Ansible - Azure Resource Manager Example

Ansible

- Thomas Jungbauer Thomas Jungbauer ( Lastmod: 2024-05-05 ) - 3 min read

Using Ansible Resource Manager with an ARM template and a simple Ansible playbook to deploy a Virtual Machine with Disk, virtual network, public IP and so on.

Introduction

Source: [1]

In order to deploy a Virtual Machine and all depended resources using the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template with Ansible, you will need three things:

  • The ARM Template

  • The parameters you want to use

  • The Ansible playbook

All can be found below. Store them and simply call:

ansible-playbook Azure/create_azure_deployment.yml
it will take several minutes, until everything has been deployment in Azure.
Instead of using a json file locally you can upload the template file (as well as a parameters file) to a version control system and use it from there.

Additional Resources

Ansible Playbook: Create-Azure-Deplyoment.yml

---
- name: Get facts of a VM
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  become: false
  gather_facts: false

  tasks:

  #- name: Destroy Azure Deploy
  #  azure_rm_deployment:
  #    resource_group: tju-ResourceGroup
  #    name: tju-testDeployment
  #    state: absent

  - name: Create Azure Resource Group deployment
    azure_rm_deployment:
      state: present
      resource_group_name: tju-ResourceGroup
      name: tju-testDeployment
      #template_link: '<YOUR RAW Github template file>'
      #parameters_link: '<YOUR RAW Github parameters file>'
      template: "{{ lookup('file', 'ResourceManagerTemplate.json') }}"
      parameters:
        projectName:
          value: tjuProject
        location:
          value: "East US"
        adminUsername:
          value: tjungbauer
        adminPublicKey:
          value: "{{ lookup('file', '/Users/tjungbauer/.ssh/id_rsa.pub') }}"
        operatingSystem:
          value: CentOS
        operatingSystemPublisher:
          value: OpenLogic
        operatingSystemSKU:
          value: '7.1'
        vmSize:
          value: Standard_D2s_v3
    register: azure

  - name: Add new instance to host group
    add_host:
      hostname: "{{ item['ips'][0].public_ip }}"
      groupname: azure_vms
    loop: "{{ azure.deployment.instances }}"

ResourceManagerTemplate.json

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "projectName": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies a name for generating resource names."
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the location for all resources."
      }
    },
    "adminUsername": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies a username for the Virtual Machine."
      }
    },
    "adminPublicKey": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the SSH rsa public key file as a string. Use \"ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048\" to generate your SSH key pairs."
      }
    },
    "operatingSystem": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the Operating System. i.e. CentOS"
      }
    },
    "operatingSystemPublisher": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the publisher. i.e. OpenLogic"
      }
    },
    "operatingSystemSKU": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the version of the OS. i.e. 7.1"
      }
    },
    "vmSize": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the the VM size. i.e. Standard_D2s_v3"
      }
    }
  },
  "variables": {
    "vNetName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-vnet')]",
    "vNetAddressPrefixes": "10.0.0.0/16",
    "vNetSubnetName": "default",
    "vNetSubnetAddressPrefix": "10.0.0.0/24",
    "vmName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-vm')]",
    "publicIPAddressName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-ip')]",
    "networkInterfaceName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-nic')]",
    "networkSecurityGroupName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-nsg')]",
    "networkSecurityGroupName2": "[concat(variables('vNetSubnetName'), '-nsg')]"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2018-11-01",
      "name": "[variables('networkSecurityGroupName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "securityRules": [
          {
            "name": "ssh_rule",
            "properties": {
              "description": "Locks inbound down to ssh default port 22.",
              "protocol": "Tcp",
              "sourcePortRange": "*",
              "destinationPortRange": "22",
              "sourceAddressPrefix": "*",
              "destinationAddressPrefix": "*",
              "access": "Allow",
              "priority": 123,
              "direction": "Inbound"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses",
      "apiVersion": "2018-11-01",
      "name": "[variables('publicIPAddressName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "publicIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic"
      },
      "sku": {
        "name": "Basic"
      }
    },
    {
      "comments": "Simple Network Security Group for subnet [variables('vNetSubnetName')]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2019-08-01",
      "name": "[variables('networkSecurityGroupName2')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "securityRules": [
          {
            "name": "default-allow-22",
            "properties": {
              "priority": 1000,
              "access": "Allow",
              "direction": "Inbound",
              "destinationPortRange": "22",
              "protocol": "Tcp",
              "sourceAddressPrefix": "*",
              "sourcePortRange": "*",
              "destinationAddressPrefix": "*"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks",
      "apiVersion": "2018-11-01",
      "name": "[variables('vNetName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName2'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "addressSpace": {
          "addressPrefixes": [
            "[variables('vNetAddressPrefixes')]"
          ]
        },
        "subnets": [
          {
            "name": "[variables('vNetSubnetName')]",
            "properties": {
              "addressPrefix": "[variables('vNetSubnetAddressPrefix')]",
              "networkSecurityGroup": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName2'))]"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
      "apiVersion": "2018-11-01",
      "name": "[variables('networkInterfaceName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses', variables('publicIPAddressName'))]",
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks', variables('vNetName'))]",
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "ipConfigurations": [
          {
            "name": "ipconfig1",
            "properties": {
              "privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic",
              "publicIPAddress": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses', variables('publicIPAddressName'))]"
              },
              "subnet": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets', variables('vNetName'), variables('vNetSubnetName'))]"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
      "apiVersion": "2018-10-01",
      "name": "[variables('vmName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces', variables('networkInterfaceName'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "hardwareProfile": {
          "vmSize": "[parameters('vmSize')]"
        },
        "osProfile": {
          "computerName": "[variables('vmName')]",
          "adminUsername": "[parameters('adminUsername')]",
          "linuxConfiguration": {
            "disablePasswordAuthentication": true,
            "ssh": {
              "publicKeys": [
                {
                  "path": "[concat('/home/', parameters('adminUsername'), '/.ssh/authorized_keys')]",
                  "keyData": "[parameters('adminPublicKey')]"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        },
        "storageProfile": {
          "imageReference": {
            "publisher": "[parameters('operatingSystemPublisher')]",
            "offer": "[parameters('operatingSystem')]",
            "sku": "[parameters('operatingSystemSKU')]",
            "version": "latest"
          },
          "osDisk": {
            "createOption": "fromImage"
          }
        },
        "networkProfile": {
          "networkInterfaces": [
            {
              "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces', variables('networkInterfaceName'))]"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "adminUsername": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[parameters('adminUsername')]"
    }
  }
}

Sources

See Also:

  • Ansible Style Guide –

    You should always follow the Best Practices and Ansible Lint rules defined by the Ansible documentation when developing playbooks. Although very basic, the Best Practices document gives a few guidelines to be able to carry out well-structured playbooks and roles, it contains recommendations that evolve with the project, so it is recommended to review it regularly. It is advisable to review the organization of content in Ansible. The Ansible Lint documentation shows us through this tool the syntax rules that will be checked in the testing of roles and playbooks, the rules that will be checked are indicated in this document in their respective section.

  • Automation Controller and LDAP Authentication –

    The following article shall quickly, without huge background information, deploy an Identity Management Server (based on FreeIPA) and connect this IDM to an existing Automation Controller so authentication can be tested and verified based on LDAP.

  • Ansible Tower and downloading collections –

    Every wondered why Ansible Tower does not start downloading required collections when you synchronize a project? Here are the stumbling blocks we discovered so far:

  • DO410 Ansible and Ansible Tower training notes –

    Notes taken during Red Hat course D410 Ansible and Ansible Tower.

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