Ansible Playbooks Collection

This repository contains a collection of Ansible playbooks for system administration and monitoring tasks.

Playbooks Overview

1. Zabbix Agent Deployment (deploy-zabbix-agent.yaml)

Automated deployment and configuration of Zabbix Agent 2 on Linux systems.

Features:

• Multi-distribution support (Debian/Ubuntu and RedHat/CentOS)
• Automatic repository configuration
• Latest Zabbix Agent 2 installation
• Complete agent configuration
• Service management and validation
• Connectivity testing

Variables:

• zabbix_server: IP address of the Zabbix server (default: localhost)
• zabbix_agent_hostname: Hostname for the agent (auto-detected)
• zabbix_agent_hostmetadata: Host metadata (default: Linux)

Usage:

# Basic deployment
ansible-playbook deploy-zabbix-agent.yaml

# With custom Zabbix server
ansible-playbook deploy-zabbix-agent.yaml -e "zabbix_server=192.168.1.100"

Requirements:

• Ansible community.zabbix collection
• Target systems: Debian/Ubuntu or RedHat/CentOS
• Root privileges (become: true)

2. APT Package Updates (update-apt-packages.yaml)

Updates all APT packages on Debian/Ubuntu systems.

Features:

• Updates package cache
• Upgrades all installed packages
• Safe and reliable package management

Usage:

ansible-playbook update-apt-packages.yaml

3. APT Autoremove (update-apt-autoremove.yaml)

Removes unnecessary package dependencies on Debian/Ubuntu systems.

Features:

• Removes orphaned packages
• Cleans up system dependencies
• Frees up disk space

Usage:

ansible-playbook update-apt-autoremove.yaml

Combined Usage:

# Update packages then clean up
ansible-playbook update-apt-packages.yaml update-apt-autoremove.yaml

Prerequisites

Ansible Installation

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ansible

# RHEL/CentOS
sudo yum install ansible
# or
sudo dnf install ansible

# Using pip
pip install ansible

Required Collections

For the Zabbix agent playbook:

ansible-galaxy collection install community.zabbix

Inventory Configuration

Create an inventory file (hosts.ini):

[servers]
server1 ansible_host=192.168.1.10 ansible_user=ubuntu
server2 ansible_host=192.168.1.11 ansible_user=ubuntu

[monitoring]
zabbix-server ansible_host=192.168.1.100 ansible_user=admin

Example Usage Scenarios

Complete System Setup

# 1. Update all packages
ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini update-apt-packages.yaml

# 2. Clean up unnecessary packages
ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini update-apt-autoremove.yaml

# 3. Deploy Zabbix monitoring
ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini deploy-zabbix-agent.yaml -e "zabbix_server=192.168.1.100"

Maintenance Tasks

# Weekly maintenance
ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini update-apt-packages.yaml update-apt-autoremove.yaml

# Monthly monitoring setup
ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini deploy-zabbix-agent.yaml

Security Considerations

• All playbooks require root privileges (become: true)
• Ensure SSH key-based authentication is configured
• Limit inventory access to authorized systems only
• Review and test playbooks in development environment first

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Zabbix Agent Deployment:

• Repository access: Ensure internet connectivity for package downloads
• Service startup: Check firewall rules for port 10050 (agent)
• Server connectivity: Verify Zabbix server is accessible on port 10051

APT Operations:

• Lock files: Ensure no other package managers are running
• Disk space: Verify sufficient space for package updates
• Network: Check internet connectivity for package downloads

Debug Mode

Run playbooks with verbose output:

ansible-playbook -vvv playbook.yaml

Testing Connectivity

# Test SSH connectivity
ansible all -i hosts.ini -m ping

# Check system information
ansible all -i hosts.ini -m setup

File Structure

.
├── deploy-zabbix-agent.yaml    # Zabbix agent deployment
├── update-apt-packages.yaml    # APT package updates
├── update-apt-autoremove.yaml  # APT cleanup
├── hosts.ini                   # Inventory file (example)
└── README.md                   # This file

Contributing

1. Test all playbooks in a development environment
2. Follow Ansible best practices
3. Document any new variables or requirements
4. Ensure compatibility across supported distributions

License

These playbooks are provided as-is for educational and operational use. Please review and adapt according to your specific requirements and security policies.

Support

For issues or questions:

• Review the troubleshooting section
• Check Ansible documentation: https://docs.ansible.com/
• Verify system requirements and dependencies