Ansible had entered the IT scenario as a panacea for all server management and machine configuration related issues. The automation engine has rendered the IT efforts more agile and enabled working together within a complex IT ecosystem. Earlier, even smaller tasks used to be routed through several channels and involved manual intervention at different levels. With Ansible and its super simple Playbooks YAML language, the tasks of developing, deploying and maintaining sprawling IT systems have become a breeze. Responding to complex business demands from IT’s perspective is now possible with minimal cost and efforts.
Organizations worldwide are adopting Ansible because of its simple, agentless architecture. Existing processes are being improved, applications are being migrated to Ansible for optimization, and a single DevOps language is being implemented on a company-wide basis. As the role of Ansible expert is maturing, the corresponding salary and other perks are also becoming more lucrative. It is an opportune time to complete your Ansible Certification and take a leap in the competitive IT landscape for carving a distinctive professional niche for yourself.
Why Has Ansible Become So Popular?
Playbooks
The real source of Ansible’s strength is Playbooks. It streamlines complex tasks and facilitates execution of configuration management, application deployment, and related activities easily. But what makes Ansible Playbooks so productive? Read on to learn about the strong facets of Playbooks.
Ease of Instruction
The instructions are spelled out to Ansible in the mode of a manual, step by step. Eg how Ansible connects to the node and controller, everything about what to do is clearly defined in simple steps.
YAML Based
YAML coding is used for writing Playbooks. It is similar to XML, the only difference is that it is readable by humans. You can master the techniques within hours and can script power packed playbooks. There are no complex syntax and many examples are available online for learning.
Simple to Configure
If you have defined a baseline for configuring servers, the playbook can be coded to execute the same in exact order. Playbook would also ensure that accurate sshd (secure shell) configuration is used with central authentication. Specific roles can be assigned to server groups.
Suppose, you want to insert a web server in the group of news, monitoring and database servers. When the coded playbook is executed, the web server would be installed and configured by Ansible. Ansible would ensure that connections from the newly inserted server would be entertained by the database server. Also, the latest server would be added to the organization’s network monitoring solution. This would send information if snags appear in the performance of the server in the future.
Strong Networking Support
Ansible offers extensive support for networking. Network devices can be managed with Ansible in a hassle free manner. Ansible ties its core networking modules to specific platforms for optimum performance. For configuring the iOS devices of CISCO, you can avail of ios_config_module. Similarly, there are junos_config (for Juniper) and Napalm library for automating desired networks.
Learn Ansible Skills to Boost Your Career Prospects
The open source automation engine, Ansible, is very powerful yet very simple to set up. Automate tasks, configure the server, deploy applications, orchestrate IT activities or perform other tasks; Ansible is your one-stop solution. With Ansible training, you too can transform into a valuable asset of your organization on which managers can count on.
With training, you become proficient in writing and managing Ansible playbooks as well as in automating system administration tools. If you are an IT system administrator, Ansible would help you significantly in streamlining server related tasks for your organization. Creating and running playbooks for configuring systems and managing inventories would make critical tasks more safe and reliable.
Each training is accompanied with skills assessment session wherein you can judge your grasp over automation and identify strengths and opportunities for improvement by working on real life projects. Based on your progress, your trainer would suggest personalizing an upskilling path most suited to your individual needs.
The growth in the Ansible user base has been continuous and the same has increased exponentially in the past few years as is evident from the graph below.
Also, Ansible is experiencing huge demand in IT ecosystem and more roles are being created for Ansible experts in the industry.
Ansible is hotcake for organizations across the globe. By upskilling yourself on this trending technology, you can advance your career at a sonic pace. Act before it gets too late.
