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Why choose Ansible

Introduction​

Ansible is a powerful tool that has gained wide acceptance in the world of DevOps. This flexible, open-source tool automates software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment. If you're wondering why you should choose Ansible over other automation tools, this guide will provide you with some compelling reasons.

Easy to Use​

Ansible uses a simple syntax written in YAML (Yet Another Markup Language), which allows you to describe your automation jobs in a way that approaches plain English. This makes it very easy to read and write, especially for beginners. Plus, since it's agentless, you don't need to install anything on the nodes you're managing.

---
- hosts: webservers
  tasks:
    - name: ensure apache is at the latest version
      yum:
        name: httpd
        state: latest
    - name: write the apache config file
      template:
        src: /srv/httpd.j2
        dest: /etc/httpd.conf

Above is a simple Ansible playbook. As you can see, it's easy to understand what this playbook does even if you're not familiar with Ansible.

Extendable and Flexible​

Ansible is designed to be flexible and extendable, which means it can adapt to any workflow, no matter how complex it is. It supports a wide range of systems, services, and protocols. If Ansible doesn’t have a module for a task you want to automate, you can even write your own.

Efficient and Safe​

Ansible is agentless, which means it doesn’t require any daemons running in the background. It works by connecting to your nodes and pushing out small programs, called "Ansible modules". Once it finishes executing these programs, it removes them. This makes Ansible very lightweight and efficient.

Additionally, Ansible uses SSH for connection, which is a secure and widely adopted protocol.

Excellent Error Handling​

When things go wrong, Ansible provides detailed error messages. You can also use 'blocks' to handle errors in a way similar to most programming languages. This makes debugging easier and makes your scripts more robust.

Massive Community Support​

Ansible has a large, active community. This means you have access to a wealth of shared roles and playbooks on Ansible Galaxy, and plenty of tutorials, guides, and solutions to problems. Also, Ansible is backed by Red Hat, a leading software company, which ensures its continued development and support.

Wrapping Up​

In conclusion, Ansible is a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use tool that is a great choice for anyone looking to automate their infrastructure. Its simplicity, extendable architecture, and robust error handling make it a popular choice among many DevOps professionals. By choosing Ansible, you're choosing a tool designed for efficient and safe automation, backed by a massive community ready to help you succeed.