Where do I install Ansible from

General Discussion & Chat
1

I am finally after 2+ years working on learning to work with and write Ansible.

I have a server I built that I intend to install Ansible on but with an RPM hopefully from a repo; it will be my Ansible Control Node. I also have 4 other VMs that I am going to treat as my Ansible Managed Nodes.

The problem is if I attempt to perform a dnf install ansible* I do not see ansible-core or a package simply called “ansible.”

Is ALMA Linux not supporting Ansible in any way? Seems like a silly question but I am not finding what I would expect to be run-of-the-mill packages available.

Thanks all.

2

Try ‘dnf list *ansible*’. Is there centos-release*?

3

FYI on a fully patched machine:

$ dnf list *ansible*
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:34 ago on Thu 28 Apr 2022 08:52:29 BST.
Available Packages
ansible.noarch                                                            2.9.27-1.el8                               epel     
ansible-collection-ansible-posix.noarch                                   1.2.0-1.el8                                epel     
ansible-collection-community-general.noarch                               3.8.6-1.el8                                epel     
ansible-collection-community-mysql.noarch                                 3.1.0-1.el8                                epel     
ansible-collection-microsoft-sql.noarch                                   1.1.0-1.el8                                appstream
ansible-collection-netbox-netbox.noarch                                   3.5.1-1.el8                                epel     
ansible-collection-redhat-rhel_mgmt.noarch                                1.0.0-2.el8                                appstream
ansible-doc.noarch                                                        2.9.27-1.el8                               epel     
ansible-freeipa.noarch                                                    0.3.8-1.el8                                appstream
ansible-freeipa-tests.noarch                                              0.3.8-1.el8                                appstream
ansible-pcp.noarch                                                        2.2.1-1.el8                                appstream
ansible-test.noarch                                                       2.9.27-1.el8                               epel     
centos-release-ansible-29.noarch                                          1-2.el8                                    extras   
python-sphinx_ansible_theme-doc.noarch                                    0.3.2-1.el8                                epel     
python3-ansible-lint.noarch                                               3.5.1-1.el8                                epel     
python3-sphinx_ansible_theme.noarch                                       0.3.2-1.el8                                epel     
vim-ansible.noarch                                                        3.2-1.el8                                  epel

I don’t run it myself, but would a simple dnf install ansible not pull in all the required packages?

If you can’t see the EPEL packages, ensure that you have already installed epel-release.noarch.

1 Like
4

I use that centos-release-ansible-29 repository. It is maintained by CentOS SIG and has different packaging than EPEL.

5

@jlehtone do you use Ansible at all? I am wondering if I should add the epel-release. I had to dig a little deeper than I would hope but found instructions to install epel-release and then install ansible, both using yum|dnf.

6

Yes, I do, but I run most of it from CentOS 7 machines. (The managed systems have been CentOS 5, 6, 7, 8, and Alma 8, 9.)

I did use EPEL-version for a while, but then found CentOS SIG repos, which like module streams do not rebase. So now I do have done:

dnf install centos-release-ansible-29  # to get repo
dnf install ansible                    # to get program

However, the Ansible 2.9 is old now, and if RHEL 8.6 will have ansible-core and EPEL add more tools for it, then it makes sense to do now:

dnf install epel-release  # to get repo
dnf install ansible       # to get program

(If one is running from Alma, ect. With CentOS 7 I have to consider more carefully whether it makes sense – there will be some porting of playbooks, I presume.)

I’ve written most of the roles and playbooks that I use myself as that did support learning the tool.
Red Hat offers “system roles” now and documents them within RHEL docs, so those are a good option too.

1 Like
7

Again, I don’t use it. If it helps Alma/EPEL 9 appears to be geared up:

$ dnf list *ansible*
AlmaLinux 9.0-beta - BaseOS                                                                   2.7 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:01    
AlmaLinux 9.0-beta - AppStream                                                                6.4 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:00    
AlmaLinux 9.0-beta - Extras packages                                                          6.8 kB/s | 3.8 kB     00:00    
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 - x86_64                                                1.9 MB/s | 5.5 MB     00:02    
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 - Next - x86_64                                         231 kB/s | 167 kB     00:00    
Available Packages
ansible-collection-community-general.noarch                               4.7.0-1.el9                                epel     
ansible-collection-community-mysql.noarch                                 3.1.0-2.el9                                epel     
ansible-collection-community-rabbitmq.noarch                              1.1.0-1.el9                                epel     
ansible-collection-containers-podman.noarch                               1.9.3-1.el9                                epel     
ansible-collection-microsoft-sql.noarch                                   1.1.0-2.el9                                appstream
ansible-core.x86_64                                                       2.12.2-1.el9                               appstream
ansible-freeipa.noarch                                                    1.6.3-1.el9                                appstream
ansible-freeipa-tests.noarch                                              1.6.3-1.el9                                appstream
ansible-packaging.noarch                                                  1-1.el9                                    epel     
ansible-pcp.noarch                                                        2.2.2-2.el9                                appstream
ansible-test.x86_64                                                       2.12.2-1.el9                               appstream
python3-ansible-lint.noarch                                               1:5.0.7-1.el9                              epel
  • all at your own risk of course! :slight_smile:
8

Thanks @jlehtone this is the way I went last night.

I wasn’t sure if there was another way, but this did work for me on ALMA Linux.

9

Thanks @MartinR , I installed the epel-release package for the EPEL repo and then installed Ansible from there.

10

Why not use the pip module?

pip install ansible

11

Things are very different now than what they were a month ago. Now RHEL 8 and 9 (and hence AlmaLinux 8 and 9) do provide ansible-core – no more need to resort to third-party repositories.

Besides, pip modules you install mainly for personal use of a regular account, and then you have to update them in addition to updating managed packages. (But obviously you can have an Ansible play that does both …)

12

Upside is one can install specific versions, which include bugfixes and perhaps features.
And if you want to use Ansible in an environment, it’s nice to have it installed on one regular account, e.g. an ansible account…
Nevertheless, OP got what he wanted :slight_smile: