Intermediate
Ansible for Network Engineers
Declarative, agentless automation — the same VLAN deployment problem from Configuration & Template Automation, now orchestrated with real Ansible inventory, playbooks, and check mode.
Ansible reframes automation as declarative rather than imperative: you describe the desired state and let the framework figure out how to get there. This module explains Ansible's control-node/managed-node architecture directly against the SSH model you already know from Netmiko, then walks through installing ansible-core, translating a CSV inventory into Ansible's own INI/YAML format, writing your first playbook, and reusing the exact Jinja2 template syntax from Configuration & Template Automation through Ansible's own template module. You'll also work with real Cisco IOS modules like ios_config, and --check/--diff mode as Ansible's built-in equivalent of dry-run.
Next up
Why Ansible? Declarative Automation
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Why Ansible? Declarative Automation
The shift from imperative automation (write every step yourself) to declarative automation (describe the desired state, let a framework figure out how) — and why that shift matters once you're past a handful of one-off scripts.
Intermediate10 min readNext up - 2
Installing Ansible and Its Architecture
Control node, managed node, and agentless SSH — Ansible's architecture explained against the SSH model you already know from Netmiko. Installing ansible-core, and the three-layer dependency model this module uses throughout.
Intermediate12 min read - 3
Inventory: From CSV to Ansible Inventory
Translating the exact devices.csv inventory this curriculum has used since Phase 2.6 into Ansible's own INI and YAML inventory formats — groups, host variables, and group variables.
Intermediate12 min read - 4
Ad-Hoc Commands and Your First Playbook
Ansible's ad-hoc commands for quick, one-off tasks, and your first real playbook — a minimal, runnable localhost example, plus the real difference between valid YAML and a valid Ansible playbook.
Intermediate13 min read - 5
Variables, Jinja2, and the template Module
Ansible's {{ }} variable syntax is the exact Jinja2 you already learned in Configuration & Template Automation. This lesson reuses the same vlan_config.j2 file, now rendered by Ansible's own template module.
Intermediate13 min read - 6
Idempotent Modules, Loops, Conditionals, and Check Mode
Real Cisco IOS modules (ios_config, ios_command), loop: for repeated tasks like multiple VLANs, when: for conditionals, and --check/--diff as Ansible's own dry-run — mapped directly against Reliable Automation's dry_run=True.
Intermediate15 min read - 7
Capstone: A Complete Ansible-Based Configuration Deployment
The same VLAN deployment problem from Configuration & Template Automation, solved with a real Ansible inventory, the same Jinja2 template, a loop-based idempotent module, and check-mode preview — Ansible as an orchestration layer over everything already built.
Intermediate18 min read
Practice this module
Apply what you just covered -- hands-on practice and a knowledge check for this module.