If you’re looking to run Ansible playbooks on your local machine without the hassle of installing dependencies, a self-contained Ansible distribution is your best friend. In this blog, we will walk you through the installation and usage of this handy Ansible package, ensuring you can automate your tasks with ease.

What is the Self-Contained Ansible Distribution?

This portable Ansible package comes with all the required Python modules. You don’t need to install it—just download, unpack, and you’re ready to go! The distribution currently includes only ansible-base, so you’ll have to manually install any extra dependencies as needed.

How to Install the Self-Contained Ansible Distribution

Follow these simple steps to get started:

• Download the latest version of the portable Ansible tarball from the Releases page.
• Run the following command in your terminal:

wget https://github.com/ownport/portable-ansible/releases/download/version/portable-ansible-version-py3.tar.bz2 -O ansible.tar.bz2

• Extract the tarball:

tar -xjf ansible.tar.bz2

• Run the following command to test the installation:

python3 ansible localhost -m ping

You should see an output similar to:

[WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available
localhost  SUCCESS =     changed: false,    ping: pong

Creating Aliases for Ansible Commands

In order to run your Ansible playbooks seamlessly, create aliases to the portable Ansible directory by executing the following commands:

sh
for l in config console doc galaxy inventory playbook pull vault; do
  ln -s ansible ansible-$l
done

Installing Additional Python Packages

If you need to install extra Python packages, you can do so in the ansibleextras directory:

• To install a single package:

pip3 install -t ansibleextras package

• To install from a requirements file:

pip3 install -t ansibleextras -r requirements.txt

• Alternatively, you can install packages in your user directory:

pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Here are some troubleshooting tips if you encounter any issues:

• Provided hosts list is empty: If you see warnings about the hosts list, ensure your hosts file is correctly configured and includes the target hosts.
• Commands not found: Make sure you created the symbolic links correctly to have access to all Ansible commands.
• Permission errors: If you face permission-related issues, try running the commands with sudo or check your user permissions.
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Conclusion

By following these steps, you can easily set up and use the self-contained Ansible distribution on your local machine. With just a bit of setup, you’ll be ready to automate and orchestrate your infrastructure with ease!