Installing Apache2 and NGINX on Different Hosts Using Ansible Roles

Module 5: Ansible Assignment - 3

Tasks To Be Performed:

1. Create 2 Ansible roles
2. Install Apache2 on slave1 using one role and NGINX on slave2 using the other role
3. Above should be implemented using different Ansible roles

Using the same setup from Assignment 1 – Ansible

EC2 instances

Ansible Control Machine 10.0.1.223 Slave1 10.0.1.65 Slave2 10.0.1.233

To perform this assignment, I will create two separate Ansible roles: one for installing Apache2 and another for installing NGINX.

Step 1: Create the Ansible Roles §

Firstly, I will create the directory structure for the two roles. I can use the ansible-galaxy command to do this:

ansible-galaxy init apache_role
ansible-galaxy init nginx_role

This will create two directories with subdirectories and files needed for each role.

Step 2: Configure the Apache2 Role §

Inside the apache_role directory, I will modify the tasks/main.yml file to include the following:

---
# tasks file for apache_role
- name: Install Apache2
  apt:
    name: apache2
    state: present
    update_cache: yes

This ensures that Apache2 is installed when this role is applied.

Step 3: Configure the NGINX Role §

Similarly, inside the nginx_role directory, I will edit the tasks/main.yml file to contain:

---
# tasks file for nginx_role
- name: Install NGINX
  apt:
    name: nginx
    state: present
    update_cache: yes

This will install NGINX when the role is executed.

Step 4: Create the Playbook §

I will create a playbook called install_web_servers.yml. In this playbook, I will specify which host should use which role:

---
- hosts: slave1
  become: yes
  roles:
    - apache_role
 
- hosts: slave2
  become: yes
  roles:
    - nginx_role

This playbook runs the apache_role on slave1 and the nginx_role on slave2.

Step 5: Run the Playbook §

I will execute my playbook with the following command:

ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini install_web_servers.yml 

Step 6: Verify the Installations §

After running the playbook, I will verify that Apache and NGINX have been installed and are running on their respective servers using the ansible command with the shell module. Here’s how I will do it:

ansible slave1 -m shell -a "systemctl status apache2" -i inventory.ini --become
ansible slave2 -m shell -a "systemctl status nginx" -i inventory.ini --become

Success