Summary
In this chapter, we saw that Ansible is a very powerful and complete tool that allows us to automate server configuration and administration. To work, it uses an inventory that contains the list of hosts to be configured and a playbook that the list of configuration actions is coded in.
Roles, modules, and variables also allow for better management and centralization of playbook code. Ansible also has a vault that protects sensitive playbook data. Finally, for dynamic environments, inventory writing can be simplified by implementing dynamic inventories.
In the next chapter, we will learn how to optimize infrastructure deployment with the use of Packer to create server templates.
