For fun I've been writing a fairly complicated set of Linux automation scripts in both Ansible and Pyinfra. I like Pyinfra, but it feels a lot more like I'm programming in Python then defining automation tasks. I think a lot of Ansible dislike is from bad implementation. - ThreadSky

jeffgeerling.com • 23 days ago

For fun I've been writing a fairly complicated set of Linux automation scripts in both Ansible and Pyinfra.

I like Pyinfra, but it feels a lot more like I'm programming in Python then defining automation tasks.

I think a lot of Ansible dislike is from bad implementation.

Comments

robertrs.bsky.social•23 days ago

Felt myself regularly running into issues with Network automation through Ansible with the constraints of logic / looping / referential calls in Ansible. I like Ansible when it fits the task, like blasting out static idempotent desired state.

big-geek.net•23 days ago

Jeff have you played with Chef or Puppet at all?

I'm looking to try to get into Linux automation a bit. So far all I've done is cloud-init scripts for VM images, and I'm not a fan. AFAIK Ansible uses yaml too so I'm hesitant there...

rmb-it.com•23 days ago

Ansible is the way , easiest to setup, easy to automate, easy to maintain , easy to put in pipelines with TF.

big-geek.net•23 days ago

How much do I need to be concerned about it being a Redhat thing? I avoid them like the plague

rmb-it.com•23 days ago

I understand , but you dont have to worry if you use from the cli. They have paid solutions like rhaap but then the community also has an alternative awx. In the end ansible is just a python thing over ssh.

prime73.bsky.social•23 days ago

i remember being impressed by ansible when working on this - https://github.com/vmware-archive/ansible-security-hardening
never used it ever since

kama-iridian.bsky.social•23 days ago

Hey Jeff, newbie question if you please.

What sorts of tasks do people automate with these tools?

mwinfie.bsky.social•23 days ago

At work I use it for everything: configuring base images, post provisioning, security hardening, application deployment, and updating software

locnar1701.bsky.social•23 days ago

Yes, yes, it is.

I have recently been professionally doing Ansible more and more, an I can say that this is very true.

michael-witt.bsky.social•23 days ago

I liked Ansible for it being simple and familiar. It's really good at rebuilding a box from scratch but is less useful for continuous management, when you start getting multiple cooks in your kitchen.
Salt stack with a lightweight agent,more work up front and alien templates,but absolute control.

jacobnz.bsky.social•23 days ago

I had a similar thought when comparing nornir and ansible for network automation. I ended liking writing python for automation, so it wasn’t in conflict. I also struggled with ansible complexity dealing with loops and conditionals and felt nornir resulted in clearer automation.

fotonick.bsky.social•23 days ago

I keep glancing over at PyInfra while waiting for Ansible playbooks to execute. It's just so dang slow.

jeffgeerling.com•23 days ago

Pyinfra is faster, but it's not revolutionarily so like some people would lead you to believe.

clairem.secondlife.bio•23 days ago

Or use SaltStack.

plungedtoilet.bsky.social•23 days ago

I'd like to write my own open source automation platform eventually. I have some gripes with a lot of what's available. My foremost gripe is the excessive use of Python in infra stuff. Although, you can't argue with how great it is to have so many modules for so many things in Ansible.

big-geek.net•23 days ago

You could go retro and use Perl... 😉

I feel like Rust or Go would be the modern "not-Python" answers though

plungedtoilet.bsky.social•23 days ago

I love Rust and Go, but a big benefit of scripted languages is that you don't need to compile. A huge benefit of Python is that it comes standard on a lot of Linux distros.

big-geek.net•23 days ago

Perl used to be everywhere too; don't know about these days though. I grew up before PHP when everything "cgi" was shell or Perl... it often felt like bringing a whole toolbox to tighten a doorknob though 😛

plungedtoilet.bsky.social•23 days ago

My ideal would be WASM built on Rust. You'd need to distribute this initial execution environment, but the generated modules could be architecture agnostic, and you could expose/limit some functionality to modules for increased security.

plungedtoilet.bsky.social•23 days ago

That said, WASI standards are dreadfully slow and not quite there yet, so this would have to wait for some stable WASI/WASM standards.

One benefit of this is that you could bring your own language, so long as it can compile/transpile into WASM.

nekotachi.bsky.social•23 days ago

i wonder how fast you could get using cranelift and cargo scripts.

i believe python does actually leverage a global bytecode compilation cache, so..

superlanyard.bsky.social•23 days ago

Jeff, you’re amazing being able to talk to a computer and tell it what to do. Simply amazing!

mpresto.bsky.social•23 days ago

I think a lot of people struggle with logic and flow control in playbooks.

simland.bsky.social•23 days ago

I use Ansible and it gets things done, but I'm not keen on how depends on the state/version of Python on the target.

Sometimes I have to run it from a dev container that is of a similar OS age to the target.

clairem.secondlife.bio•23 days ago

Then try the latest version of Salt/SaltStack.

They now carry their own Python interpreter for the agent, so you're no longer dependent on the version available on the target.

rgp.io•23 days ago

Having used pretty much all of them to manage a large number of servers, I think Ansible is my favorite. Easiest to use, extend, pass to other people. I see the limited expression as a feature, preventing people from doing stupid stuff. Like trying to program inside template language.

jeffgeerling.com•23 days ago

And yet, some people still try haha

markashley.bsky.social•23 days ago

I've done some dirty dirty things inside ansible. :)

sdfkjh.com•18 days ago

Followed for the 💡

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply