Execute use when you need to work with Ansible automation.
This skill provides Ansible playbook creation with comprehensive guidance and automation.
Trigger with phrases like "create Ansible playbook", "automate with Ansible",
or "configure with Ansible".
Generate production-ready Ansible playbooks, roles, and inventories for infrastructure automation. Supports provisioning servers, deploying applications, configuring services, and enforcing desired state across fleets of machines using SSH-based agentless automation.
Prerequisites
Ansible 2.14+ installed (ansible --version)
SSH access to target hosts with key-based authentication
Python 3.9+ on control node and managed nodes
Inventory of target hosts (IPs or hostnames)
Privilege escalation credentials (sudo) if configuring system-level resources
ansible-lint installed for playbook validation
Instructions
Scan the project for existing Ansible files (ansible.cfg, inventory/, roles/, group_vars/) to understand current structure
Determine the automation target: server provisioning, application deployment, configuration management, or security hardening
Create the playbook YAML with proper structure: hosts, become, vars, tasks, handlers
Extract reusable logic into roles using the standard directory layout (tasks/, handlers/, templates/, defaults/, vars/, meta/)
Define variables in group_vars/ and host_vars/ for environment-specific values, keeping secrets in vault-encrypted files
Use Jinja2 templates for configuration files that vary across environments
Add handlers for service restarts triggered by configuration changes
Validate the playbook with ansible-lint and ansible-playbook --check --diff (dry run)
Test idempotency by running the playbook twice and confirming no changes on the second run
Output
Ansible playbooks (.yml) with structured tasks, handlers, and variables
Role directories following Ansible Galaxy structure
Jinja2 templates (.j2) for dynamic configuration files
Inventory files (INI or YAML) with host groups
group_vars/ and host_vars/ for environment separation
ansible.cfg with connection and privilege escalation settings
Error Handling
Error
Cause
Solution
unreachable: Failed to connect to host
SSH connection failure or wrong host/port
Verify SSH keys, host IPs, and that port 22 is open with ansible -m ping
permission denied on become
Missing or incorrect sudo password
Add --ask-become-pass or configure ansible_become_password in vault
undefined variable
Variable not defined in vars, defaults, or inventory
Check variable precedence; define in defaults/main.yml or group_vars/
ansible-lint: syntax-check failed
YAML syntax error or deprecated module usage
Run ansible-lint -v and fix reported issues; replace deprecated modules
changed on every run (not idempotent)
Using command/shell without creates/removes guards
Add creates: parameter or switch to purpose-built modules (copy, template, file)
Examples
"Create an Ansible playbook to provision an Ubuntu 22.04 server with Nginx, Certbot, and a firewall allowing only 80/443."
"Generate a role that deploys a Python Flask app with Gunicorn, systemd service file, and log rotation."
"Write an Ansible playbook to harden SSH config across all servers: disable root login, enforce key auth, set idle timeout."