Tower Scheduling with Ansible

1. Introduction

Ansible Tower (now part of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform) provides a web-based user interface and a REST API for managing Ansible automation. One of its powerful features is scheduling jobs to run at specific times or intervals. This lesson will cover the concepts and steps involved in scheduling jobs in Ansible Tower.

2. Key Concepts

2.1 What is Tower Scheduling?

Tower Scheduling allows users to automate the execution of playbooks or workflows at predefined times, enabling timely and efficient management of tasks without manual intervention.

2.2 Job Templates

A Job Template in Ansible Tower defines how a job should run. It includes details such as the playbook to execute, the inventory, and any extra variables.

2.3 Schedules

A schedule in Tower is a configuration that specifies when a job should be executed. Users can create schedules for both Job Templates and Workflow Templates.

3. Step-by-Step Guide

Log in to your Ansible Tower instance.
Navigate to the Templates section.
Select the Job Template you wish to schedule.
Click on the Schedule button.
Fill in the scheduling form with the following details:
- Name: Specify a name for the schedule.
- Start Time: Choose when to start the schedule.
- Recurrence: Set how often to run (daily, weekly, etc.).
Click Save to create the schedule.

Note: Ensure that the time zone of the Tower instance is configured correctly to avoid discrepancies in scheduling.

4. Best Practices

Test your Job Templates before scheduling them to ensure they run as expected.
Use descriptive names for your schedules to easily identify their purpose.
Regularly review scheduled jobs and remove any that are no longer needed.
Monitor job success and failure notifications to respond to issues promptly.

5. FAQ

Can I schedule multiple jobs at the same time?

Yes, you can create multiple schedules for different job templates or workflows that can run simultaneously.

What happens if a scheduled job fails?

Ansible Tower will notify you based on your notification settings. You can configure email or other notifications for job failures.

Can I edit a schedule after creating it?

Yes, you can edit existing schedules by navigating back to the Job Template and modifying the schedule settings.

6. Flowchart of Job Scheduling


        graph TD;
            A[Start] --> B{Job Template Selected?};
            B -->|Yes| C[Click on Schedule];
            B -->|No| D[Select Job Template];
            D --> C;
            C --> E[Fill out Schedule Form];
            E --> F[Click Save];
            F --> G[Schedule Created];
            G --> H[Job Runs as per Schedule];
            H --> I[End];