In this talk I show how to bring stability and repeatability to your Alfresco installation by automating install and config management with Ansible. This talk was originally given at Alfresco DevCon 2020 (virtual edition).

1. No Docker? No
Problem
Automating install and config management
with Ansible
Jeff Potts @jeffpotts01

2. I Docker

3. Not everyone is ready to run
Docker (and k8s) in production

4. Can our processes be highly
repeatable without Docker?

6. Ansible automates repetitive tasks
• In a nutshell:
• Ansible pushes and runs modules on remote machines
• Copy a file
• Install a package
• Create a user
• Ansible knows about the machines in your stack and the roles they play
• Forgiving learning curve
• No agents to install…Python is the only requirement
• Lots of helpful documentation at https://docs.ansible.com

8. Installing Alfresco
• File handles
• Java, LibreOffice, Image Magick
• Apache Tomcat
• Alfresco WAR, Share WAR, VTI_BIN WAR
• Alfresco MMT JAR and Scripts
• AOS and Shared Services AMPs
• Custom and/or Third-Party AMPs
• Apache ActiveMQ
• Alfresco PDF Renderer
• Alfresco Search Services
x Number of
Environments
= Lots of work,
potential for
inconsistency
x Number of
Servers in the
Cluster

9. Configuring Alfresco
• Alfresco Global Properties
• Alfresco JMX RMI Password
• JVM Settings
• Tomcat server.xml
• Tomcat web.xml
• Slingshot Application Context
• Share Config Custom
• ActiveMQ ENV
• LDAP Configuration
• SOLR init script
• SOLR Shared Properties
• SOLR Config XML (Alfresco &
Archive)
• SOLR Core Properties (Alfresco &
Archive)
• SOLR SSL Certificates
• Alfresco SSL Certificates
• Proxy/Load-balancer Settings

10. How do we guarantee that the configuration is the same on every
server in our cluster?
How do we handle configuration differences between environments?
What if we wanted to rollback to last month’s configuration?
How can we enable an ops team, unfamiliar with Alfresco, to
manage all of this?

11. Implementation Steps
1. Create an Ansible inventory file
2. Create Ansible playbooks
• Install Alfresco (and dependencies)
• Install SOLR
• Copy configuration
3. Create Ansible templates for non-static config files
• E.g., alfresco-global.properties
4. Use Ansible group variables to control settings by environment
5. Put everything in source code control

12. Run playbooks against one or more
environments
• Install/Upgrade Alfresco Content Services
ansible-playbook installAlfresco.yml --extra-
vars=“hosts=alfresco_dev”
• Copy Alfresco configuration
ansible-playbook copyAllAlfrescoConfig.yml --extra-
vars=“hosts=alfresco_dev:alfresco_test:alfresco_prod”
• Install/Upgrade Alfresco Search Services
ansible-playbook installSearch.yml --extra-
vars=“hosts=solr_dev”
• Copy Alfresco Search Services configuration
ansible-playbook copySolrCoreConfig.yml --extra-
vars=“hosts=solr_dev”

13. Live Demo!
https://github.com/jpotts/ansible-alfresco
Let’s turn on SSL for ACS

14. Tips & Tricks
• Stop editing files on the server—do it locally, then push with Ansible
• Playbooks should be idempotent
• Use Ansible Vault to encrypt sensitive variables
• Create an Ansible module that downloads installers, AMPs
• Use local Vagrant boxes to test playbooks
• Use --diff and --check to validate environments
• Git branch workflows are helpful
• Example: Prepare for upgrades on a release branch

15. • Consulting firm focused on solving business problems with open source
Content Management, Workflow, & Search technology
• Founded in 2010
• Clients all over the world in a variety of industries, including:
• Airlines & Aerospace
• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Financial Services
• Higher Education
• Life Sciences
• Professional Services
https://www.metaversant.com