Skillshub creating-ansible-playbooks

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/ComeOnOliver/skillshub

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/ComeOnOliver/skillshub "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/creating-ansible-playbooks" ~/.claude/skills/comeonoliver-skillshub-creating-ansible-playbooks-4a9da3 && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/creating-ansible-playbooks/SKILL.md

Creating Ansible Playbooks

Overview

Generate production-ready Ansible playbooks, roles, and inventories for infrastructure automation. Supports provisioning servers, deploying applications, configuring services, and enforcing desired state across fleets of machines using SSH-based agentless automation.

Prerequisites

Ansible 2.14+ installed (
```
ansible --version
```
)
SSH access to target hosts with key-based authentication
Python 3.9+ on control node and managed nodes
Inventory of target hosts (IPs or hostnames)
Privilege escalation credentials (sudo) if configuring system-level resources
```
ansible-lint
```
installed for playbook validation

Instructions

Scan the project for existing Ansible files (
```
ansible.cfg
```
,
```
inventory/
```
,
```
roles/
```
,
```
group_vars/
```
) to understand current structure
Determine the automation target: server provisioning, application deployment, configuration management, or security hardening
Create the playbook YAML with proper structure:
```
hosts
```
,
```
become
```
,
```
vars
```
,
```
tasks
```
,
```
handlers
```
Extract reusable logic into roles using the standard directory layout (
```
tasks/
```
,
```
handlers/
```
,
```
templates/
```
,
```
defaults/
```
,
```
vars/
```
,
```
meta/
```
)
Define variables in
```
group_vars/
```
and
```
host_vars/
```
for environment-specific values, keeping secrets in
```
vault
```
-encrypted files
Use Jinja2 templates for configuration files that vary across environments
Add handlers for service restarts triggered by configuration changes

Validate the playbook with

ansible-lint

and

ansible-playbook --check --diff

(dry run)

Test idempotency by running the playbook twice and confirming no changes on the second run

Output

Ansible playbooks (
```
.yml
```
) with structured tasks, handlers, and variables
Role directories following Ansible Galaxy structure
Jinja2 templates (
```
.j2
```
) for dynamic configuration files
Inventory files (INI or YAML) with host groups
```
group_vars/
```
and
```
host_vars/
```
for environment separation
```
ansible.cfg
```
with connection and privilege escalation settings

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`unreachable: Failed to connect to host`	SSH connection failure or wrong host/port	Verify SSH keys, host IPs, and that port 22 is open with `ansible -m ping`
`permission denied` on become	Missing or incorrect sudo password	Add `--ask-become-pass` or configure `ansible_become_password` in vault
`undefined variable`	Variable not defined in vars, defaults, or inventory	Check variable precedence; define in `defaults/main.yml` or `group_vars/`
`ansible-lint: syntax-check failed`	YAML syntax error or deprecated module usage	Run `ansible-lint -v` and fix reported issues; replace deprecated modules
`changed` on every run (not idempotent)	Using `command` / `shell` without `creates` / `removes` guards	Add `creates:` parameter or switch to purpose-built modules ( `copy` , `template` , `file` )

Examples

"Create an Ansible playbook to provision an Ubuntu 22.04 server with Nginx, Certbot, and a firewall allowing only 80/443."
"Generate a role that deploys a Python Flask app with Gunicorn, systemd service file, and log rotation."
"Write an Ansible playbook to harden SSH config across all servers: disable root login, enforce key auth, set idle timeout."

Resources

Ansible documentation: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/
Ansible Galaxy roles: https://galaxy.ansible.com/
Ansible Lint rules: https://ansible.readthedocs.io/projects/lint/rules/
Best practices guide: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/tips_tricks/ansible_tips_tricks.html