Lab 1 — Ansible Ping Module

Objective

Ping two worker VMs (worker1 and worker2) from the Master VM (Ansible Controller) using the Ansible ping module.

For this task, three VMs are required:

• 1 Master/Controller VM
• 2 Worker VMs (worker1 and worker2)

Ensure that the SSH service is installed, enabled, and running on both worker VMs before proceeding with the Ansible configuration.

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Step 1 — Install Ansible on Master VM

Login to Master VM and install Ansible.

For CentOS/RHEL:

sudo dnf install ansible -y

Verify installation:

ansible --version

Step 2 — Check Connectivity Between VMs

Verify that all VMs can ping each other.

From Master VM:

ping <worker1-ip>
ping <worker2-ip>

Example:

ping 192.168.182.129
ping 192.168.182.130

Step 3 — Create SSH Key on Master VM

Generate SSH key pair on master/controller VM.

ssh-keygen

SSH keys will be created inside:

~/.ssh/id_rsa
~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Step 4 — Copy SSH Key to Worker Nodes

Copy public key to both worker VMs.

ssh-copy-id octopus@192.168.182.129
ssh-copy-id octopus@192.168.182.130

Replace octopus with your VM username if different.

Verify passwordless SSH:

ssh octopus@192.168.182.129
ssh octopus@192.168.182.130

Configure SSH on Worker Nodes

Do this on both worker VMs.

Edit SSH daemon configuration:

sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Ensure these settings are enabled:

PermitRootLogin yes
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PasswordAuthentication yes

Then restart SSH service:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Verify service status:

sudo systemctl status sshd

Step 5 — Configure Ansible Inventory File

Edit inventory file:

sudo vi /etc/ansible/hosts

Add worker node IPs:

[web]
192.168.182.129

[app]
192.168.182.130

Step 6 — Ping All Worker Nodes

Run Ansible ping command:

ansible all -m ping

Expected Output:

192.168.182.129 | SUCCESS => {
 "ping": "pong"
}
192.168.182.130 | SUCCESS => {
 "ping": "pong"
}

Step 7 — Ping Specific Group

Ping only web or app group:

ansible web -m ping
ansible app -m ping

Step 8 — Create Group of Groups

Edit inventory file again:

sudo vi /etc/ansible/hosts

Add child groups:

[web]
192.168.182.129

[app]
192.168.182.130

[production:children]
web

[testing:children]
app

[deploy:children]
web
app

Step 9 — Ping Using Child Groups

Ping groups:

ansible production -m ping //Ping productiongroup
ansible testing -m ping //Ping testing group
ansible deploy -m ping //Ping deploy group:

Step 10 — Ping Using VM Hostname

Edit /etc/hosts file on Master VM:

sudo vi /etc/hosts

Add IP and hostname entries:

192.168.182.129 worker1
192.168.182.130 worker2

Now verify hostname resolution:

ping worker1
ping worker2

Step 11 — Add Hostnames in Ansible Inventory

Edit inventory:

sudo vi /etc/ansible/hosts

Replace IPs with hostnames:

[web]
worker1

[app]
worker2

[production:children]
web

[testing:children]
app

[deploy:children]
web
app

Step 12 — Ping Using Hostnames

ansible all -m ping

Expected output:

worker1 | SUCCESS => {
 "ping": "pong"
}
worker2 | SUCCESS => {
 "ping": "pong"
}