Getting started with Ansible

.. _getting_started_index:

############################ Getting started with Ansible ############################

Ansible automates the management of remote systems and controls their desired state.

.. image:: ../images/ansible_inv_start.svg :width: 800px :height: 400px :alt: Basic components of an Ansible environment include a control node, an inventory of managed nodes, and a module copied to each managed node.

As shown in the preceding figure, most Ansible environments have three main components:

Control node A system on which Ansible is installed. You run Ansible commands such as ansible or ansible-inventory on a control node.

Inventory A list of managed nodes that are logically organized. You create an inventory on the control node to describe host deployments to Ansible.

Managed node A remote system, or host, that Ansible controls.

.. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1

introduction get_started_ansible get_started_inventory get_started_playbook basic_concepts