Ansible Tower Workflows Tutorial

Introduction to Ansible Tower Workflows

Ansible Tower is a powerful tool for managing and automating your IT infrastructure. One of its key features is the ability to create and manage workflows. Workflows allow you to orchestrate multiple playbooks and tasks in a sequence, branching, and conditional logic. This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating and managing workflows in Ansible Tower.

Setting Up Ansible Tower

Before we dive into workflows, ensure that you have Ansible Tower installed and configured. If you haven't set up Ansible Tower yet, follow the official installation guide.

Creating a Basic Workflow

Let's start by creating a basic workflow. Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Ansible Tower instance.
2. Navigate to the Templates section.
3. Click on the + Add button and select Workflow Template.
4. Fill in the Name and Description fields.
5. Select the Organization and Inventory.
6. Click Save.

Adding Nodes to the Workflow

Once the workflow template is created, you can start adding nodes. Nodes represent individual job templates, project syncs, or inventory syncs.

To add a node:

1. Click on the Start node.
2. Select + Add Node.
3. Choose the type of node (e.g., Job Template).
4. Select the appropriate job template from the list.
5. Click Save.

Start Node -> Job Template A
                

Adding Conditional Logic

Workflows allow you to add conditional logic, enabling different paths based on the outcome of previous tasks. For example, you can branch the workflow based on the success or failure of a task.

To add conditional logic:

1. Click on an existing node.
2. Select + Add Node.
3. Choose the condition (e.g., On Success, On Failure, or Always).
4. Select the appropriate job template for the condition.
5. Click Save.

Job Template A (Success) -> Job Template B
Job Template A (Failure) -> Job Template C
                

Saving and Launching the Workflow

Once you have added all the necessary nodes and conditions, save the workflow by clicking the Save button.

To launch the workflow:

1. Navigate to the Templates section.
2. Find your workflow template in the list.
3. Click the Rocket icon to launch it.

You can monitor the workflow execution in the Jobs section.

Advanced Workflow Features

Ansible Tower workflows offer advanced features such as:

• Surveys: Collect user input before running the workflow.
• Notifications: Send notifications based on workflow status.
• Schedules: Automate the execution of workflows at specific times.

Explore these features to enhance your workflows further.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the basics of creating and managing workflows in Ansible Tower. Workflows provide a powerful way to orchestrate complex automation tasks, enabling you to streamline your IT operations. Explore the various features and customize workflows to suit your needs.