, include parameters specifying how to authenticate to enable the connection to API.

Important

Do not store sensitive credentials, such as username and password, directly in your playbooks or environment variables. The following examples use Ansible vault to manage sensitive data.

Prerequisites

  • A user account in Satellite exists with permissions to perform the action defined in your playbook.

  • You have access to one of the following types of authentication credentials for that user:

    • Username and password
    • Username and Personal Access Token

  • A system that you will execute your playbook against. The following examples use localhost.

    This system must be able to reach the Satellite API. You can choose from these options:

    • A system that can reach the Satellite API directly. You can use your Satellite Server, your Capsule Servers, or any other system in your environment.
    • A system without a direct connection to the Satellite API that uses an HTTP proxy to connect to Satellite.

Procedure

  1. Store your sensitive variables in an encrypted file:

    1. Create an Ansible vault. For example, to create a vault named My_Vault.yml: 

      $ ansible-vault create My_Vault.yml
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    2. After the ansible-vault create command opens an editor, provide the required parameters in the key: value format.

      If you want to authenticate with Satellite username and password: 

      My_Username: My_Admin_User_Account
My_Password: My_Admin_Password
My_Server_URL: https://satellite.example.com
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      If you want to authenticate with Satellite username and Personal Access Token (PAT): 

      My_Username: My_Admin_User_Account
My_Password: My_PAT
My_Server_URL: https://satellite.example.com
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    3. If you use an HTTP proxy to reach the Satellite API, store it in the vault too: 

      My_HTTP_Proxy: "http://proxy.example.com:8080"
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    4. Save your changes and close the editor. Ansible encrypts the data in the vault.

  2. Create a playbook file that references the vault file:

    Note

    The following YAML snippets include the module_defaults keyword to pass vault variables as parameters to all modules from the redhat.satellite.satellite group that are used in the playbook. Module defaults groups simplify parameter management by enabling you to define common parameters to groups of modules rather than having to pass the parameters to each module individually.

    1. Provide details on how to authenticate to the Satellite API.

      If you are authenticating with Satellite username and password or PAT, map the username, password, and server_url parameters to the contents of My_Vault.yml: 

      - name: My Playbook
  hosts: localhost
  vars_files:
    - My_Vault.yml
  module_defaults:
    group/redhat.satellite.satellite:
      username: "{{ My_Username }}"
      password: "{{ My_Password }}"
      server_url: "{{ My_Server_URL }}"
  tasks:
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    2. If you need to use an HTTP proxy to reach the Satellite API, set the https_proxy environment variable: 

      - name: My Playbook
  hosts: localhost
  vars_files:
    - My_Vault.yml
  environment:
    https_proxy: "{{ My_HTTP_Proxy }}"
  module_defaults:
    group/redhat.satellite.satellite:
      username: "{{ My_Username }}"
      password: "{{ My_Password }}"
      server_url: "{{ My_Server_URL }}"
  tasks:
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    3. In the tasks: section, define the tasks that you want your playbook to perform.

  3. Validate the playbook syntax: 

    $ ansible-playbook --syntax-check --ask-vault-pass My_Playbook.yml
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    Note that this command only validates the syntax. It does not protect against a valid but incorrect configuration.

  4. Run the playbook: 

    $ ansible-playbook --ask-vault-pass My_Playbook.yml
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Example 5.1. Example Ansible playbook: Ensure that domain new.example.com exists in Satellite

The redhat.satellite.domain module can create, update, and delete domains. This example playbook uses redhat.satellite.domain to ensure that a domain named new.example.com exists and is managed by Satellite. For additional examples, see Section 5.3, “Example playbooks based on modules from Satellite Ansible Collection”. 

- name: Domain management
  hosts: localhost
  vars_files:
    - My_Vault.yml
  module_defaults:
    group/redhat.satellite.satellite:
      username: "{{ My_Username }}"
      password: "{{ My_Password }}"
      server_url: "{{ My_Server_URL }}"
  tasks:
    - name: Ensure domain new.example.com exists
      redhat.satellite.domain:
        name: new.example.com
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The settings specified in the example playbook include the following:

vars_files
The name of the vault file that stores the variables My_Username, My_Password, and My_Server_URL.
module_defaults
The module defaults group that maps the variables from the vault file to the username, password, and server_url module parameters.
name
The name of the domain that you want to ensure exists in Satellite.

For more information, see the Ansible module documentation with ansible-doc redhat.satellite.domain.

Additional resources

All playbooks based on modules from Satellite Ansible Collection must include parameters detailing how to connect to the Satellite API. The following examples use Ansible vault and module defaults group to provide these parameters, and they authenticate using a username and password. For more information, see Section 5.2, “Creating a playbook with modules from Satellite Ansible Collection”.

Example 5.2. Example Ansible playbook: Enable repositories and create a content view

This example playbook uses the following modules:

  • redhat.satellite.repository_set
  • redhat.satellite.content_view

The playbook ensures repositories are enabled and a content view that contains these repositories exists.

Before you run this playbook, ensure that you have uploaded a manifest and can access the Red Hat CDN. 

- name: Ensure RHEL 9 repositories are enabled and a content view exists
  hosts: localhost
  vars_files:
    - My_Vault.yml
  module_defaults:
    group/redhat.satellite.satellite:
      username: "{{ My_Username }}"
      password: "{{ My_Password }}"
      server_url: "{{ My_Server_URL }}"
  tasks:
    - name: Ensure RHEL 9 BaseOS repositories are enabled
      redhat.satellite.repository_set:
        name: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - BaseOS (RPMs)"
        organization: "Default Organization"
        product: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64"
        repositories:
        - releasever: "9"
        state: enabled
    - name: Ensure RHEL 9 AppStream repositories are enabled
      redhat.satellite.repository_set:
        name: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - AppStream (RPMs)"
        organization: "Default Organization"
        product: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64"
        repositories:
        - releasever: "9"
        state: enabled
    - name: Ensure a content view for RHEL 9 repositories exists
      redhat.satellite.content_view:
        name: "RHEL 9 content view"
        organization: "Default Organization"
        repositories:
          - name: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - BaseOS RPMs 9"
            product: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64"
          - name: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 for x86_64 - AppStream RPMs 9"
            product: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64"
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For more information, see the Ansible module documentation with the following commands:

  • ansible-doc redhat.satellite.repository_sync
  • ansible-doc redhat.satellite.content_view

Example 5.3. Example Ansible playbook: Synchronize repositories and publish a content view

This example playbook uses the following modules:

  • redhat.satellite.repository_sync
  • redhat.satellite.content_view_version

The playbook synchronizes repositories and publishes the content view that includes them.

Before you run this playbook, ensure that you have enabled the required repositories and created a content view. For an example playbook that ensures this, see Example 5.2, “Example Ansible playbook: Enable repositories and create a content view”. 

- name: Ensure RHEL 9 repositories are synced and content view is published
  hosts: localhost
  vars_files:
    - My_Vault.yml
  module_defaults:
    group/redhat.satellite.satellite:
      username: "{{ My_Username }}"
      password: "{{ My_Password }}"
      server_url: "{{ My_Server_URL }}"
  tasks:
    - name: Sync RHEL repositories
      redhat.satellite.repository_sync:
        product: "Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64"
        organization: "Default Organization"
    - name: Publish RHEL 9 content view
      redhat.satellite.content_view_version:
        content_view: "RHEL 9 content view"
        organization: "Default Organization"
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For more information, see the Ansible module documentation with the following commands:

  • ansible-doc redhat.satellite.repository_sync
  • ansible-doc redhat.satellite.content_view_version

Additional resources

  • Use the ansible-doc --list redhat.satellite command to display the Satellite Ansible modules installed on your system.
  • See Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for a complete list of Satellite Ansible modules and other related information.
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