Microsoft Windows Automation with Red Hat Ansible

Windows Server administrators interested in automating management tasks and in using automation tools to implement their DevOps workflow.

Content summary

• Configure Microsoft Windows systems to be managed with Ansible.
• Create and manage inventories of managed hosts and provide credentials to manage them to Red Hat Ansible Tower.
• Write Ansible playbooks to consistently automate multiple tasks and apply them to managed hosts.
• Run individual ad hoc automation tasks and complex playbooks from Red Hat Ansible Tower.
• Create survey forms in Red Hat Ansible Tower to simplify playbook operation.
• Parameterize playbooks using variables and facts.
• Write and reuse existing Ansible roles to simplify playbook creation and reuse code.
• Leverage existing PowerShell DSC code to extend the power of Ansible automation.
• Automate common Windows Server system administration tasks using Ansible.

• Introduction to Red Hat Ansible Automation
• Run simple automation commands
• Implement Ansible playbooks
• Manage variables and facts
• Install and update software
• Implement task control
• Deploy files to managed hosts
• Interact with users and domains
• Automate Windows automation tasks
• Manage large projects
• Construct Ansible Tower workflows

You are expected to have experience as Windows Server administrators, but no previous experience with Red Hat Ansible Automation or Linux® is required.

Content summary

• Configure Microsoft Windows systems to be managed with Ansible.
• Create and manage inventories of managed hosts and provide credentials to manage them to Red Hat Ansible Tower.
• Write Ansible playbooks to consistently automate multiple tasks and apply them to managed hosts.
• Run individual ad hoc automation tasks and complex playbooks from Red Hat Ansible Tower.
• Create survey forms in Red Hat Ansible Tower to simplify playbook operation.
• Parameterize playbooks using variables and facts.
• Write and reuse existing Ansible roles to simplify playbook creation and reuse code.
• Leverage existing PowerShell DSC code to extend the power of Ansible automation.
• Automate common Windows Server system administration tasks using Ansible.

You will write and run Windows automation tasks using Red Hat Ansible Automation in a Windows environment. You will perform common administrative tasks, write Ansible projects from your Windows workstation, store the history of all changes in a Git-based version control system, and run and troubleshoot those tasks from the web interface of Red Hat Ansible Tower.

Impact on the organization

Effective use of Red Hat Ansible Automation for the Windows IT infrastructure helps improve operational agility while ensuring necessary security, consistency, and repeatability of management operations. In conjunction with training on Linux and network automation from Red Hat, cross-platform automation solutions managed from a single pane of glass become feasible.

Red Hat has created this course in a way intended to benefit our customers, but each company and infrastructure is unique, and actual results or benefits may vary.