Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Mastering Ansible, Second Edition
Mastering Ansible, Second Edition

Mastering Ansible, Second Edition: Master the ins and outs of advanced operations with Ansible , Second Edition

eBook
$27.98 $39.99
Paperback
$48.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Mastering Ansible, Second Edition

Chapter 2. Protecting Your Secrets with Ansible

Secrets are meant to stay secret. Whether they are login credentials to a cloud service or passwords to database resources, they are secret for a reason. Should they fall into the wrong hands, they can be used to discover trade secrets, customers' private data, create infrastructure for nefarious purposes, or worse. All of which could cost you or your organization a lot of time, money, and headache! In this chapter, we cover how to keep your secrets safe with Ansible:

  • Encrypting data at rest
  • Protecting secrets while operating

Encrypting data at rest

As a configuration management system or an orchestration engine, Ansible has great power. In order to wield that power, it is necessary to entrust secret data to Ansible. An automation system that prompts the operator for passwords each connection is not very efficient. To maximize the power of Ansible, secret data has to be written to a file that Ansible can read and utilize the data from within.

This creates a risk though! Your secrets are sitting there on your filesystem in plain text. This is a physical and digital risk. Physically, the computer could be taken from you and pawed through for secret data. Digitally, any malicious software that can break the boundaries set upon it could read any data your user account has access to. If you utilize a source control system, the infrastructure that houses the repository is just as much at risk.

Thankfully, Ansible provides a facility to protect your data at rest. That facility is Vault. This facility allows for encrypting...

Protecting secrets while operating

In the previous section of this chapter, we covered protecting your secrets at rest on the filesystem. However, that is not the only concern when operating Ansible with secrets. That secret data is going to be used in tasks as module arguments or loop inputs or any number of other things. This may cause the data to be transmitted to remote hosts, logged to local or remote log files, or displayed onscreen. This section of the chapter will discuss strategies for protecting your secrets during operation.

Secrets transmitted to remote hosts

As we learned in Chapter 1, System Architecture and Design of Ansible, Ansible will combine module code and arguments and write this out to a temporary directory on the remote host. This means your secret data is transferred over the wire AND written to the remote filesystem. Unless you are using a connection plugin other than ssh, the data over the wire is already encrypted preventing your secrets from being discovered...

Summary

Ansible can deal with sensitive data. It is important to understand how this data is stored at rest and how this data is treated when utilized. With a little care and attention, Ansible can keep your secrets secret. Encrypting secrets with ansible-vault can protect them while dormant on your filesystem or in a shared source control repository. Preventing Ansible from logging task data can protect against leaking data to remote log files or onscreen displays.

In our next chapter, we will explore the powers of the Jinja2 templating engine, as used by Ansible.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Learn how to extend Ansible with custom modules, plugins, and inventory sources
  • Utilize advanced Ansible features to orchestrate rolling updates with little to no service disruptions
  • An up-to-date book that brings to light the newly added features in Ansible 2.x

Description

This book provides you with the knowledge you need to understand how Ansible 2.1 works at a fundamental level and leverage its advanced capabilities. You'll learn how to encrypt Ansible content at rest and decrypt data at runtime. You will master the advanced features and capabilities required to tackle the complex automation challenges of today and beyond. You will gain detailed knowledge of Ansible workflows, explore use cases for advanced features, craft well thought out orchestrations, troubleshoot unexpected behaviour, and extend Ansible through customizations. Finally, you will discover the methods used to examine and debug Ansible operations, helping you to understand and resolve issues. By the end of the book, the readers will be able to unlock the true power of the Ansible automation engine and will tackle complex real world actions with ease.

Who is this book for?

This book is for Ansible developers and operators who have an understanding of the core elements and applications but are now looking to enhance their skills in applying automation using Ansible.

What you will learn

  • Gain an in-depth understanding of how Ansible works under the covers
  • Fully automate the Ansible playbook executions with encrypted data
  • Access and manipulate variable data within playbooks
  • Use Blocks to construct failure recovery or cleanup
  • Explore the Playbook debugger and Ansible Console
  • Troubleshoot unexpected behavior effectively
  • Work with cloud infrastructure providers and container systems
  • Develop custom modules, plugins, and dynamic inventory sources

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Mar 30, 2017
Length: 310 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781787125681
Vendor :
Red Hat
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing

Product Details

Publication date : Mar 30, 2017
Length: 310 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781787125681
Vendor :
Red Hat
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 146.97
Learning Ansible 2
$48.99
Implementing DevOps with Ansible 2
$48.99
Mastering Ansible, Second Edition
$48.99
Total $ 146.97 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

9 Chapters
1. System Architecture and Design of Ansible Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Protecting Your Secrets with Ansible Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Unlocking the Power of Jinja2 Templates Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Controlling Task Conditions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Composing Reusable Ansible Content with Roles Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Minimizing Downtime with Rolling Deployments Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Troubleshooting Ansible Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Extending Ansible Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Infrastructure Provisioning Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.8
(8 Ratings)
5 star 62.5%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 25%
1 star 12.5%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




rashmi Nov 02, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
good book
Amazon Verified review Amazon
John Doe Jun 15, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Good Ansible book for more advanced topics.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Adam J Miller Jul 18, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Extremely well written, the book is both approachable and in-depth. The topics are covered in a way that are easily followed but still cover topics in-depth, showing what you can accomplish using Ansible in more advanced configurations. I highly recommend this to any DevOps practitioner who's interested in learning the nuts and bolts of Ansible or any IT Professional who wants to learn Ansible beyond the basics.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jurijs Kolomijecs Feb 26, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Kurt Keller is probably right, the book might be difficult to read for a newbie, but hey, the book is called "Mastering Ansible", meaning you will become a master. It was a difficult trip to learn the content, since I tried to learn each and every feature Ansible provides. I already have ~80 hours experience with Ansible and the book was right for me. After reading a book I can massively refactor existing playbooks and make those way easier to read and execute properly. For example, now I know about "changed_when" feature, so I know when something was really changed.I would recommend this book to everybody who really wants to master Ansible and is ready to spend lots of time executing examples and adjusting existing playbooks.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
JimM Jan 25, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Well written and easy to use on kindle.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.