Automating Apache Web Server Deployment Using Ansible Roles 🚀

• In this project, I demonstrate how to automate the installation, configuration, and deployment of a static website on an Apache Web Server using Ansible Roles.
• The project follows Ansible best practices and is structured to be reusable, modular, and production-ready.

📌 Project Overview

The main goal of this project is to:

• Automate Apache installation

• Deploy a static website

• Use Ansible Roles for clean structure

• Implement handlers and variables

• Ensure OS-based conditional execution

This project is ideal for DevOps beginners and infrastructure automation use cases.

🛠 Tools & Technologies Used

• Ansible – Configuration Management

• Apache2 – Web Server

• Linux (Debian-based OS)

• YAML – Automation language

📁 Project Directory Structure
sample_role/
├── tasks/
│ └── main.yml
├── handlers/
│ └── main.yml
├── vars/
│ └── main.yml
├── files/
│ └── index.html
├── meta/
└── README.md

This structure follows the standard ansible-galaxy role layout.

⚙️ Role Components Explained
🔹 vars/main.yml

Defines reusable variables:

pkg: apache2
destfile: /var/www/html/

🔹 tasks/main.yml

Handles package installation and website deployment:

- name: Install apache2
  package:
    name: "{{ pkg }}"
    state: latest
  when: ansible_os_family == "Debian"

- name: Deploy static website on apache2
  copy:
    src: "."
    dest: "{{ destfile }}"
  become: yes
  notify:
    - start apache2

🔹 handlers/main.yml

Ensures Apache service starts only when required:

- name: start apache2
  service:
    name: apache2
    state: started
    enabled: yes

🔹 files/

Contains static website files:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• Images These are copied directly to Apache’s web root directory.

▶️ Playbook to Execute the Role

• hosts: all become: yes roles:
  • sample_role

🔄 Execution Flow

1. Playbook calls the Ansible role
2. Variables are loaded
3. Apache is installed (Debian-based OS)
4. Static website is deployed
5. Handler is triggered
6. Apache service starts and is enabled

✅ Expected Output

Apache Web Server installed successfully

Apache service running and enabled on boot

Static website accessible via browser using server IP

🌟 Benefits of Using Ansible Roles

• Reusable automation code
• Clean and organized structure
• Easy maintenance

• Faster deployments

• Reduced human errors

🏁 Conclusion

This project demonstrates how Ansible Roles can be used to build scalable and reusable infrastructure automation.
By separating tasks, handlers, variables, and files, the solution becomes production-ready and aligns with real-world DevOps practices.