Exploring Ansible Navigator: A Comprehensive Guide

 Introduction

As a system administrator, you’re likely familiar with Ansible, a powerful tool for automating IT tasks. However, navigating through Ansible’s extensive features can sometimes be challenging. Enter Ansible Navigator—a tool designed to simplify the management of your Ansible playbooks and collections. In this blog post, we’ll define what Ansible Navigator is, explore its features, and provide a practical example to help you get started.

What is Ansible Navigator?

Ansible Navigator is a command-line interface (CLI) tool that enhances the user experience when working with Ansible. It provides an interactive, user-friendly way to run and troubleshoot playbooks, explore collections, and manage Ansible configurations. Think of it as an enhanced Ansible CLI that offers more functionality and a better user experience, especially when dealing with complex Ansible tasks.

Key Features of Ansible Navigator

Interactive CLI: Ansible Navigator offers an interactive command-line interface that makes it easier to run and debug playbooks.

Enhanced Playbook Execution: It provides detailed output and logging for playbook runs, making troubleshooting more straightforward.

Collection Management: Allows users to explore and manage Ansible collections directly from the CLI.

Configuration Inspection: Facilitates the inspection and management of Ansible configurations.

Integration with Ansible Tower/AWX: Seamlessly integrates with Ansible Tower/AWX for a more comprehensive automation solution.

Installing Ansible Navigator

Before we dive into an example, let’s first ensure that Ansible Navigator is installed. You can install it using pip:

Example: Running a Simple Playbook with Ansible Navigator

Let’s walk through an example of using Ansible Navigator to run a simple playbook.

Step 1: Create a Simple Playbook

First, create a playbook named simple_playbook.yml:

This playbook has a single task that creates a file with a message on the localhost.

Step 2: Running the Playbook with Ansible Navigator

Open your terminal and navigate to the directory containing simple_playbook.yml. Then, run the following command:

 

Step 3: Exploring the Output

Once you run the command, Ansible Navigator will execute the playbook and provide an interactive interface to explore the output. You’ll see a detailed breakdown of the playbook execution, including:

• Task status (ok, changed, failed, etc.)
• Task output and logs
• Execution time
• This enhanced output makes it easier to understand what happened during the playbook run and troubleshoot any issues.

Conclusion

Ansible Navigator is a valuable tool for system administrators looking to streamline their Ansible workflows. With its interactive CLI, detailed playbook execution output, and robust collection management features, Ansible Navigator enhances the overall Ansible experience. By incorporating Ansible Navigator into your toolkit, you can simplify complex automation tasks and improve your efficiency as a sysadmin.