Setup the Automation Controller ( AWX ) using Ansible

Learn how to create the Ansible Automation Controller (AWX) effortlessly using Ansible, utilizing the AWX Operator. This section also guides you through configuring the controller using Ansible, including setting up an organization, credentials, an Ansible Execution Environment, and a Job Template, which facilitates the provisioning of the Reverse Proxy.

Prerequisites

Create the reverse and forward proxy c2d-rproxy1.

c2
unset PLAY  # ensure all plays run
vagrant up c2d-rproxy1

For more information about the various roles that c2d-rproxy1 performs in this project:

Setup

To create the Kubernetes instance and deploy the AWX instance, execute the following command:

vagrant up c2d-awx1

Warning!

AWX may take some time to become available, which could potentially cause Ansible to fail during step 4, AWX Customization:. If you encounter a failure, please ensure that you can access the AWX web interface. Once you see the login screen, you can re-run the provisioning process with the following command:

vagrant provision c2d-awx1

Verify

To verify your AWX instance, follow these steps:

Connect

If you have kubectl installed on your host, you can also access the cluster using that by running the following commands:

export BOX=c2d-awx1
sudo snap install kubectl --classic
vagrant ssh $BOX -c "microk8s config" > ~/.kube/config
kubectl get all --all-namespaces

Show me

kube-system kube-system kube-system kube-system container-registry kube-system kube-system metallb-system metallb-system cert-manager cert-manager kube-system cert-manager awx awx awx awx awx NAMESPACE default container-registry kube-system kube-system kube-system kube-system metallb-system cert-manager cert-manager kube-system awx awx awx awx NAMESPACE kube-system metallb-system NAMESPACE kube-system kube-system kube-system container-registry kube-system kube-system metallb-system cert-manager cert-manager kube-system cert-manager awx awx awx NAMESPACE kube-system kube-system kube-system container-registry kube-system kube-system metallb-system cert-manager cert-manager kube-system cert-manager awx awx awx NAMESPACE NAME awx NAMESPACE NAME awx

class=highlight>

NAMESPACE            NAME                                                  READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE pod/hostpath-provisioner-766849dd9d-jdd5b             1/1     Running     0          17m pod/calico-node-vf72q                                 1/1     Running     0          17m pod/coredns-d489fb88-8xpwb                            1/1     Running     0          17m pod/calico-kube-controllers-d8b9b6478-2dj4s           1/1     Running     0          17m pod/registry-6674bf676f-twgpz                         1/1     Running     0          17m pod/dashboard-metrics-scraper-64bcc67c9c-5hbvz        1/1     Running     0          15m pod/kubernetes-dashboard-74b66d7f9c-8hqgf             1/1     Running     0          15m pod/controller-56c4696b5-w2xbs                        1/1     Running     0          15m pod/speaker-pkkpk                                     1/1     Running     0          15m pod/cert-manager-cainjector-7985fb445b-jdkk6          1/1     Running     0          15m pod/cert-manager-655bf9748f-6jxbg                     1/1     Running     0          15m pod/metrics-server-6b6844c455-7564v                   1/1     Running     0          15m pod/cert-manager-webhook-6dc9656f89-br48w             1/1     Running     0          15m pod/awx-operator-controller-manager-699d64766-ltpxh   2/2     Running     0          15m pod/awx-postgres-15-0                                 1/1     Running     0          14m pod/awx-web-6cb68b86cc-dp8tr                          3/3     Running     0          14m pod/awx-migration-24.4.0-cljp4                        0/1     Completed   0          13m pod/awx-task-5c96c47f86-r7vn7                         4/4     Running     0          14m NAME                                                      TYPE           CLUSTER-IP       EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)                  AGE service/kubernetes                                        ClusterIP      10.152.183.1     <none>        443/TCP                  17m service/registry                                          NodePort       10.152.183.38    <none>        5000:32000/TCP           17m service/kube-dns                                          ClusterIP      10.152.183.10    <none>        53/UDP,53/TCP,9153/TCP   17m service/metrics-server                                    ClusterIP      10.152.183.147   <none>        443/TCP                  16m service/kubernetes-dashboard                              ClusterIP      10.152.183.175   <none>        443/TCP                  16m service/dashboard-metrics-scraper                         ClusterIP      10.152.183.61    <none>        8000/TCP                 16m service/webhook-service                                   ClusterIP      10.152.183.124   <none>        443/TCP                  16m service/cert-manager                                      ClusterIP      10.152.183.51    <none>        9402/TCP                 15m service/cert-manager-webhook                              ClusterIP      10.152.183.177   <none>        443/TCP                  15m service/dashboard-lb                                      LoadBalancer   10.152.183.133   1.1.4.16      443:32189/TCP            15m service/awx-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service   ClusterIP      10.152.183.195   <none>        8443/TCP                 15m service/awx-postgres-15                                   ClusterIP      None             <none>        5432/TCP                 14m service/awx-service                                       ClusterIP      10.152.183.88    <none>        80/TCP                   14m service/awx-service-lb                                    LoadBalancer   10.152.183.29    1.1.4.17      8052:32477/TCP           11m NAME                         DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   NODE SELECTOR            AGE daemonset.apps/calico-node   1         1         1       1            1           kubernetes.io/os=linux   17m daemonset.apps/speaker       1         1         1       1            1           kubernetes.io/os=linux   16m NAME                                              READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE deployment.apps/calico-kube-controllers           1/1     1            1           17m deployment.apps/hostpath-provisioner              1/1     1            1           17m deployment.apps/coredns                           1/1     1            1           17m deployment.apps/registry                          1/1     1            1           17m deployment.apps/dashboard-metrics-scraper         1/1     1            1           16m deployment.apps/kubernetes-dashboard              1/1     1            1           16m deployment.apps/controller                        1/1     1            1           16m deployment.apps/cert-manager-cainjector           1/1     1            1           15m deployment.apps/cert-manager                      1/1     1            1           15m deployment.apps/metrics-server                    1/1     1            1           16m deployment.apps/cert-manager-webhook              1/1     1            1           15m deployment.apps/awx-operator-controller-manager   1/1     1            1           15m deployment.apps/awx-web                           1/1     1            1           14m deployment.apps/awx-task                          1/1     1            1           14m NAME                                                        DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   AGE replicaset.apps/calico-kube-controllers-d8b9b6478           1         1         1       17m replicaset.apps/hostpath-provisioner-766849dd9d             1         1         1       17m replicaset.apps/coredns-d489fb88                            1         1         1       17m replicaset.apps/registry-6674bf676f                         1         1         1       17m replicaset.apps/dashboard-metrics-scraper-64bcc67c9c        1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/kubernetes-dashboard-74b66d7f9c             1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/controller-56c4696b5                        1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/cert-manager-cainjector-7985fb445b          1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/cert-manager-655bf9748f                     1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/metrics-server-6b6844c455                   1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/cert-manager-webhook-6dc9656f89             1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/awx-operator-controller-manager-699d64766   1         1         1       15m replicaset.apps/awx-web-6cb68b86cc                          1         1         1       14m replicaset.apps/awx-task-5c96c47f86                         1         1         1       14m READY   AGE statefulset.apps/awx-postgres-15   1/1     14m COMPLETIONS   DURATION   AGE job.batch/awx-migration-24.4.0   1/1           102s       13m

Refer to Connecting to a Kubernetes Cluster for more information.

`Kubernetes Dashboard`

Access the Kubernetes Dashboard by visiting https://dashboard-awx.c2platform.org/ and log in using a token. Obtain the token by running the kubectl command shown below inside the c2d-awx1 node.
Once logged in, navigate to the awx namespace. Check if the awx-web and awx-task pods are running without any errors.

kubectl -n kube-system describe secret microk8s-dashboard-token

For more information about obtaining the token and setting up the Kubernetes Dashboard, refer to the Setup the Kubernetes Dashboard guide.

`AWX`

To access the AWX web interface, go to https://awx.c2platform.org . Use the admin account with the password secret to log in.
Once logged in, navigate to the Templates section.
From there, you can launch various plays, such as the reverse proxy play c2-reverse-proxy or one of the AWX plays c2-awx or c2-awx-config.

`Review`

To gain a better understanding of how the AWX instance is created using Ansible, you can review the following:

In Ansible playbook project c2platform/ansible:

Vagrantfile.yml: This file configures the c2d-awx1 node with the mgmt/awx playbook. This file is read in the Vagrantfile.
hosts-dev.ini: The inventory file assigns the c2d-awx1 node to the awx-new Ansible group and localhost to the awx_config Ansible group.

`AWX Play`

plays/mgmt/awx.yml: This playbook sets up Ansible roles for the awx-new Ansible group.
group_vars/awx_new/main.yml: This file contains the main configuration for Kubernetes, including enabling add-ons like dashboard and metallb load balancer.
group_vars/awx_new/files.yml: Here, you can find the configuration for creating the AWX Helm Chart in the /home/vagrant/awx-values.yml file.
group_vars/awx_new/kubernetes.yml: This file includes the configuration to set up the Kubernetes cluster and install AWX on it.
group_vars/awx_new/awx.yml: This file includes the configuration to configure AWX. It will for setup an organization, credentials, an execution environment and a job template to provision the reverse proxy.

`AWX Configuration Play`

The AWX Configuration Play is responsible for managing AWX using AWX itself. Its purpose is to be executed within the AWX environment. Unlike the standard AWX Play, this play employs fewer roles—specifically, it includes only c2platform.core.secrets and c2platform.mgmt.awx. Its scope is limited to configuring AWX, and it assumes the AWX instance has already been established. This play serves as an illustrative example of how AWX can autonomously manage its own setup.

plays/mgmt/awx_config.yml: This playbook establishes the Ansible roles required for the awx-config play.
group_vars/awx_config/main.yml: This file contains the configuration settings for AWX customization. It is a direct copy of group_vars/awx_new/awx.yml. Note: In a real-world scenario, copying configuration code like this would not be recommended.

Within the Ansible collection project c2platform.mw:

The c2platform.mw.microk8s Ansible role.
The c2platform.mw.kubernetes Ansible role.

Inside the Ansible collection project c2platform.mgmt:

The c2platform.mgmt.awx Ansible role.

`AWX Configuration`

Within the AWX instance via https://awx.c2platform.org , you can examine all components generated based on the configurations found in group_vars/awx_new/awx.yml or group_vars/awx_config/main.yml. For instance:

Job Templates like c2-awx, c2-awx-config, c2-reverse-proxy.
Credentials such as c2-machine and c2-vault.
The Project named c2d and the Inventory named c2.

`Manual installation`

If you prefer to perform the AWX installation manually, you can provision the c2d-awx1 node without the c2platform.mw.kubernetes Ansible role. To do this, disable or remove the c2platform.mw.kubernetes role in plays/mgmt/awx.yml. By running the vagrant up c2d-awx1 command, an “empty” Kubernetes cluster will be created. After that, you can follow the documentation to set up AWX.

Here are the relevant resources for the manual installation process:

`Known Issues`

`Kustomize`

By default, the AWX instance is created using Kustomize . Please refer to the ansible/awx-operator documentation for more details.

However, there is an issue when using a MicroK8s-based Kubernetes cluster. The kubectl apply command will fail with the following message:

evalsymlink failure on ‘/home/vagrant/github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/default?ref=2.2.1’

vagrant@c2d-awx1:~$ kubectl apply -k .
error: accumulating resources: accumulation err='accumulating resources from 'github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/default?ref=2.2.1': evalsymlink failure on '/home/vagrant/github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/default?ref=2.2.1' : lstat /home/vagrant/github.com: no such file or directory': git cmd = '/snap/microk8s/5392/usr/bin/git fetch --depth=1 origin 2.2.1': exit status 128

To reproduce this message, create a file /home/vagrant/kustomization.yaml with the contents shown below and run the command kubectl apply -k .:

vagrant@c2d-awx1:~$ cat kustomization.yaml
apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
images:
- name: quay.io/ansible/awx-operator
  newTag: 2.2.1
kind: Kustomization
namespace: awx
resources:
- github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/default?ref=2.2.1

As a result of the failure of Kustomize , the Helm Chart option was used instead.

`Links`

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Last modified June 5, 2024: fme verify https://gsd-fme-core.internal.c2platform.org/fmeserver/ RWS-859 (ce8abda)