How to Configure Terrform Using Ansible ?

In the present rapidly advancing technological scene, the demand for versatile, reliable, and cost-effective infrastructure arrangements is higher than ever time in recent. Accomplishing these goals requires effective automation tools that can flawlessly oversee infrastructure provisioning and configuration, among the plenty of accessible tools, Terraform and Ansible stand apart as strong arrangements, each with its one of a kind qualities. Terraform, a infrastructure as code (IaC) tool, succeeds in defining and provisioning infrastructure utilizing declarative configuration files. Then again, Ansible has some expertise in setup the deployment, application organization, and task automation, utilizing a simple YAML sentence structure for defining tasks.

Combining the ability of Terraform and Ansible offers a thorough solution for infrastructure automation, allowing organizations to accomplish more greater agility, unwavering quality, and versatility, this guide investigates the method involved with arranging Terraform utilizing Ansible, utilizing the qualities of the two apparatuses to smooth out infrastructure the executives processes. By integrating Terraforms infrastructure provisioning capacities with Ansible’s strong configuration management features, associations can lay out a durable work process that upgrades proficiency and consistency in dealing with their infrastructure . How about we dive into the complexities of this integration and find how it can change infrastructure automation practices.

Understanding Of Primary Terminologies Of Ansible And Terraform

The following are the primary terminologies related Terraform and Ansible:

Terraform: Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) programming instrument created by HashiCorp, it empowers users to define and arrangement infrastructure resources utilizing declarative configuration files. Terraform upholds different cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, as well as on-premises infrastructure. With Terraform, infrastructure is characterized in code, considering form control, cooperation, and computerization of provisioning processes.
Ansible: Ansible is an open-source automation tool designed for configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration, created by Red Hat, Ansible works on automation undertakings through its agentless design and human readable YAML language structure for defining playbooks. Ansible is known for its simplicity, adaptability, and versatility, pursuing it a famous decision for automating IT tasks across different conditions.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a software programming practice that includes managing and provisioning infrastructure resources through machine-readable definition files, as opposed to manual cycles or intuitive configuration tools. IaC empowers infrastructure to be treated as code, taking into account mechanization, repeatability, and adaptability, by characterizing infrastructure setups in code, groups might form at any version control, test, and deploy changes easily, prompting more solid and productive infrastructure management.
Playbooks: Playbooks are the center structure blocks of automation in Ansible. A playbook is a YAML document that contains a progression of undertakings and setups to be applied to remote hosts. Each task in a playbook addresses a particular activity to be performed, like installing packages, replicating files, or restarting services. Playbooks give an elevated degree of adaptability and expressiveness, empowering users to define complex automation work processes in an unmistakable and compact way.
Configuration Management: Configuration management alludes to the most common way of managing and maintaining with the configurations of software and infrastructure resources in a steady and solid way. Ansible succeeds in configuration management by allowing users to define wanted configurations as code and apply them across various systems simultaneously. Design the management tool like Ansible assist with ensure that systems are appropriately configured, agreeable with norms, and effectively reproducible.

How to Install Terraform On Host Systems Using Ansible: A Step-By-Step Guide

Step 1: Launch An Instance

Go to AWS Console and launch an EC2 Instance

Now connect with terminal

Step 2: Install Ansible

Now install ansible by using following command

sudo amazon-linux-extras install ansible2

Step 3: Now Create Ansible Playbook

Create a file with .yml extension. Inside this file write a script

- hosts: slave
  become: yes
  vars:
    terraform_version: "1.0.0"
    terraform_install_dir: "/usr/local/bin"
    terraform_download_url: "https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/{{ terraform_version }}/terraform_{{ terraform_version }}_linux_amd64.zip"
  tasks:
    - name: Install unzip
      ansible.builtin.package:
        name: unzip
        state: present

    - name: Download Terraform binary
      ansible.builtin.get_url:
        url: "{{ terraform_download_url }}"
        dest: "/tmp/terraform_latest.zip"

    - name: Extract Terraform binary
      ansible.builtin.unarchive:
        src: "/tmp/terraform_latest.zip"
        dest: "{{ terraform_install_dir }}"
        remote_src: yes
        extra_opts: "-o"

    - name: Set Terraform permissions
      ansible.builtin.file:
        path: "{{ terraform_install_dir }}/terraform"
        mode: "0755"
        state: touch

Step 4: Setting Up Host Permission For Slave Node

Now go to below path add host systems details like IP address, host username, keypair’s path

cd /etc/ansible/

Now open hosts file with sudo vi command. Inside this host file provide host details

Ensure that keypairs was downloaded in master node. We can download by using following command

 scp -i keyapir.pem keypair.pem ec2-user@public-IP-address:/home/ec2-user(path to download)

After that change permissions to that keypair file to read permissions. By using following command

sudo chmod 400 <keypair.pem>

Now check connection between master node and host node by using following command

ansible all -m ping

Step 5: Running The Playbook

Now run the your playbook, specifying the playbook file and target hosts. By using following command

ansible-playbook <filename.yml>

Step 6: Verify

Now go AWS Console and Navigate to EC2 Dashboard
Connect Slave node to terminal and check terraform version by using following command

terraform --version

Here we see that terraform version is 1.1 in playbook we mentioned version 1.1 so it installed version1.1

Conclusion

In conclusion, Integrating Terraform with Ansible offers a strong solution for present day infrastructure automation. By consolidating Terraforms infrastructure provisioning abilities with Ansible’s vigorous design the executives highlights, associations can smooth out deployment processes, ensure consistency across conditions, and upgrade adaptability. This integration advances effectiveness via automation tedious assignments, lessens the risk of errors, and speeds up deployment cycles. Moreover, it cultivates cooperation among groups, works with information sharing, and empowers nimble reactions to changing business needs. With infrastructure defined and oversaw as code, associations can accomplish more noteworthy spryness, unwavering quality, and cost-adequacy in their IT activities.

This integration advances effectiveness via automation tedious assignments, lessens the risk of errors, and speeds up deployment cycles. Moreover, it cultivates cooperation among groups, works with information sharing, and empowers nimble reactions to changing business needs. With infrastructure defined and oversaw as code, associations can accomplish more noteworthy spryness, unwavering quality, and cost-adequacy in their IT activities. This approach cultivates productivity, dependability, and cost-adequacy, engaging associations to fulfill the needs of dynamic IT conditions with agility and certainty.

Configuring Terraform Using Ansible – FAQs

Will Ansible be used without Terraform for Infrastructure Provisioning?

Ansible fundamentally focus around configuration management and needs local infrastructure provisioning abilities. While it’s feasible to arrangement infrastructure with Ansible, terraform is more qualified for this task because of its vigorous infrastructure as code highlights and backing for different cloud providers.

How does Integrating Terraform with Ansible add to cost Optimization?

Via automating infrastructure provisioning and configuration management processes, integrating Terraform with Ansible streamlines costs by limiting manual intercession, reducing errors, and expanding resource usage. Associations can powerfully scale infrastructure resources on a case by case basis, ensuring ideal execution while keeping away from unnecessary costs.

Could Ansible manage existing Infrastructure provisioned by Terraform?

Yes, Ansible can manage existing infrastructure provisioned by Terraform or some other means. Ansible’s adaptability permits it to design and manage infrastructure no matter what the provisioning strategy, empowering associations to use Ansible for continuous configuration management and automation tasks.

Are there any Impediments to involving Terraform Provisioners for Ansible Integration?

While Terraform provisioners like “remote-exec” can set off Ansible playbooks during asset provisioning, there are possible limits and complexities to consider, these incorporate managing execution request, taking care of disappointments smoothly, and ensuring idempotent activities to forestall accidental configuration changes.

What are the advantages of integrating Terraform with Ansible?

Integrating Terraform with Ansible empowers a firm work process where Terraform provisions infrastructure, and Ansible configures it. This integration use Terraforms infrastructure provisioning abilities and Ansible’s vigorous design the executives highlights, prompting improved automation, versatility, and consistency in infrastructure management.

Article Tags :

DevOps

Ansible

Terraform