# Ansible DevOps VM

A versatile VM for DevOps purposes, provisioned by Ansible.

Will bootstrap a [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/) VM using [Vagrant](https://www.vagrantup.com/) and [Virtualbox](https://www.virtualbox.org/) and install a stack of useful DevOps tools.

To provide a lightweight experience, the VM uses [XFCE](https://xfce.org/) as a desktop environment.

## Provided tools

- Docker 19.03.5
- Docker Compose 1.25.0
- Ansible 3.3.0

## Prerequisites

- Vagrant 2.2.x
- Virtualbox 6.x

## Quickstart

### Vagrant + Ansible on Linux

1. Obtain Vagrant by [downloading the corresponding package](https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html) for your distribution, assuming Ubuntu in the next steps.

2. Install the package by opening a Terminal and running:
    
    ```bash
    user@vmhost: ~$ sudo dpkg install <vagrant-package-name>.deb
    ```

3. To check whether Vagrant was installed successfully, try running `vagrant --version` which must not return an error.

4. Recommended: Install the [Vagrant::Hostsupdate](https://github.com/cogitatio/vagrant-hostsupdater) plugin that will automatically add the hostname of the virtual machine to the list of static hosts on your local machine (VM host). This allows you to later open e.g. `devvm.local` in a browser from your local machine. Updates to the hosts file will require entering a sudo password:

    ```bash
    user@vmhost: ~$ vagrant plugin install vagrant-hostsupdater
    ```

    **Note for VM host Windows 10 with WSL:** This host update will currently have no effect outside of WSL, as the updated hosts file is only used within the WSL context, not Windows itself.

5. Install Ansible:

    ```bash
    user@vmhost: ~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
    user@vmhost: ~$ sudo apt install python3 python3-pip
    user@vmhost: ~$ pip3 install --user ansible
    ```

6. Test ansible by running `ansible --version`

7. Clone the repo:

    ```bash
    user@vmhost: ~$ git clone https://git.jotbe.io/jotbe/ansible-devops-vm.git
    ```

8. Change to the local copy and try bootstrapping the VM (this will take a while and you might be asked for a sudo password):

    ```bash
    user@vmhost: ~$ cd ansible-devops-vm
    user@vmhost: ~/ansible-devops-vm$ vagrant up
    ```

9. If everything went fine, you should be able to SSH into the machine by running `vagrant ssh` from within the same directory and the UI should work if you enabled it.

### Vagrant on Windows 10 (no Ansible required)

Vagrant will bootstrap a VM, install Ansible und run the provisioning from within the VM, i.e. the Vagrant host does not need to have any Ansible installed.

1. [Download](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads) and install Virtualbox ([Documentation](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/End-user_documentation))

2. Obtain Vagrant by [downloading and installing the corresponding package](https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html)

3. Clone this repository with Git or download and extract an archive

4. Open a Command Prompt or Powershell window and navigate to the checked out repository / extracted archive.

5. Run Vagrant with: `vagrant up` and wait patiently.

### Vagrant + Ansible on Windows 10 using Windows Subsystem for Linux

1. [Download](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads) and install Virtualbox ([Documentation](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/End-user_documentation))

2. Follow the [guide to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10). This guide assumes Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

3. Open Ubuntu through the Windows Start Menu

4. Inside the Ubuntu Terminal, continue the setup by following the next section.

## Default user

By default, a `vagrant` user will be provisioned (if not already available) and used throughout the provisioning. The default password is `vagrant`.

## Tips

### Run the provisioning from within the VM on demand

Open a terminal and run:

```
ansible-playbook -i /vagrant/provisioning/inventory.sample /vagrant/provisioning/playbook.yml -c local
```

This will not try to connect to itself via SSH using the defined IP address but instead uses the local connection.

### Keep the Virtualbox Guest Additions up to date with Vagrant

Install the Vagrant plugin `vagrant-vbguest`:

```
vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest
```

Note: Be a bit careful, depending on the VBoxGuestAdditions version in the VM, [the `vagrant-vbguest` plugin may not work properly](https://github.com/dotless-de/vagrant-vbguest/issues/405), causing recurring builds of the guest additions on every boot and another reboot of the VM. For VBoxGuestAdditions v6.1.18, a corresponding patch will be installed automatically.