What is Ansible?

Ansible is an open-source IT automation engine that automates provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration across your infrastructure. It uses human-readable YAML scripts called playbooks and connects to systems via SSH without requiring any agent software to be installed.

This guide covers how Ansible works, its key features and benefits, common use cases, and how it compares to other automation tools like Terraform.

What is Ansible

Ansible is an open-source IT automation engine that automates provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration using human-readable YAML playbooks. It features an agentless design, meaning it connects to remote systems via SSH without requiring any special software installed on those machines. Red Hat maintains the project, and it has become one of the most widely adopted automation tools in IT.

The core idea behind Ansible is simple: you describe what you want your systems to look like, and Ansible figures out how to get them there. This declarative approach lets you focus on outcomes rather than step-by-step procedures.

• Open-source automation: The core Ansible project is free to use, with enterprise options available through Red Hat for organizations that want additional support.
• Agentless architecture: No software installation is required on the machines you're automating, which cuts down on setup time and ongoing maintenance.
• Human-readable scripts: Ansible uses YAML syntax for its playbooks, so the code reads almost like plain English documentation.

How Ansible works

Ansible's architecture is refreshingly straightforward, which is part of why it appeals to IT professionals who are just getting started with automation. Everything revolves around a control node that sends instructions to target systems.

Control nodes and managed nodes

The control node is simply the machine where you install Ansible and run your automation from. This could be your laptop, a dedicated server, or a cloud instance. Managed nodes are the remote servers, network devices, or cloud resources that Ansible configures and maintains.

When Ansible runs, it connects from the control node to managed nodes using SSH for Linux and Unix systems. For Windows environments, it uses Windows Remote Management (WinRM) instead. Because Ansible relies on protocols that already exist on most systems, there's no proprietary communication layer to set up or troubleshoot.

Playbooks and YAML syntax

Playbooks are where the real work happens in Ansible. A playbook is a YAML file that describes either a policy you want enforced across your systems or a sequence of steps in an IT process.

YAML stands for "Yet Another Markup Language," and it's designed to be readable by humans. A typical playbook looks like a structured checklist with clear indentation showing how tasks relate to each other. Even someone who has never written code can usually understand what a playbook does just by reading through it.

Modules and collections

Modules are the building blocks of Ansible automation. Each module handles a specific task, whether that's installing a software package, copying a file, creating a cloud resource, or restarting a service. Ansible ships with hundreds of built-in modules that cover most common scenarios.

Collections package related automation content together, including playbooks, roles, modules, and plugins. Think of collections as extension packs that add capabilities for specific platforms or use cases. For example, there are collections dedicated to managing AWS resources, configuring Cisco network equipment, or working with Kubernetes.

Key features of Ansible software

Agentless architecture

Many automation tools require you to install agent software on every system you want to manage. Ansible takes a different approach by operating without agents entirely. You install Ansible once on your control node, and from there you can automate any system reachable via SSH or WinRM.

This design simplifies deployment considerably. It also reduces security concerns since there's no additional software running on production systems that could introduce vulnerabilities or require its own patching schedule.

Idempotent operations

Ansible operations are idempotent, which means running the same playbook multiple times always produces the same result. If a system is already in the desired state, Ansible recognizes this and skips making changes.

Why does this matter? You can run your configuration playbooks on a regular schedule without worrying about duplicate actions or unintended side effects. The playbook simply checks the current state and only acts when something needs to change.

Extensible module library

The built-in module library handles a wide range of systems and services, from basic file operations to complex cloud provisioning. When you need functionality beyond what's included, Ansible Galaxy offers thousands of community-contributed and vendor-certified collections.

Organizations can also write custom modules for proprietary systems or unique requirements. This extensibility makes Ansible adaptable to virtually any environment, even those with legacy or specialized infrastructure.

Infrastructure as code capabilities

Ansible enables infrastructure as code (IaC), where your playbooks become the definitive source of truth for how your infrastructure is configured. You can store playbooks in version control systems like Git, track changes over time, review modifications before they're applied, and roll back when something goes wrong.

This approach brings software development practices into infrastructure management. Change tracking, peer reviews, and audit trails become natural parts of your operations workflow.

What Ansible is used for

Ansible's flexibility makes it useful across many IT automation scenarios:

• Configuration management: Keeping system configurations consistent across large server fleets, ensuring every machine matches its intended state.
• Application deployment: Automating software deployment from initial code push through multi-tier application rollouts.
• Cloud provisioning: Creating and managing cloud infrastructure across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and other providers.
• Security automation and compliance: Implementing security baselines as code, applying hardening configurations, and running automated compliance checks.
• Orchestration across systems: Coordinating multi-step processes that span different systems, like provisioning a server, configuring an application, and registering it with a load balancer in the correct sequence.

Benefits of Ansible for IT automation

Benefit	Description
Simplicity	Low learning curve thanks to human-readable YAML syntax
Scalability	Works for environments ranging from a few servers to thousands of nodes
Flexibility	Supports Linux, Windows, cloud platforms, and network devices
Cost-effectiveness	Open-source core with optional enterprise support available

Teams often start small with Ansible, automating a handful of repetitive tasks, then gradually expand their automation footprint as they gain confidence. The low barrier to entry makes it practical to experiment without a major upfront investment.

Ansible vs Terraform

A question that comes up frequently is how Ansible compares to Terraform, another popular automation tool. While they overlap in some areas, each excels at different things.

Aspect	Ansible	Terraform
Primary use	Configuration management and deployment	Infrastructure provisioning
Language	YAML (procedural)	HCL (declarative)
State management	Stateless	Maintains state files
Best for	Application configuration, orchestration	Cloud infrastructure creation

Many organizations use both tools together rather than choosing one over the other. A common pattern is to use Terraform for provisioning underlying infrastructure like virtual machines, networks, and databases, then use Ansible to configure the applications and services running on that infrastructure.

Ansible automation platform vs community edition

Several Ansible variants exist to fit different organizational needs:

• ansible-core: The minimalist open-source package that provides the fundamental command-line tools and automation engine.
• ansible (full): A larger open-source package that includes ansible-core plus a curated set of community-developed collections.
• Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform: The enterprise-grade subscription version with certified content, advanced security features, analytics, a graphical interface, and vendor support.

For teams just starting out, the community edition provides everything needed to learn and implement automation. As automation initiatives grow, the enterprise platform adds governance, security, and collaboration features that larger organizations typically require.

How to get started with Ansible

1. Install Ansible on a control node

First, install Ansible on a Linux or macOS machine that will serve as your control node. The most common installation method uses Python's package manager (pip), though many Linux distributions include Ansible in their native package repositories. The official documentation provides step-by-step instructions for various operating systems.

2. Create an inventory file

The inventory file lists the managed nodes that Ansible will automate. This file contains hostnames or IP addresses and can include connection details like SSH users and ports. You can organize hosts into groups for easier management, putting all web servers in one group and database servers in another.

3. Write your first playbook

Start with a simple playbook that performs a basic task, like installing a package or creating a file. A minimal playbook specifies which hosts to target, what tasks to execute, and which modules to use. The official Ansible documentation includes numerous examples that walk through common scenarios.

Ansible documentation and community resources

The official Ansible documentation at docs.ansible.com provides comprehensive guides, module references, and best practices. For pre-built automation content, Ansible Galaxy offers a public repository of community and certified collections that you can incorporate into your own playbooks.

The Ansible community is active and generally welcoming to newcomers. Forums, mailing lists, and community chat channels provide spaces to ask questions and learn from other practitioners who have solved similar problems.

Why IT automation matters for business operations

IT automation reduces human error and speeds up service delivery. When teams automate repetitive infrastructure tasks, they free up time for strategic work and innovation rather than routine maintenance. Faster deployments and more reliable systems often translate into competitive advantages.

While automation platforms like Ansible handle infrastructure tasks, platforms like Engagedly help organizations manage and align their workforce for peak performance. As your technology scales, your people strategy can scale alongside it.

Book a demo to see how Engagedly supports organizational growth.

FAQs about Ansible

Is Ansible a CI or CD tool?

Ansible is primarily a configuration management and deployment tool rather than a complete CI/CD pipeline solution like Jenkins or GitLab CI. However, it frequently serves as a component within CI/CD pipelines, handling the continuous deployment stages where applications are pushed to staging or production environments.

What programming language does Ansible use?

Ansible itself is written in Python, though users don't need Python knowledge to use it effectively. Automation is written in YAML, a simple format that requires no programming experience to learn.

Can Ansible manage Windows servers?

Yes, Ansible manages Windows servers using Windows Remote Management (WinRM) instead of SSH. Dedicated Windows modules handle common tasks like managing IIS, Windows features, and PowerShell script execution.

What is the difference between Ansible and Puppet?

The primary difference lies in architecture. Ansible is agentless and uses a push-based model where the control node sends configurations to managed nodes. Puppet is agent-based and typically uses a pull-based model where agents on managed nodes periodically check in with a master server to retrieve their configurations.