Demo Install Ansible

In this tutorial you’ll install Ansible on a controller VM and connect it to two target VMs. The guide assumes you have a prepared VirtualBox template VM. We will:

Clone the template to create one controller (AnsibleController) and two targets (target1, target2).
Start the VMs and determine their IP addresses.
Configure hostnames and SSH host keys.
Install ansible-core on the controller and verify connectivity using the ping module.

This flow is intentionally minimal and suitable for learning and testing. For production, use SSH keys and Ansible Vault for credentials.

Clone the controller and target VMs

In VirtualBox, right‑click the template VM → Clone. If the Clone option is not visible, enable Expert Mode in VirtualBox Preferences.
Create a clone for the controller (e.g., AnsibleController) and a clone for the first target (ansible-target1). Use Linked Clone to save disk space and choose “Generate new MAC addresses”.

A desktop screenshot showing a "Clone Virtual Machine" dialog (named "ansible-target1") with options for MAC address generation and clone type. A terminal window is partially visible behind it and an Earth wallpaper fills the background.

Start the controller and target VMs

Start the controller and target VMs from the VirtualBox UI (right-click → Start or use the toolbar).

A computer desktop shows Oracle VirtualBox Manager with a confirmation dialog asking to start virtual machines named "ansible-controller" and "ansible-target1." A terminal window is visible behind the dialog and the wallpaper is an Earth-from-space image.

Find each VM’s IP address and SSH in from your host

On each VM, open a terminal and run ip a. Note the inet address for the VM’s network interface (for example, enp0s8):

alan@localhost:~$ ip a
2: enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 ...
    inet 192.168.0.56/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute enp0s8

From your host machine, SSH into each VM to add SSH host keys to your known_hosts and perform initial configuration:

# Example: SSH into controller
ssh 192.168.0.56
# Accept fingerprint: yes
# Enter password when prompted

Example controller login (shortened):

alan@192.168.0.56's password:
Last login: Thu Aug 13 12:16:18 2026
alan@localhost:~$ ls
Desktop  Documents  Downloads  Music  Pictures  Public  Templates  test  Videos

Tip: Keep sessions organized by opening separate terminal tabs (or use tmux/screen) for controller and targets.

Set meaningful hostnames on each VM

To reduce confusion, set a readable hostname on each VM. Edit /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts.

Example on the controller:

sudo vim /etc/hostname
# replace content with:
AnsibleController

sudo vim /etc/hosts
# keep loopback and add hostname on the first line:
127.0.0.1 localhost AnsibleController
::1       localhost localhost.localdomain

Apply the change by rebooting:

sudo shutdown now -r

Repeat for target1 and target2 (set /etc/hostname accordingly and update /etc/hosts).

Install Ansible on the controller

Check the Ansible installation guide for distribution-specific instructions: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/installation_guide/intro_installation.html

A screenshot of the Ansible Community Documentation webpage, showing a left-hand navigation menu and the main content with headings like "Ansible getting started" and "Installation, Upgrade & Configuration."

A screenshot of the Ansible Community Documentation site showing the Ansible Installation Guide page, with a left navigation menu and a central list of installation topics and links.

For CentOS Stream 10 / RHEL-like systems, enable necessary repos and install ansible-core:

# On the controller VM
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled crb
sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y ansible-core

Verify installation:

ansible --version

Example output:

ansible [core 2.16.19]
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
  ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ansible
  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.12.13 (main, Jul 20 2026) [/usr/bin/python3]
  jinja version = 3.1.6
  libyaml = True

Prepare a simple inventory and verify connectivity

Create a working directory and an inventory that defines your hosts. For demo convenience this example includes plaintext passwords — do not use this in production.

mkdir ~/test-project
cd ~/test-project
cat > inventory.txt <<'EOF'
target1 ansible_host=192.168.0.58 ansible_ssh_pass=alan
EOF

Storing plaintext passwords in an inventory is convenient for demos but insecure for production. Use SSH keys or Ansible Vault to protect credentials in real environments.

Test connectivity with the Ansible ping module:

ansible target1 -m ping -i inventory.txt

If Ansible reports an sshpass error, install sshpass (used for password-based SSH in this demo):

sudo dnf install -y sshpass

Re-run the ping:

ansible target1 -m ping -i inventory.txt

Successful response (example):

target1 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/bin/python3"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "ping": "pong"
}

Create the second target (target2) and add it to inventory

Clone the template again to create ansible-target2 (Linked Clone). Start it and determine its IP (for example, 192.168.0.59). From the controller, SSH once to accept the host key:

# From controller
ssh 192.168.0.59
# Accept fingerprint: yes
# Enter password
exit

Update inventory.txt to include target2:

cat > inventory.txt <<'EOF'
target1 ansible_host=192.168.0.58 ansible_ssh_pass=alan
target2 ansible_host=192.168.0.59 ansible_ssh_pass=alan
EOF

Run the ping against target2:

ansible target2 -m ping -i inventory.txt

Expected response:

target2 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/bin/python3"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "ping": "pong"
}

Note: If Ansible fails because the SSH fingerprint is unknown, manually SSH to the host from the controller to accept the fingerprint before re-running Ansible.

Summary and quick reference

Table — What you did and why

Action	Purpose	Example command
Clone VMs	Create controller and targets from a template	(VirtualBox UI)
Find IPs	Discover VM addresses for SSH	`ip a`
Set hostnames	Make hosts identifiable in inventory	`sudo vim /etc/hostname`
Install Ansible	Run Ansible commands from a central controller	`sudo dnf install -y ansible-core`
Create inventory	Map hostnames to addresses and creds (demo only)	`cat > inventory.txt <<'EOF' ...`
Verify connectivity	Ensure controller can reach targets	`ansible target1 -m ping -i inventory.txt`

Key points

You cloned a controller and two targets, gave them meaningful hostnames, and recorded each VM’s SSH host key in known_hosts.
You installed ansible-core on the controller and sshpass for demo password authentication.
You created a basic inventory and validated connectivity with Ansible’s ping module.

Next steps (recommended)

Replace password authentication with SSH key-based authentication from the controller to targets.
Use inventory groups and host variables to scale your environment.
Learn Ansible Playbooks to automate configuration and tasks across your targets.

Links and references

Ansible Installation Guide — https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/installation_guide/intro_installation.html
Ansible documentation — https://docs.ansible.com/

Warnings

Never store plaintext passwords in production inventory files.
Add SSH host keys manually (or manage them centrally) before automating with password-based tools like sshpass.

Introduction

Configuration and Basic Concepts

Ansible Inventory

Ansible Variables and Facts

Ansible Playbooks

Ansible Modules & Plugins

Ansible Handlers, Roles and Collections

Ansible Templates

Appendix

Demo Install Ansible

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