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Athreya aka Maneshwar
Athreya aka Maneshwar

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Docker + Ansible: The Clean Way to Automate Infrastructure

#webdev #programming #devops #beginners

Hello, I'm Maneshwar. I'm building git-lrc, an AI code reviewer that runs on every commit. It is free, unlimited, and source-available on Github. Star Us to help devs discover the project. Do give it a try and share your feedback for improving the product.

_Hi there! I’m Maneshwar. Right now, I’m building

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by managing multiple servers, configurations, or deployment steps, Ansible is your friend.

This blog post walks through a real, modular Ansible setup, ideal for developers and DevOps engineers looking to scale smart automation without hacking things together.

We'll also dive into using external roles, tags, loops, handlers, and testing, all tied together in a clean folder structure.

The Folder Structure (Project Baseline) 

ansible/
├─ README.md
├─ ansible.cfg
├─ go-install-playbook.yml
├─ hosts.ini
├─ install_ansible.sh
├─ install-server-tools.yml
├─ requirements.yml
└─ roles/
   └─ server-tools/
      ├─ README.md
      ├─ defaults/main.yml
      ├─ files/
      ├─ handlers/main.yml
      ├─ meta/main.yml
      ├─ tasks/
      │  ├─ install_docker.yml
      │  ├─ main.yml
      │  └─ wander.yml
      ├─ templates/
      ├─ tests/
      │  ├─ inventory
      │  └─ test.yml
      └─ vars/main.yml
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This folder setup follows Ansible best practices. Each role is modular, reusable, and testable.

Conditional Installations (Cross-Distro Support)

Use ansible_facts to install OS-specific packages:

- name: Install web server based on OS family
  package:
    name: "{{ 'httpd' if ansible_facts['os_family'] == 'RedHat' else 'apache2' }}"
    state: present
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This ensures your playbook works across different Linux distributions.

Looping Through Tasks

Instead of repeating tasks for each user:

- name: Create users
  user:
    name: "{{ item.name }}"
    groups: "{{ item.groups }}"
  loop: "{{ user_list }}"
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Where user_list could be:

user_list:
  - { name: "alice", groups: "docker" }
  - { name: "bob", groups: "sudo" }
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Handlers in Action

Handlers are only triggered when notified, perfect for service restarts:

- name: Update NGINX config
  template:
    src: nginx.conf.j2
    dest: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
  notify: Restart NGINX
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In handlers/main.yml:

- name: Restart NGINX
  service:
    name: nginx
    state: restarted
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Tagging for Targeted Execution

Apply tags for surgical execution:

- name: Sync NGINX config
  copy:
    src: nginx.conf
    dest: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
  tags:
    - nginx
    - config
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Run only config-related tasks:

ansible-playbook install-server-tools.yml --tags config
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Role: server-tools Example

A role that installs CLI tools like Docker and Wander:

tasks/main.yml 

---
- import_tasks: install_docker.yml
- import_tasks: wander.yml
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tasks/wander.yml 

- name: Install Wander binary
  get_url:
    url: https://github.com/robinovitch61/wander/releases/latest/download/wander_Linux_x86_64
    dest: /usr/local/bin/wander
    mode: '0755'
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Wrapping It Up

Once everything is wired together:

ansible-playbook -i hosts.ini install-server-tools.yml -v
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This sets up Docker, your dev tools, certbot for HTTPS, cron, and a robust, reload-safe nginx config.

Stay clean, stay modular. Happy automation!

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With you can quickly generate interactive API documentation that allows users to search and execute APIs directly from the browser.

Stay clean, stay modular. Happy automation!

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git-lrc

Free, Unlimited AI Code Reviews That Run on Commit


git-lrc - Free, unlimited AI code reviews that run on commit | Product Hunt

AI agents write code fast. They also silently remove logic, change behavior, and introduce bugs -- without telling you. You often find out in production.

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Top comments (1)

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blenderman profile image
BBM •

Super helpful breakdown—love the modular approach!