Integrating Ansible into vRA: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you’re looking to integrate Ansible into your vRealize Automation (vRA) environment, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go over the process of setting up Ansible for integration with vRA, using a bash script to simplify the process.
First things first, let’s take a look at the specifications for the virtual machine that will be used as the Ansible control node:
* CPU: 2.5 GHz (or faster)
* RAM: 4 GB (or more)
* Storage: At least 30 GB of free space
* Operating System: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or later
Once you have your virtual machine set up, it’s time to install the operating system and configure it according to the table below:
| Setting | Value |
| — | — |
| Time zone | UTC |
| Username | ansible |
| Password |
Next, we’ll need to create a new account for Ansible integration. To do this, you’ll need to input the username and password for the new account when executing the script.
Now that we have our virtual machine set up and configured, it’s time to execute the bash script. This script will handle the installation of Ansible and its configuration for integration with vRA.
As the script executes, you can check the logfile for any errors. The logfile is located at /tmp/ansible_setup_helper_log. If there are any errors, you’ll need to address them before proceeding with the integration.
Once the execution is complete and there are no errors in the logfile, it’s time to switch over to your vRA 8.4 installation and configure the Ansible open source integration. The integration configuration in vRA is straightforward and self-explanatory, as shown in the screenshot below:
As you can see, the integration is relatively simple and involves selecting the appropriate options for your environment. Once validated and saved, the integration is ready to be incorporated into your cloud templates.
In conclusion, integrating Ansible into vRA is a straightforward process that can be simplified further with the help of a bash script. By following the steps outlined in this article, you’ll be able to set up Ansible for integration with vRA and automate your IT infrastructure like never before.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to me through my social media profiles listed below. I’m always happy to help!
Paul Davey is CIO at Sonar, Automation Practice Lead at Xtravirt, and guitarist in The Waders. He loves IT, automation, programming, music, and more. You can follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn, or GitHub to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices in IT automation.
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