linuxexpert-practice-labs/labs/ex294/8-2-installing-roles/README.md

EX294 8.2: Installing roles

Install roles written elsewhere: tarballs from a web server and a role from a Git branch, all from a requirements file, then update one.

Before you start

This VM is the control node. The lab creates the user greg (password Lab-Pass-1) and installs ansible-core and git. Work as greg, in /home/greg/ansible: its ansible.cfg reads the inventory inventory, logs in to the node as devops with greg's SSH key, and becomes root.

• The managed node node1 (10.99.1.11) is an AlmaLinux 10 container running httpd, serving /var/www/html. For a root shell there, sudo podman exec -it node1 bash.
• /home/greg/role-src has two roles, motd and issue.
• /srv/git/chrony-role.git is a Git repository (owned by greg) with a role chrony on the branches main and devel.

Tasks

1. Make a tarball of each role in ~/role-src, serve them from node1 as http://node1/roles/motd.tar.gz and http://node1/roles/issue.tar.gz, and install both into /home/greg/ansible/roles with the requirements file /home/greg/ansible/roles/requirements.yml. ansible-galaxy role list -p roles lists them under the project's roles directory.
2. Install the role chrony from /srv/git/chrony-role.git at the branch devel. ansible-galaxy role list -p roles shows devel as its version.
3. Change the role in its source: clone the repository, commit a change on devel, and push it. Then update your installed copy. A plain install skips it; --force gets the new version.

Hints

• A role tarball has the role's directory at its top: tar -czf motd.tar.gz -C ~/role-src motd.
• ansible node1 -m copy -a "src=... dest=/var/www/html/roles/" puts a file on the web server.
• In the requirements file, each role has name and src; a Git source is git+file:///srv/git/chrony-role.git with version: devel.
• ansible-galaxy role install -r roles/requirements.yml -p roles.