Automate Infrastructure Provisioning with Ansible and Terraform

Automation is at the heart of infrastructure management, and combining tools like Terraform and Ansible can significantly streamline the process. Terraform excels at provisioning and managing infrastructure as code, allowing teams to define cloud resources declaratively and reliably. On the other hand, Ansible is a useful configuration management tool, ideal for automating the installation and configuration of software on provisioned servers. By combining these two tools, you can create a cohesive and automated workflow that manages both infrastructure and software setup in a unified manner.

Let’s guide you through integrating Terraform and Ansible to automate the creation and configuration of a cloud environment. We will leverage Terraform to provision cloud resources such as virtual machines and networking components and use Ansible to configure those resources with the necessary software and services. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a fully automated system that demonstrates the utility of combining infrastructure as code with configuration management, making complex setups easier to deploy and manage.

What is Terraform?

Terraform is an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp that allows you to define cloud resources using a declarative configuration language. It supports multiple cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, GCP, and even on-premises environments. With Terraform, you can provision, update, and manage infrastructure reliably and predictably.

The core features of Terraform include:

Declarative Syntax: Infrastructure is defined in a human-readable format, making it easier to manage and version-control.

State Management: Tracks the current state of your infrastructure to ensure accurate updates.

Modules and Reusability: Enables building reusable components for common infrastructure patterns.

What is Ansible?

Ansible, developed by Red Hat, is a configuration management and automation tool. It is agentless, meaning it does not require any software to be installed on the managed nodes apart from SSH or WinRM. Ansible is widely used for tasks such as:

• Installing and configuring software.

• Managing and automating server setups.

• Orchestrating complex multi-tier deployments.

Ansible uses YAML for its playbooks, making it easy to read and write configurations. It is often used alongside Terraform to manage the software layer on provisioned infrastructure.

Why Combine Terraform and Ansible?

While Terraform is excellent for provisioning infrastructure, it does not handle in-depth configuration of the servers or applications running on them. Ansible fills this gap by automating software and service setup, allowing you to seamlessly manage the lifecycle of your environment. Together, these tools provide:

Comprehensive Automation: Terraform provisions the infrastructure, while Ansible ensures the servers are configured correctly.

Improved Efficiency: Reduces manual effort and eliminates repetitive tasks.

Consistency Across Environments: Ensures that both infrastructure and configurations are predictable and repeatable.

Environment Setup

To begin, you need to set up the required tools and prepare your environment for Terraform and Ansible.

Install Terraform Download and install the latest version of Terraform:

wget https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/<version>/terraform_<version>_linux_amd64.zip
unzip terraform_<version>_linux_amd64.zip
sudo mv terraform /usr/local/bin/

Confirm the installation by running:

terraform version

Install Ansible Install Ansible using your system's package manager:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ansible -y

Verify the installation:

ansible --version

Cloud Provider Configuration Ensure you have access to your cloud provider's CLI tools and credentials:

For AWS: Install and configure the AWS CLI.

sudo apt install awscli -y
aws configure

For Azure or GCP, install the respective CLI tools (az or gcloud) and set up authentication.

Git Repository for Version Control It’s essential to track your work with version control. Initialize a Git repository:

git init terraform-ansible-project
cd terraform-ansible-project

Verify Permissions

Ensure you have the appropriate permissions on your cloud provider account to provision resources and access them for configuration. Test authentication using the provider’s CLI tools before proceeding.

Folder Structure for the Project

To maintain organization and scalability, structure your project directories as follows:'

project/
├── terraform/
│   ├── main.tf
│   ├── variables.tf
│   ├── outputs.tf
├── ansible/
│   ├── inventory/
│   │   └── inventory.ini
│   ├── site.yml
├── scripts/
│   └── deploy.sh

This structure separates infrastructure definitions, configuration management files, and helper scripts for deployment.

Test the Setup

Before moving forward, ensure that both Terraform and Ansible are functional. Run a simple Terraform plan command to check if your environment is correctly configured:

terraform init
terraform plan

Run a simple Ansible ping command to verify Ansible functionality:

ansible localhost -m ping

With the environment successfully set up, you are now ready to start defining and deploying infrastructure using Terraform and configuring it with Ansible. The next part will focus on creating reusable Terraform modules for scalable infrastructure provisioning.