Install Ansible-Navigator & Podman on Ubuntu

Carters — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 12:01:49 +0000

Introduction

Ansible Navigator is a command-line tool that provides a text-based user interface (TUI) for running and managing Ansible playbooks, inventories, and configurations efficiently.

🔹 Purpose of Ansible Navigator:
✅ Simplifies Ansible usage with an interactive interface.
✅ Improves debugging by displaying structured outputs.
✅ Manages Ansible collections & execution environments easily.
✅ Enhances playbook execution with real-time feedback.

It is especially useful when working with automation in containerized environments using Ansible Execution Environments (EE). 🚀

Requirements for Linux machine

Either podman or Docker for Linux
Internet access (during initial installation)

Step 1: Install Ansible-navigator , python

To install Ansible Navigator on Ubuntu, follow these steps:

Update Your System

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Python3 and Pip

Ansible Navigator requires Python 3.8 or later. Install Python and Pip if they are not already installed:

sudo apt install python3 python3-pip -y
sudo apt install python3.12-venv libonig-dev

Install Ansible Navigator

You can install Ansible Navigator using pip . It is recommended to install it in a virtual environment to avoid conflicts with other Python packages.

Option 1: Install Globally If you want to install Ansible Navigator globally, run:

   sudo pip3 install ansible-navigator

Option 2: Install in a Virtual Environment

Create a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv ansible3-env

Activate the virtual environment:

source ansible-env/bin/activate

Install Ansible Navigator:

pip3 install ansible-navigator

*Verify the Installation

After installation, verify that Ansible Navigator is installed correctly:

ansible-navigator --version

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Step 2: Install Podman

Ansible Navigator is designed to run Ansible inside a containerized execution environment rather than directly on the local machine.
Podman is used as the default container runtime for executing these Ansible Execution Environments (EE).

Reasons Why Podman is Required:

Runs Ansible in a Container → Ansible Navigator executes playbooks inside a controlled environment, avoiding dependency conflicts.
Rootless Execution → Unlike Docker, Podman allows running containers without root privileges, improving security.
Lightweight Alternative to Docker → Works without a background daemon, making it more efficient.

Ansible Navigator may require additional dependencies like ansible-core or podman for certain features. Install them as needed:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y podman

Resources
https://podman.io/docs/installation
https://ansible.readthedocs.io/projects/navigator/installation/

DEV Community: Carters

Install Ansible-Navigator & Podman on Ubuntu

Introduction

Requirements for Linux machine

Step 1: Install Ansible-navigator , python

Step 2: Install Podman