Demo Generating a Playbook With ChatGPT

In this lesson we use ChatGPT as a co-pilot to rapidly scaffold, validate, and iterate an idempotent Ansible playbook. The goal: produce a reusable playbook that installs Apache (httpd) on RHEL hosts, deploys a Jinja2 template for the site, and restarts httpd only when changes occur. Scenario: your DevOps team repeatedly performs manual steps on demo RHEL machines—installing httpd, starting the service, and copying a static test page. We’ll automate that workflow by generating a baseline playbook and template with ChatGPT, validating them in VS Code, iterating on lint/validation feedback, and finally running the playbook on the target host.

The slide titled "Manual Web Demo Setup" shows a DevOps Engineer icon on the left, a central graphic labeled "RHEL machines," and three right-side steps: "Install Apache," "Start service," and "Copy Test Page." It outlines the manual steps for setting up a web demo on RHEL servers.

Overview — workflow

Ask ChatGPT to create a playbook (site.yml) that installs httpd and deploys a Jinja2 template.
Paste the playbook into VS Code.
Ask ChatGPT to generate the Jinja2 template file (index.html.j2).
Validate files in VS Code using the Ansible extension and ansible-lint.
If there are lint or validation issues, iterate by giving the errors back to ChatGPT.
Once the base version is working, extend the playbook (for example, add an idempotent footer append).
Run the playbook and confirm the results on the demo server.

A dark-themed presentation slide titled "Demo" showing six numbered steps. The steps describe using ChatGPT and VS Code to generate site.yml and an index.html.j2 template, validate and fix files, extend a playbook to append a line to the HTML, and test the playbook.

Step-by-step walkthrough

Environment setup

Create a working directory and change into it:

student@control:~$ mkdir chatgpt
student@control:~$ cd chatgpt

Create a simple inventory file named inventory with a group webservers:

[webservers]
servera

Create ansible.cfg that points to the local inventory and configures privilege escalation:

[defaults]
inventory = inventory

[privilege_escalation]
become = true
become_method = sudo
become_user = root
become_ask_pass = false

Generate the initial playbook with ChatGPT

Prompt example used:
“As a DevOps engineer, create an Ansible playbook called site.yml for RHEL-based hosts in the group webservers that installs httpd, deploys a Jinja2 template named index.html.j2 to /var/www/html/index.html, enables and starts the httpd service, uses handlers, and keeps tasks idempotent.”
After getting the reply, paste it into VS Code and make lint-friendly corrections:
- Use fully-qualified collection names (ansible.builtin.<module>) to satisfy ansible-lint fqcn checks.
- Use lowercase true/false YAML booleans for compatibility with YAML linters.
- Ensure gather_facts: true when the template uses facts like ansible_fqdn.

Clean, lint-friendly playbook:

---
- name: Configure webservers
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  gather_facts: true

  tasks:
    - name: Install httpd package
      ansible.builtin.dnf:
        name: httpd
        state: present
      notify:
        - Restart httpd

    - name: Deploy index.html from Jinja2 template
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: index.html.j2
        dest: /var/www/html/index.html
        mode: '0644'
      notify:
        - Restart httpd

    - name: Ensure httpd is enabled and starts at boot
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: httpd
        state: started
        enabled: true

  handlers:
    - name: Restart httpd
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: httpd
        state: restarted

Tips:

Always prefer FQCNs like ansible.builtin.template to avoid collection ambiguity and satisfy ansible-lint rules.
Keep gather_facts: true when templates reference facts such as ansible_fqdn.

Create the Jinja2 template

Request ChatGPT to create index.html.j2 with a friendly message. Example template:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Welcome to {{ ansible_fqdn }}</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hello from Ansible!</h1>
  <p>This page is served by Apache HTTP Server (httpd) configured via Ansible.</p>
</body>
</html>

Ensure the file ends with a newline to avoid subtle template issues.

Validate and run the playbook

Tools to use:
- VS Code Ansible extension: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.ansible
- ansible-lint: https://ansible-lint.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

Some lint messages are recommendations (deprecations, style). Address critical errors first; non-blocking warnings can be deferred while iterating with ChatGPT.

Run the playbook:

student@control:~/chatgpt$ ansible-playbook site.yml

Expected behavior:

Install/template/start tasks report changed/ok as appropriate.
Handlers run only when a task notifies them (i.e., only on change).

Example abbreviated output:

TASK [Install httpd package] **********************************************
ok: [servera]

TASK [Deploy index.html from Jinja2 template] ******************************
changed: [servera]

TASK [Ensure httpd is enabled and starts at boot] ***************************
changed: [servera]

RUNNING HANDLER [Restart httpd] ********************************************
changed: [servera]

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************
servera                   : ok=4    changed=3    unreachable=0    failed=0

Verify on the target

SSH to the target and curl the local site:

student@servera:~$ curl localhost:80
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Welcome to servera</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hello from Ansible!</h1>
  <p>This page is served by Apache HTTP Server (httpd) configured via Ansible.</p>
</body>
</html>

Extend the playbook — append a footer line idempotently

To demonstrate iterative improvements, add a lineinfile task that appends one footer line to /var/www/html/index.html only if it does not already exist. Place this task after the template task so it operates on the deployed file.

Suggested task:

- name: Append "This file was deployed by Ansible + ChatGPT" to index.html
  ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
    path: /var/www/html/index.html
    line: 'This file was deployed by Ansible + ChatGPT'
    insertafter: EOF
    create: yes
  notify:
    - Restart httpd

Concise full playbook including the appended task:

---
- name: Configure webservers
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  gather_facts: true

  tasks:
    - name: Install httpd package
      ansible.builtin.dnf:
        name: httpd
        state: present
      notify:
        - Restart httpd

    - name: Deploy index.html from Jinja2 template
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: index.html.j2
        dest: /var/www/html/index.html
        mode: '0644'
      notify:
        - Restart httpd

    - name: Append "This file was deployed by Ansible + ChatGPT" to index.html
      ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
        path: /var/www/html/index.html
        line: 'This file was deployed by Ansible + ChatGPT'
        insertafter: EOF
        create: yes
      notify:
        - Restart httpd

    - name: Ensure httpd is enabled and starts at boot
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: httpd
        state: started
        enabled: true

  handlers:
    - name: Restart httpd
      ansible.builtin.service:
        name: httpd
        state: restarted

Re-run the playbook and confirm idempotence

Run again:

student@control:~/chatgpt$ ansible-playbook site.yml

Expected pattern:

First run: template and lineinfile may be “changed” and will trigger the handler.
Subsequent runs: lineinfile reports ok (no change) if the footer already exists, and the handler will not run because no task reported changed.

Final verification:

student@servera:~$ curl localhost:80
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Welcome to servera</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hello from Ansible!</h1>
  <p>This page is served by Apache HTTP Server (httpd) configured via Ansible.</p>
</body>
</html>
This file was deployed by Ansible + ChatGPT

Quick reference — mapping tasks to modules

Task purpose	Ansible module	Notes
Install package	`ansible.builtin.dnf`	Use `state: present` for RHEL-based hosts
Deploy Jinja2 template	`ansible.builtin.template`	Template source -> dest, set `mode` appropriately
Append footer idempotently	`ansible.builtin.lineinfile`	Use `insertafter: EOF` and `create: yes`
Ensure service enabled/started	`ansible.builtin.service`	Use `state: started`, `enabled: true`
Restart as needed	handler using `ansible.builtin.service`	Triggered only on notify from changed tasks

Wrapping up — best practices

Use ChatGPT to scaffold and iterate quickly; always validate generated content with linters and human review before running in production.
Keep tasks idempotent (use modules like template and lineinfile rather than raw shell append).
Use handlers to restart services only when necessary, preventing needless restarts.
Fix lint errors progressively—feed the specific messages back to ChatGPT for faster iteration.

Links and references

Ansible documentation: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/index.html
Jinja2: https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/latest/
Apache HTTP Server: https://httpd.apache.org/
VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/
Ansible extension for VS Code: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.ansible
ansible-lint: https://ansible-lint.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

You now have a repeatable pattern: generate → validate → iterate → run — using ChatGPT and VS Code to produce predictable, idempotent Ansible automation.

Prerequisites

Ansible Refresher

Working With VS Code Extension

Using ChatGPT With Ansible

GitHub Copilot

Claude Code - CLI With Ansible

Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed

Demo Generating a Playbook With ChatGPT

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