- The document discusses using Ansible to automate and simplify various deployment and server management tasks like running commands across multiple servers, deploying code from git, and notifying services of changes. - It recommends organizing tasks into reusable roles corresponding to applications and services, and using tags to selectively deploy certain components. - The conclusion advocates provisioning new servers on EC2 using Ansible, and then using roles to automatically configure them.

1. Ansible Meetup
Kickoff

2. So I want to batch run this thing...
Do the API servers in production have a clock skew
problem? Quick check.
ansible -i prod api -a date

3. These commands look similar...
Classic nodejs deploy:
ssh prod-api-1
cd /opt/myapp
git pull
npm install
sudo service myapp restart
… for each prod-api-* ...

4. Make them a playbook
- hosts: api
vars:
app: myapp
tasks:
- name: clone from git
git: repo=”git@github.com:bigpandaio/{{app}}" dest=”/opt/
{{app}}"
- name: npm install
command: npm install --production
- name: restart service
service: name=”{{app}}” state=restarted
sudo: yes

5. But wait! My deployment also needs...
HipChat notification
tasks:
- hipchat: room=ops token={{token}} msg=”
Starting deploy”
...rest of playbook...

6. But wait! My deployment also needs...
Remove from ELB:
tasks:
- local_action:
module: ec2_elb
region: “{{region}}”
instance_id: “{{ec2_id}}”
ec2_elbs: “{{elb_name}}”
state: absent

7. But wait! My deployment also needs...
Re-add to ELB:
...
- local_action:
module: ec2_elb
region: “{{region}}”
instance_id: “{{ec2_id}}”
ec2_elbs: “{{elb_name}}”
state: present

8. But wait! My deployment also needs...
Notify BigPanda (*wink* *tug*)
- bigpanda: component={{app}} version=
{{version}} state=started
…
- bigpanda: component={{app}} version=
{{version}} state=finished

9. Some velvet morning...

10. Quick heartbleed patch
- hosts: frontend
sudo: yes
serial: 1
tasks:
- name: Unregister machine from elb
local_action:
…
- apt: pkg=libssl1.0.0 state=latest update_cache=yes
- service: name=nginx state=restarted
- name: Add machine to elb
local_action:
…

11. Grouping tasks into components
● Ansible’s solution is roles
● A role can be an app, service, common settings
○ roles/app1
○ roles/app2
○ roles/rabbitmq
○ roles/mongodb
○ roles/maintenance_cronjobs

12. My apps’ roles look the same!
● Use a generic parametrized role
● roles/nodejs_app
○ notifies bigpanda
○ git pull {{app}}
○ npm install
○ service {{app}} restart
○ self test the {{app}} service
● Specific roles depend on it

13. Deploying to stage with same roles
Use a different inventory for prod and stage:
ansible-playbook -i prod api.yml
ansible-playbook -i stage api.yml

14. Deploy ALL THE THINGS!
site.yml:
- include: api.yml
- include: mongodb.yml
- include: frontend.yml

15. Deploy some of the things
Tag all of your tasks/roles with their relevant app/service
name
- { role: app1, tags: app1 }
- name: Generate configuration
template: src=config.j2 dest=/dest/path
tags: [ myservice_config, myservice ]

16. Deploy some of the things
Then you can:
ansible-playbook -i prod site.yml --tags
app1
Or even:
alias deploy-prod=’ansible-playbook -i prod
site.yml --tags’
deploy-prod app1
..aaahhhhh..

17. And the logical conclusion

18. Provision a server in EC2
● The ec2 module creates new instances
● We have the rest of the config as roles
● Simple solution:
ansible-playbook -i prod ec2_create.yml -e
type=frontend
ansible-playbook -i prod site.yml --limit
frontend

19. Provision a DC
Same thing really:
for i in frontend api mongodb; do
ansible-playbook -i prod ec2_create -e
type=$i
done
ansible-playbook -i prod site.yml

20. Thanks!
Questions?