Ansible AWX Installation Guide

Introduction

• Presenter: Calvin
• Purpose: To provide a bare-bones install guide for Ansible AWX
• Previous method: Live stream (proved to be a distraction)
• Deviating from developer's guide (minikube) to use Kubernetes via Rancher for a more stable, multi-user accessible solution

Environment Setup

• Hardware Specs: 4 CPUs, 8GB RAM, 60GB hard drive
• Virtualization Tools: VMware vCenter, Workstation, Fusion, KVM, VirtualBox, Vagrant
• OS: Linux (required for Kubernetes), using Ubuntu 20.04 for this guide
• Access Information: Note the virtual machine's IP address (important for SSH and web access)

Tools Installation

Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

• Recommended for SSH connections and file management
• Access VS Code downloads via Google search
• Install and open VS Code
• Add VS Code extension: Remote – SSH (by Microsoft)

SSH Configuration

• Add new SSH host in VS Code
• Format: ssh <username>@<IP_address>
• Use SSH key for connection
• Connect VS Code to the remote host using the configuration

Initial System Updates

• Run initial updates on the Linux system: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Kubernetes Installation

• Use Rancher for Kubernetes deployment
• Simple single command via Rancher documentation: curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -
• Validate installation: kubectl version
  • Note: Update file permissions if needed for configuration file located at /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml: sudo chown <username>:<group> /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml
  • Check node status: kubectl get nodes
  • Check running workloads: kubectl get pods

Install Customize

• Follow instructions from Ansible AWX documentation
• Download customize using a curl command and move to user local bin: curl -O -L https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/download/kustomize/vX.Y.Z/kustomize_vX.Y.Z_linux_amd64.tar.gz tar -xzf kustomize_vX.Y.Z_linux_amd64.tar.gz sudo mv kustomize /usr/local/bin/
• Validate installation: which kustomize

AWX Operator Installation

• Create a customization file customization.yaml: apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1 kind: Kustomization resources: - github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/default?ref=0.14.0
• Apply customization using kubectl: kubectl apply -k .
• Validate AWX operator installation: kubectl get pods -n awx

Install AWX

• Create a file awx.yaml with specifics for AWX service
• Add configuration for port exposure (default 30080)
• Update customization.yaml to include the new AWX configuration file: resources: - github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/default?ref=0.14.0 - awx.yaml
• Apply the customization again kubectl apply -k .
• Monitor the installation process via logs
• Validate AWX pods are running kubectl get pods -n awx

Access AWX

• Retrieve admin password: kubectl get secret awx-demo-admin-password -n awx -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 --decode
• Navigate to the AWX web interface using the IP and port number (i.e., http://<your-node-ip>:30080)
• Log in using admin and the retrieved password

Next Steps

• Start configuring AWX:
  • Begin with credentials (SSH keys, GitHub access, etc.)

Conclusion

• Summary: Streamlined approach for installing Ansible AWX using Kubernetes and Rancher
• Encouragement to share experiences and issues
• Look forward to the next video focusing on production setup of AWX

Additional Resources

• Ansible AWX documentation
• Rancher Kubernetes documentation