Ansible — FAQ¶
Who is this course for?¶
Engineers who need production-ready Ansible skills for cloud, DevOps, platform, and SRE work — from first playbooks through AWX/AAP and CI pipelines.
ansible-core vs ansible — which should I install?¶
Install ansible-core when you want the minimal engine and explicitly add collections via ansible-galaxy. Install the ansible PyPI package (community distribution) when you want a bundled set of collections for a quicker start. Labs assume ansible-core 2.18+ unless noted. See Ansible packaging.
Do I need remote servers for labs?¶
Most early modules use localhost (ansible_connection: local) so you can complete labs on a practice VM or laptop without cloud spend. Modules that target SSH hosts clearly state when a second VM is helpful. Kubernetes modules can validate offline with --dry-run=client when no cluster is available.
What Vault password policy should I use in labs?¶
Use a dedicated lab password — never reuse production Vault passwords. For local practice:
In CI, inject ANSIBLE_VAULT_PASSWORD from your platform’s secret store; do not commit .vault_pass files. Rotate lab passwords if you share screen recordings or tarball evidence publicly.
Where do Ansible Galaxy and collections fit?¶
Ansible Galaxy hosts roles and collections. Declare dependencies in collections/requirements.yml and install with:
Prefer collections (for example kubernetes.core) over copying legacy role code. Pin versions for reproducible CI and Execution Environments.
AWX vs Ansible Automation Platform — which is this course about?¶
Both share the same object model (projects, inventories, job templates, credentials). AWX is the upstream open-source controller — ideal for labs and self-managed platforms. Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) is Red Hat’s supported enterprise product. Module 15 teaches concepts with offline topology stubs; a full AWX install is optional and resource-heavy. Docs: AWX · Red Hat AAP.
How do Jinja2 and GitHub Actions expressions work in MkDocs tutorials?¶
Ansible playbooks and GitHub workflow files contain Jinja double-brace expressions and Actions dollar-brace-brace expressions that confuse MkDocs macros. Tutorial documentation wraps those fences in raw Jinja blocks so the site builds. Files you create on disk for labs use normal syntax without MkDocs wrapping.
Where are the tutorials?¶
Tutorials live inside each module in the sidebar — open Course overview or follow the Learning roadmap.
How do labs and projects fit in?¶
Complete module tutorials first, then use Labs, Quizzes, and Projects for extra practice and portfolio work.
What is the source of truth for Ansible behaviour?¶
Official documentation:
- https://docs.ansible.com/
- https://galaxy.ansible.com/