Hands-on Labs

Practice your Ansible skills with these guided exercises

Beginner Labs

Easy
Lab 1: First Playbook

Create your first Ansible playbook to manage a web server.

  • Install Apache/Nginx
  • Deploy a simple website
  • Manage the service
Lab 2: Variables & Templates

Learn to use variables and Jinja2 templates.

  • Define variables in playbooks
  • Create configuration templates
  • Deploy dynamic configs
Lab 3: Inventory Management

Work with static and dynamic inventory.

  • Create inventory files
  • Use groups and variables
  • Target specific hosts
Lab 1 Lab 2 Lab 3

Intermediate Labs

Medium
Lab 4: Roles & Structure

Build reusable roles for common tasks.

  • Create a role structure
  • Use handlers and defaults
  • Share roles between playbooks
Lab 5: Windows Automation

Manage Windows servers with WinRM.

  • Configure WinRM connection
  • Install Windows features
  • Manage Windows services
Lab 6: Vault & Secrets

Secure sensitive data with Ansible Vault.

  • Encrypt variables
  • Use vault in playbooks
  • Manage multiple vaults
Lab 4 Lab 5 Playground

Advanced Labs

Hard
Lab 7: Cloud Deployment

Deploy infrastructure on AWS/Azure/GCP.

  • Launch cloud instances
  • Configure networking
  • Use dynamic inventory
Lab 8: Custom Modules

Write your own Ansible modules.

  • Create Python modules
  • Handle parameters
  • Return proper data
Lab 9: CI/CD Pipeline

Integrate Ansible with CI/CD tools.

  • Set up automated testing
  • Deploy with GitLab/Jenkins
  • Implement rollback strategies
Use Playground

Advanced labs coming soon! Use the playground to practice these topics.

Real-World Scenarios

Complete end-to-end projects that simulate production environments

Scenario 1: LAMP Stack Deployment

Objective: Deploy a complete LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)

What you'll do:

  • Configure RHEL/Ubuntu servers
  • Install and configure Apache
  • Set up MySQL database
  • Deploy PHP application
  • Configure firewall and SELinux
3-4 hours

Scenario 2: Multi-Tier Cloud App

Objective: Deploy a scalable application on AWS

What you'll do:

  • Create VPC and subnets
  • Launch EC2 instances
  • Set up RDS database
  • Configure load balancers
  • Implement auto-scaling
4-5 hours

Scenario 3: Windows Domain Setup

Objective: Automate Active Directory environment

What you'll do:

  • Configure Windows Server
  • Install Active Directory
  • Create OUs and users
  • Apply Group Policies
  • Join computers to domain
3-4 hours

Scenario 4: Kubernetes Deployment

Objective: Deploy and manage apps on Kubernetes

What you'll do:

  • Set up Kubernetes cluster
  • Deploy containerized apps
  • Configure services and ingress
  • Manage secrets and configs
  • Implement rolling updates
4-5 hours

Lab Tips

  • Start with the playground to test your code
  • Read the documentation for each topic before starting labs
  • Use --check mode to test without making changes
  • Break complex tasks into smaller steps
  • Use version control to track your progress
  • Don't hesitate to experiment and learn from errors