Ansible

Ansible (https://github.com/ansible/ansible) is a simple, yet advanced, open source system orchestration utility that offers the ability to run ad-hoc commands across a large number of hosts in parallel, to orchestrate sets of commands, as well as configure management. Ansible has a very large set of modules for automating a multitude of tasks (http://www.ansibleworks.com/docs/modules.html). When utilizing a module to perform something, this is known as a Task, as we will learn shortly. We can combine these Tasks into what is known in Ansible nomenclature as a Play and these can be combined into what Ansible calls Playbooks. We can then run Playbooks using the ansible-playbook command. For those in the DevOps arena unfamiliar with Ansible, fear not as it is the new kid on the block and easy to learn, as we will see shortly. Now, don't let the fact that Ansible is new be a cause for concern as the open source project won the Black Duck Open Source Rookie of the Year 2012 award (http...