How to Install rpm Package in Linux Using Ansible ?

Last Updated : 16 Apr, 2024

Ansible, a strong computing automation tool, expands its capabilities beyond configuration management to package management, including the installation of RPM packages on Linux frameworks.RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) is a package management system executives framework utilized by different Linux distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, and Fedora. Ansible improves on the method involved with managing RPM packages across multiple hosts by providing a declarative and idempotent approach. Ansible abstracts away the complexities of RPM package management, allowing clients to focus on defining the desired state of their frameworks as opposed to the perplexing details of package installation.

While deploying applications, managing libraries, or guaranteeing framework consistency, Ansible smoothes out the establishment lifecycle making it effective repeatable, and adaptable.

In this guide, we will explore how to use Ansible to install RPM packages on Linux systems, empowering administrators to maintain framework trustworthiness and effectiveness easily.

What is Ansible?

Ansible is an Orchestration, and configuration management tool (installation and deployment). Ansible is a suite of software tools that enables configuring systems, deploying software, and orchestrating advanced workflows to support application deployment, system updates, and more. It is an automation tool that can be used to manage large groups of computer systems.

we can manage and configure other servers called slave servers from a single server called the Master server.
when we install Ansible in the master server a file is created called Hosts also known as the inventory path inside this inventory path we give details of slave servers such as IP address, key pair path, and hostnames. with this, we create a bridge between slave and master to manage configuration.

Architecture of Ansible

They are two working methods in ansible

Ad-hoc
Playbook

What Are Ansible Ad-hoc Commands ?

An ansible Ad-hoc command uses the /usr/bin/ansible command-line tool to automate a single task on one or more managed nodes/slave servers these commands are quick and easy but not reusable.

Ad-hoc command are perfect for tasks you repeat rarely.for example you want to drive off all the machines in your working environment for pongal vacation you could execute quick one-line command in ansible without composing a playbook. This ad-hoc command can be written as

ansible [pattern] -m(module) command -a(argument) "parameters"

What Is Ansible Playbook?

At its core, Ansible uses a simple YAML syntax called “playbooks” to describe automation tasks and configurations. completely different way to use ansible than in ad-hoc task execution mode and are particularly powerful. These playbooks define a series of steps or “plays” in that play we divide the plays with tasks. Ansible executes on target hosts, allowing users to define the desired state of their infrastructure in a declarative manner.

Example For Playbook

- name: Install and start Nginx
  hosts: web_servers
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Install Nginx package
      yum:
        name: nginx
        state: present
    - name: Ensure Nginx service is running
      service:
        name: nginx
        state: started
        enabled: yes

Key Terminologies Of Ansible

Agentless: By the inventory path or hosts file we shall make the ansible agentless. Ansible operates over SSH, making it agentless and eliminating the need to install any additional software on target hosts. This simply deployment and reduces overhead.
Idempotent: Ansible ensures that the system’s state matches the desired state defined in the playbook, regardless of the system’s current state. This makes automation tasks predictable and repeatable.
Extensible: Ansibles’ modular architecture allows users to extend its functionality through custom modules and plugins, enabling integration with a wide range of systems, tools, and services.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): With this Infrastructure as a code IaC feature we can create any cloud environment. Ansible enables Infrastructure as Code practices by allowing users to define infrastructure configurations in human-readable YAML files. This approach promotes version control, collaboration, and repeatability.