Target Picture from Day One
The company map shows every building block of the project. Before each chapter, it is clear which building block comes next.
Corporate Training · Automation · 5 Days
Ansible Training – From the First Server to Patch Day.
In five days, your team learns to manage Linux and Windows servers with Ansible in a reliable, repeatable and traceable way. Along the way, participants build the complete server landscape of a fictional company – from the first connection through roles, templates and an update procedure with a fallback to patch day across all systems.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Format
- In-house or remote
- Language
- German or English – course and materials
- Level
- Beginner to advanced
- Lab
- Dedicated lab environment per participant
- Dates
- By arrangement
- Price
- €9,950 net
- fixed price, up to 8 participants
- includes materials and handouts
- includes lab environment per participant
- includes Ask the Trainer after the course
- plus travel and accommodation on-site
- fixed price, up to 8 participants
- includes materials
- includes lab per participant
- includes Ask the Trainer
- plus travel expenses
Learning Objectives
What Your Team Can Do After the Ansible Training
The training combines fundamentals with advanced practice. The result is not just a set of familiar commands, but a working automation project that the participants built themselves.
- Set up connections to Linux and Windows systems, structure inventories and diagnose connection errors systematically.
- Write idempotent playbooks that produce the same result on every run and report changes transparently.
- Use variables, facts, loops and conditionals purposefully and master variable precedence with confidence.
- Build reusable roles and Jinja2 templates for multiple environments such as test and production.
- Safeguard updates with backup and rollback using block, rescue and always.
- Protect credentials with Ansible Vault and version and distribute your own content as a collection.
- Manage Windows servers via WinRM and SSH – from files and users to software, services, updates and the firewall.
- Check roles with ansible-lint and Molecule, build inventories dynamically and speed up runs.
- Debug faulty playbooks in a structured way and automate a patch day across all servers.
Target Audience
Who the Ansible Training Is For
The training is designed for teams that have so far managed servers by hand or with scripts that have grown over time, and now want to move to consistent, traceable automation.
Audience
- Linux and Windows administrators in the data center and in the cloud
- DevOps engineers and platform teams
- Operations teams that want to standardize recurring tasks such as updates and configuration
- IT staff taking over or further developing existing Ansible projects
Prerequisites
- Confident use of the Linux command line
- Basic Linux administration skills, such as packages, services and file permissions
- A basic understanding of SSH and networking
- For the Windows topics, experience with Windows Server is helpful – but not required
No prior knowledge of Ansible, YAML or a programming language is required.
The Hands-On Project
Clusterhausen Waffle Works Gets an Infrastructure
Clusterhausen Waffle Works – a fictional company, handmade since 1998 – is growing. Its online shop is moving from a hosting provider to its own servers, and until now every server has been set up by hand, with notes on scraps of paper. The participants are the new automation team and build the company’s server landscape with Ansible.
Step by step, the pieces come together: the connection to the first server, the web server with the shop page, separate environments for testing and production, roles and templates for configuring the WaffelOrder order system, an update procedure with a safety net, a vault for credentials and the company’s own collection. In parallel, the branch’s Windows server is connected. The grand finale is patch day across all systems.
Each exercise builds on the result of the previous one. This way, participants do not just get to know individual modules – they experience how an automation project grows, where it breaks and how to keep it maintainable.
Prediction Checks
What will the second run report? Will the handler fire? Every run is preceded by a prediction – so idempotency is understood, not memorized.
Controlled Failure Scenarios
Missing keys, a forgotten sudo password, a role that cannot be found: the typical pitfalls are built in, complete with a diagnostic task and a way out.
A Restore Point After Every Exercise
Every exercise comes with a reference solution and a ready-made restore point. Anyone who gets stuck restores it with a single command and keeps working.
Agenda
Ansible Training in Five Days
The mornings are devoted to the core topics of Linux automation, which build on each other within the project. From day two, a Windows track complements the afternoons. Day five covers advanced techniques and ends with the joint finale.
Day 1 Getting Started and the First Server Why automate, how Ansible works and what idempotency means. In the afternoon, the connection to the first server is established, and the first playbook delivers the shop.
Topics
- Why automate – infrastructure as code at a glance
- YAML basics for Ansible
- How Ansible works – controller, modules and agentless execution
- Ad-hoc commands and the most important modules
- Understanding and recognizing idempotency
- Storyline kickoff with the company map
- Initial setup – SSH keys, inventory and facts
- Playbooks, plays, tasks and modules
Exercises
- First commands – modules instead of shell commands
- Idempotent or not – twelve examples from the waffle company
- The first server – establish the connection and diagnose three failure scenarios
- The shop moves onto the server – the first playbook
Milestone: The company’s server is reachable via Ansible, and the shop files are on the target system.
Day 2 The Shop Goes Online With privilege escalation, services and handlers, the web server goes live. Variables and facts turn it into two environments. In the afternoon, the branch’s Windows server checks in.
Topics
- Privilege escalation with become
- Managing packages, services and the firewall
- Handlers – restarts only on real changes
- Variables, lists and dictionaries
- Facts and loops
- Variable precedence made clear
- Windows automation – setting up and securing WinRM and SSH
- Windows – files, directories and shares
Exercises
- The shop goes online – web server, firewall and handlers
- Two environments – test and production from one project
- The branch server checks in – setting up WinRM and SSH
- Files and shares for the branch
Milestone: The shop page is reachable in the browser, the test and production environments are cleanly separated, and the branch server is connected.
Day 3 Reusable and Flexible Individual playbooks become roles, vendor files become templates. Conditionals prepare the update procedure. The Windows track takes care of users, permissions and software.
Topics
- Project structure and ansible.cfg
- Building and including roles
- Jinja2 templates for configuration files
- Conditional execution with when
- Evaluating register and return values
- Windows – users, groups and NTFS permissions
- Windows – software via MSI and Chocolatey, IIS as the branch intranet
Exercises
- The webserver role – rolling out version 2 of the shop
- Configuration from a template – the WaffelOrder order system
- Conditional execution – the pre-check for the update
- Users and permissions for the branch team
- Software for the branch
Milestone: The web server is a reusable role, and the order system configuration is generated from a template for both environments.
Day 4 Safety Net, Vault and Company Collection The update procedure gets backup and rollback, credentials move into Vault, and the project becomes a versioned collection. In the afternoon, services, updates and the firewall on Windows follow.
Topics
- Error handling with block, rescue and always
- Backup and rollback in the update procedure
- Tags and structured troubleshooting
- Ansible Vault – encrypting files and individual values
- Collections, Ansible Galaxy and FQCNs
- Code quality with ansible-lint
- Windows – services and Windows updates
- Windows – registry, shell commands and firewall rules
Exercises
- The update with a safety net – backup and a real rollback
- The audit – plain-text passwords go into Vault
- The company collection – release 1.0.0 with ansible-lint
- Services and updates for the branch server
- Registry and firewall for the point-of-sale intranet
Milestone: Updates run with a fallback, no password is stored in plain text anymore, and your own content can be installed as a collection.
Day 5 Scaling, Testing – and Patch Day Advanced techniques for larger environments, testing for roles and custom modules. To wrap up, the team patches all of the company’s servers in a single pass.
Topics
- Dynamic inventory and automatically created groups
- Performance – forks, pipelining, fact caching, serial and strategy
- Testing roles with Molecule
- Writing custom modules
- Outlook – AWX, Semaphore and execution environments
- Outlook – network automation
- Finale – patch day with reboot logic and a maintenance report
Exercises
- Dynamic groups without manual work
- Patch day – all servers, one pass
- Bonus: debugging challenge – the order export
Milestone: All of the company’s servers are patched and the maintenance report is ready – the map is complete.
We adapt the order and weighting of topics to the group’s prior knowledge and pace. On request, we set your own priorities, such as more Windows automation or examples from your environment.
Lab Environment
The Lab Environment for Your Ansible Training
Every participant works with their own controller as well as their own Linux and Windows target systems. The environment is fully prepared, so course time is spent on automation rather than setup.
Dedicated Systems per Participant
Each person has exclusive use of a controller, a Linux server and a Windows server. Experiments do not affect anyone else.
Access via the Browser
All systems are conveniently accessible via the browser. No local installation or approval from your IT department is needed.
Current Tools Preinstalled
ansible-core, ansible-lint, Molecule and the required collections are set up, and the editor is ready to go.
Fully Tested Before Every Course
The entire exercise path is run through before every course – including the built-in failure scenarios.
Ready-Made Restore Points
For every exercise, a restore point is available that lets participants rejoin at any time.
Materials
What Participants Take Home
Slide Deck as a Handout
All chapters with our own diagrams and code examples, structured for easy reference.
Exercise Sheets with Reference Solutions
Every exercise with a clear goal, prediction checks and a tested reference solution.
Review Quizzes with Answers
Short reviews on the course mornings reinforce what was covered the day before.
Your Own Project
The project structure built during the course, with roles, templates and a collection, serves as a template for your own initiatives.
Ask the Trainer
One hour for your practical questions, two to four weeks after the course. Included in the price of every training.
Formats
Ansible Training In-House or Online
In-House at Your Site
The training takes place on your premises. Your team learns together and can bring in questions from its own operations directly.
Remote in a Virtual Classroom
Live instruction with joint exercise phases and direct support in the lab environment – ideal for distributed teams.
Customized Corporate Training
We align focus areas and examples with your environment, such as the share of Windows topics or specific modules.
Individual Training as a Workshop
Your team already works with Ansible and wants to dive deeper into a specific topic – such as role and collection structure, Windows automation or testing with Molecule? Then a tailored workshop is the right fit.
After the course
Ask the Trainer
The real work starts after the course. That is why every training includes an Ask the Trainer session: two to four weeks after the course, we meet online for one hour. Your participants send in the questions that came up while applying what they learned in your environment. That leaves the session free for what matters: specific answers for your systems, not the textbook case. The session is included in the price.
Pricing
5 days · €9,950 net for your team of up to 8 participants
includes materials, lab environment and Ask the Trainer session, plus travel and accommodation for on-site delivery
See the training overview for all terms.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About the Ansible Training
Who is the Ansible training suitable for?
For administrators, DevOps engineers and operations teams who want to automate Linux and Windows servers consistently. The course starts with the fundamentals and goes all the way to advanced topics such as Molecule, dynamic inventory and custom modules.
What prior knowledge is needed for the Ansible training?
Confident use of the Linux command line and basic system administration skills are enough. No knowledge of Ansible, YAML or programming is required.
Is the Ansible training also available online?
Yes. The training can be booked as in-house training on site or remotely in a virtual classroom. The lab environment is the same in both formats and runs in the browser.
Does the course also cover Windows automation?
Yes. From day two, a dedicated Windows track covers WinRM and SSH, files and shares, users and permissions, software, services, updates, the registry and the firewall. Every participant has their own Windows server in the lab environment for this.
Which Ansible version is used?
The lab environment uses a current version of ansible-core together with ansible-lint, Molecule and the common collections. The content is regularly updated to new versions.
What is Clusterhausen Waffle Works all about?
Clusterhausen Waffle Works is a fictional company that ties all the exercises of the Ansible training together into one connected project: the company’s online shop moves to its own servers, and the participants automate the way there as a team. This creates realistic reasons for every topic and a clear target picture the group works toward together.
Can the agenda be adapted to our environment?
Yes. We agree on focus areas, depth and examples with you in advance – for example more time for Windows, for roles and collections or for your own use cases.
How much does the Ansible training cost?
The Ansible training costs €9,950 net. This is a fixed price for up to 8 participants, including course materials, lab environment and Ask the Trainer session, plus travel expenses for on-site delivery. See the training overview for all terms.
What is the Ask the Trainer session?
A one-hour online session two to four weeks after the course, no later than six weeks after the course ends. Your participants submit their questions up to three business days before the session and the trainer prepares the answers. The session is included in the fixed price and covers questions related to the course topic. For in-depth consulting on your own environment, we are happy to prepare a separate offer.
How many participants can attend, and in what language is the course held?
The training is designed for teams of up to 8. We recommend small groups so that there is enough time for individual support. The course and materials are available in German or English – you choose the language when you send your request.
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