Table of Contents generated with DocToc

• Ansible Labs
  • Lab 1
• Modifying/Rebuilding the Document(s)
  • Requirements
  • HowTo

Ansible Labs

This repository contains a set of interactive documents for learning ansible.

These are neatly packaged, self-contained HTML files bearing the .hta file extension, which elevates the documents to full-blown applications on the Windows platform.

As such, these documents are meant to be executed from a Windows host, but you can simply rename the document(s) to .html for viewing content on non-Windows operating systems.

Of course, you can use whatever file extension of your choosing when rebuilding the document(s).

Added Bonus: With the files renamed/built as .html you can drop these on a web server and leverage the same level of access granted to the .hta's so long as you are accessing them via Internet Explorer (with ActiveX enabled).

Lab 1

In Lab 1, you will make use of Vagrant for setting up a localized lab for a hands-on ansible learning experience.

Here's what's covered:

• What is ansible?
• How to install Ansible on Windows/Linux/MacOS
• What is Vagrant?
• How to prepare a test environment for Ansible using Vagrant

Lab 1 - Download

For your convenience, I've generated Lab 1 as both a .hta and a .html.

Simply right click either of the below links, choose Save link as and launch:

• ansible-lab1.hta
• ansible-lab1.html

Modifying/Rebuilding the Document(s)

Requirements

If you want to make changes to the content and rebuild the documents, you'll need to install some requirements:

• optional:
  • python 2.7+ (only if you plan on installing pandoc python module, i.e. pip install pandoc)
  • cmder(full version is best, as it ships with git-bash)
• mandatory:
  • pandoc
  • pp (Pre-compiled binaries available for Windows and Linux)
  • A copy of the bert.docs repo

HowTo

Again, to build the document, you'll need to grab a copy of bert.docs, as this project utilizes objects from that codebase.

The build.sh/build.bat pandoc/pp wrapper scripts output a single .hta file as per specification.

Supposing you downloaded/cloned bert.docs to a folder named git under your HOME folder (e.g. C:\Users\MyUserName), invoking the build script can be done as follows:

• From a cmd or powershell terminal
  • &$HOME\git\bert.docs\build.bat -s lab1\ansible-lab1.markdown -o lab1\ansible-lab1.hta -r $HOME\git\bert.docs -t lab1\templates\ansible-lab1.html -c $HOME\git\bert.docs\_common\templates\default.css -H $HOME\git\bert.docs\_common\templates\header.html -p provisioners_rb_url='https:\\github.com\berttejeda\vagrant-venv\blob\master\lib\provision.rb' -p git_url=https:\\github.com\berttejeda\vagrant-venv.git -p vagrant_lab=$HOME\git\github\bert.docs.ansible\lab1\includes\vagrant.lab.md -p vagrant_machine=web01.contoso.com -p vagrant_group=web-servers -p VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN -V VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN
• To issue a dry run, simply include the --dry flag when you call the build script
  • Invoking the commands above with the --dry flag will display something similar to:
    &C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\pp.exe -D provisioners_rb_url=https:\\github.com\berttejeda\vagrant-venv\blob\master\lib\provision.rb -D git_url=https:\\github.com\berttejeda\vagrant-venv.git -D vagrant_lab=C:\Users\MyUserName\git\bert.docs.ansible\lab1\includes\vagrant.lab.md -D vagrant_machine=web01.contoso.com -D vagrant_group=web-servers -D VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN lab1\ansible-lab1.markdown | C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\pandoc.exe -o 'lab1\ansible-lab1.hta' -c 'C:\Users\MyUserName\git\self\bert.docs\_common\templates\default.css' -H 'C:\Users\MyUserName\git\self\bert.docs\_common\templates\header.html' --template lab1\templates\ansible-lab1.html -V docroot=C:\Users\MyUserName\git\self\bert.docs -V VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN --self-contained --standalone
• From git-bash/cmder/cygwin, etc
  ~/git/bert.docs/build.sh -s lab1/ansible-lab1.markdown -o lab1/ansible-lab1.hta -r ~/git/bert.docs -t lab1/templates/ansible-lab1.html -c ~/git/bert.docs/_common/templates/default.css - H ~/git/bert.docs/_common/templates/header.html -p provisioners_rb_url='https://github.com/berttejeda/vagrant-venv/blob/master/lib/provision.rb' -p git_url=https://github.com/berttejeda/vagrant-venv.git -p vagrant_lab=~/git/github/bert.docs.ansible/lab1/includes/vagrant.lab.md -p vagrant_machine=web01.contoso.com -p vagrant_group=web-servers -p VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN -V VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN
  • Invoking the commands above with the --dry flag will display something similar to:
    pp -D provisioners_rb_url=https://github.com/berttejeda/vagrant-venv/blob/master/lib/provision.rb -D git_url=https://github.com/berttejeda/vagrant-venv.git -D vagrant_lab=/c/Users/MyUserName/git/github/bert.docs.ansible/lab1/includes/vagrant.lab.md -D vagrant_machine=web01.contoso.com -D vagrant_group=web-servers -D VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN lab1/ansible-lab1.markdown | pandoc -o 'lab1/ansible-lab1.hta' -c '/c/Users/MyUserName/git/self/bert.docs/_common/templates/default.css' -H '/c/Users/MyUserName/git/self/bert.docs/_common/templates/header.html' --template lab1/templates/ansible-lab1.html -V docroot=/c/Users/MyUserName/git/self/bert.docs -V VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN --self-contained --standalone
  • Lastly, the bash-based build script includes a poor man's filewatcher which utilizes the find command to monitor file changes and trigger a rebuild based on specified parameters, e.g.
    ~/git/bert.docs/build.sh -s lab1/ansible-lab1.markdown -o lab1/ansible-lab1.hta -r ~/git/bert.docs -t lab1/templates/ansible-lab1.html -c ~/git/bert.docs/_common/templates/default.css - H ~/git/bert.docs/_common/templates/header.html -p provisioners_rb_url='https://github.com/berttejeda/vagrant-venv/blob/master/lib/provision.rb' -p git_url=https://github.com/berttejeda/vagrant-venv.git -p vagrant_lab=~/git/github/bert.docs.ansible/lab1/includes/vagrant.lab.md -p vagrant_machine=web01.contoso.com -p vagrant_group=web-servers -p VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN -V VERSION_STRING=YY.MM.DD.NN -w *.md,*.js,*.css,*.html -i 5
  • The above command will watch for relevant file changes at 5-second intervals