> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Demo Generating Playbooks With Lightspeed > Using Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed in VS Code to generate, refine, validate, and run an Ansible playbook that installs and manages Apache with a templated index and restart handler In this lesson you'll use Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed (within the VS Code Ansible extension) to generate a complete, production-ready Ansible playbook from a natural-language prompt such as "install and start httpd". Lightspeed will propose tasks, modules, parameters, and proper indentation. You will create a workspace, generate and refine a playbook named `site.yml`, add a templated page and a handler, ask Lightspeed to explain the result, and validate and run the playbook. A slide titled "Lightspeed Playbook Test" showing a DevOps team on the left and a flow on the right from the Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed logo to the VS Code logo, with the caption "Prompts to playbooks." Scenario: your team has connected Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed to VS Code and wants to evaluate how effectively Lightspeed converts plain-English prompts into playbooks that follow best practices for RHEL-based targets. The goal: a working playbook that installs and starts Apache (httpd), deploys a simple templated index page, and restarts the service when the template changes. A dark-themed slide titled "Demo" showing a six-step checklist split into two columns. Steps include creating a new workspace, creating a playbook file called site.yml using Lightspeed, reviewing generated code, adding a templating task and handler, explaining the playbook, and validating. Quick checklist (what you'll do) * Create a workspace and inventory * Create a playbook file `site.yml` using Lightspeed * Review and refine generated tasks and naming * Add a templated `index.html` and a handler to restart Apache * Ask Lightspeed to explain the playbook * Validate and run the playbook Step-by-step: create the workspace and basic configuration on your control node. Create the workspace directory: ```bash theme={null} student@control:~$ mkdir lightspeed student@control:~$ cd lightspeed ``` Create a minimal inventory file that defines the `webservers` group: ```ini theme={null} # inventory [webservers] servera ``` Create a minimal `ansible.cfg` that points to the inventory and configures privilege escalation: ```ini theme={null} # ansible.cfg [defaults] inventory = inventory [privilege_escalation] become_method = sudo become = True become_user = root become_ask_pass = False ``` Open the `lightspeed` working directory in VS Code and use the Ansible extension / Lightspeed UI controls to generate a playbook. A dark-themed Visual Studio Code welcome screen showing Ansible Lightspeed controls in a left sidebar, walkthroughs and start options in the center, and a "Build with agent mode" pane on the right. The UI also displays buttons for generating playbooks and roles and a feedback section. Prompt provided to Lightspeed (example): ```text theme={null} Create a playbook which installs Apache on RHEL-based systems. Ensure Apache is started and enabled at boot. The target system is the group webservers from the inventory. ``` Lightspeed analyzes that prompt and proposes a complete playbook. After reviewing and refining the generated content for naming consistency and best practices (for example: capitalized task names, consistent module namespaces), this demo uses the following `site.yml`: ```yaml theme={null} --- - name: Install Apache hosts: webservers become: True tasks: - name: Install Apache package ansible.builtin.yum: name: httpd state: present - name: Ensure Apache is Started ansible.builtin.service: name: httpd state: started enabled: true - name: Place a template called index.html.j2 within /var/www/html/index.html ansible.builtin.template: src: templates/index.html.j2 dest: /var/www/html/index.html owner: root group: root mode: '0644' notify: Restart Apache handlers: - name: Restart Apache ansible.builtin.service: name: httpd state: restarted ``` Why these choices * ansible.builtin.yum: appropriate for RHEL-based systems (CentOS, RHEL, Alma, Rocky). * become: True: ensures privileged operations (package install, service control) run with elevated privileges. * Template + handler pattern: updates the site content idempotently and restarts Apache only when the template changes. Create the template referenced by the playbook at `templates/index.html.j2`: ```jinja2 theme={null} Welcome

Welcome to {{ ansible_facts['nodename'] }}

Managed by Ansible Lightspeed

``` Ask Lightspeed to "explain" the playbook — it will list prerequisites, describe each task and handler, and summarize expected results in plain language. For example: the playbook installs `httpd` on hosts in group `webservers`, ensures the service is running and enabled, deploys a templated `index.html`, and restarts Apache only when the template changes. Lightspeed generates code, explains it, and suggests improvements — but always review generated playbooks for naming conventions, idempotence, and environment-specific constraints (for example SELinux context, firewall rules, or custom package sources). Save the playbook as `site.yml` and run it from the control node: ```bash theme={null} student@control:~/lightspeed$ ansible-playbook site.yml ``` Example (abridged) output when running the playbook: ```bash theme={null} [WARNING]: Host 'servera' is using the discovered Python interpreter at '/usr/bin/python3.12'. See https://docs.ansible.com/ansible-core/2.20/reference_appendices/interpreter_discovery.html PLAY [Install Apache] ************************************************************* TASK [Gathering Facts] ************************************************************ ok: [servera] TASK [Install Apache package] ***************************************************** ok: [servera] TASK [Ensure Apache is Started] *************************************************** ok: [servera] TASK [Place a template called index.html.j2 within /var/www/html/index.html] ****** changed: [servera] RUNNING HANDLER [Restart Apache] ************************************************* changed: [servera] PLAY RECAP ************************************************************************ servera : ok=5 changed=2 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0 ``` Artifacts you created | File / Artifact | Purpose | Path | | --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | Inventory | Defines target group `webservers` | inventory | | ansible.cfg | Points to inventory and configures privilege escalation | ansible.cfg | | Playbook | Installs and manages Apache, deploys template, notifies handler | site.yml | | Template | Jinja2 HTML template using host facts | templates/index.html.j2 | Notes on limitations and follow-ups * Lightspeed excels at generation and explanation from natural language prompts, accelerating playbook creation. * For larger, already-complex projects you may still need source-focused refactoring tools or manual review to enforce organization (roles, variables, testing pipelines). * Consider adding SELinux and firewall tasks if your environment requires them, and include molecule tests for role-level validation. References * [Ansible Documentation](https://docs.ansible.com/) * [Ansible VS Code Extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.ansible) * [Ansible Playbooks — Best Practices](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks.html) Congratulations — you now have a simple, production-ready playbook generated and refined with Lightspeed, complete with a templated `index.html` and a handler to restart Apache when the template changes.