How Ansible works and the Python code behind it
A lot of this section will be more of the same that you saw in the previous section, similar tools, similar implementations, and whatnot. But, like SaltStack, this too is an important and very common tool in the IaC realm, which is why it deserves the coverage that we are giving it. Ansible is powerful, its learning curve is probably not as steep as that of SaltStack, and it is easier on users who like more cleanly pre-packaged code that they don’t have to modify too much. Oh, and it’s also written in Python.
Ansible is run and maintained by IBM under its Red Hat label (I like that tech companies have their own DC Vertigo-esque labels for their more risque stuff now; it really makes the things I say about it being an art even more true). It is meant to maintain and affect servers using SSH key pairs to access those servers. That simplifies some things, such as when you control a server and all the associated servers are...