9 ways to learn Ansible this year

Automation just keeps improving the lives of everyone on the IT team. Ansible helps anyone who uses IT automation, whether for keeping files organized or configuring printers, or for anything else someone can imagine and build. These are some of the most notable use cases and experiences shared on Opensource.com in 2021.

If you are hearing about Ansible for the first time, or if you're a seasoned user, these articles will have something for you.

• Michael DeHaan, the founder of Ansible, shares his thoughts on how he was led to IT automation. This interview has great information and insights into how Ansible came into existence and developed over time.

• Automation saves the day when you can automate many of your daily tasks as a sysadmin. Learn how to implement automated processes for five everyday sysadmin tasks using Ansible.

• Is your Downloads folder full of junk? Introducing a simple way to clean up files on your system with a simple playbook. It scales easily, and once scheduled it will run as frequently as you ask. Learn more about removing files with Ansible.

• If you're writing Ansible playbooks, four lines of code can improve them. Think about the next user, especially when you are collaborating on a project. A small effort can prevent big problems.

• The Ansible community has taken steps to make the project more inclusive by reviewing its codebase and updating its language. See a summary of the Ansible terminology changes.

• Call APIs from your Ansible playbook like a pro! Find out something everyone should know about leveraging REST APIs from a playbook.

• Have some CronJobs that should run daily, weekly, or monthly? Use Ansible and anacron to set tasks to leverage timestamps instead of scheduled time, so even if your machine is off at the scheduled time, it will run when it's back on.

• If you are just getting started with Ansible, maybe you want some direction on where to begin. Here are 10 ways everyone can use Ansible. 

• Magic happens when a community works together. It's not just code: learn how Ansible built a design system, creating reusable brand assets for community use. You'll especially appreciate this story if you are a designer or community manager.