1 Docker-Ansible base images
4 [![Circle CI](https://circleci.com/gh/William-Yeh/docker-ansible.svg?style=shield)](https://circleci.com/gh/William-Yeh/docker-ansible) [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/William-Yeh/docker-ansible.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/William-Yeh/docker-ansible)
9 Repository name in Docker Hub: **[williamyeh/ansible](https://hub.docker.com/r/williamyeh/ansible/)**
11 This repository contains Dockerized [Ansible](https://github.com/ansible/ansible), published to the public [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/) via **automated build** mechanism.
17 These are Docker images for [Ansible](https://github.com/ansible/ansible) software, installed in a selected Linux distributions.
21 Debian (jessie), Ubuntu (xenial, trusty), CentOS (7), Alpine (3).
23 Supports for Wheezy, Precise, and CentOS6 have been ended since Sep 2017.
27 Four versions are provided:
29 1. provides the most recent *stable* version of Ansible; suitable for most people.
30 2. same as stable version, but is designed for building (near-)*minimal* images out of playbooks; i.e., the Ansible body will be removed when mission completed. Refer to “[Build Docker images with Ansible: A half-blood approach](https://github.com/William-Yeh/build-docker-with-ansible)” for working examples and slides.
31 3. provides the old 1.9 version of Ansible (but will be retired someday).
32 4. provides the *experimental* version of Ansible; i.e., the master branch of official [Ansible's git repo](https://github.com/ansible/ansible).
34 Each version is further divided into two variants:
36 - *Normal* variant: intended to be used as Ansible *control machines*, or in cases that is inadequate in the onbuild variants.
37 - *Onbuild* variant: intended to be used to build Docker images.
42 ### Stable version (installed from official PyPI repo):
46 - `williamyeh/ansible:debian8`
47 - `williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu16.04`
48 - `williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu14.04`
49 - `williamyeh/ansible:centos7`
50 - `williamyeh/ansible:alpine3`
52 - Onbuild variants (*recommended for common cases*):
54 - `williamyeh/ansible:debian8-onbuild`
55 - `williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu16.04-onbuild`
56 - `williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu14.04-onbuild`
57 - `williamyeh/ansible:centos7-onbuild`
58 - `williamyeh/ansible:alpine3-onbuild`
61 ### Minimal configuration (the Ansible body will be removed when mission completed):
63 Refer to “[Build Docker images with Ansible: A half-blood approach](https://github.com/William-Yeh/build-docker-with-ansible)” for working examples and slides.
67 - `williamyeh/ansible:mini-alpine3`
68 - `williamyeh/ansible:mini-debian8`
71 ### Old 1.9 version (will be retired someday):
73 Note: Ansible 1.9 was not supported in CentOS EPEL since January 2017, according to [this announcement](http://www.spinics.net/linux/fedora/epel-devel/msg00792.html).
77 - `williamyeh/ansible:1.9-debian8`
78 - `williamyeh/ansible:1.9-ubuntu14.04`
79 - `williamyeh/ansible:1.9-alpine3`
81 - Onbuild variants (*recommended for common cases*):
83 - `williamyeh/ansible:1.9-debian8-onbuild`
84 - `williamyeh/ansible:1.9-ubuntu14.04-onbuild`
85 - `williamyeh/ansible:1.9-alpine3-onbuild`
88 ### Experimental version (building directly from the git `master` source tree; use at your own risk!):
92 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-debian8`
93 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-ubuntu16.04`
94 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-ubuntu14.04`
95 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-centos7`
97 - Onbuild variants (*recommended for common cases*):
99 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-debian8-onbuild`
100 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-ubuntu16.04-onbuild`
101 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-ubuntu14.04-onbuild`
102 - `williamyeh/ansible:master-centos7-onbuild`
108 Here comes a simplest working example for the impatient.
110 First, choose a base image you'd like to begin with. For example, `williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu14.04-onbuild`.
112 Second, put the following `Dockerfile` along with your playbook directory:
115 FROM williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu14.04-onbuild
117 # ==> Specify requirements filename; default = "requirements.yml"
118 #ENV REQUIREMENTS requirements.yml
120 # ==> Specify playbook filename; default = "playbook.yml"
121 #ENV PLAYBOOK playbook.yml
123 # ==> Specify inventory filename; default = "/etc/ansible/hosts"
124 #ENV INVENTORY inventory.ini
126 # ==> Executing Ansible (with a simple wrapper)...
127 RUN ansible-playbook-wrapper
130 Third, `docker build .`
134 For more advanced usage, the role in Ansible Galaxy [`williamyeh/nginx`](https://galaxy.ansible.com/williamyeh/nginx/) demonstrates how to perform a simple smoke test (*configuration needs test, too!*) on a variety of (*containerized*) Linux distributions on [CircleCI](https://circleci.com/)'s Ubuntu 12.04 and [Travis CI](https://travis-ci.org/)’s Ubuntu 14.04 worker instances.
139 ## Why yet another Ansible image for Docker?
141 There has been quite a few Ansible images for Docker (e.g., [search](https://hub.docker.com/search/?q=ansible&isAutomated=0&isOfficial=0&page=1&pullCount=1&starCount=0) in the Docker Hub), so why reinvent the wheel?
143 In the beginning I used the [`ansible/ansible-docker-base`](https://github.com/ansible/ansible-docker-base) created by Ansible Inc. It worked well, but left some room for improvement:
145 - *Base OS image* - It provides only `centos:centos7` and `ubuntu:14.04`. Insufficent for me.
147 - *Unnecessary dependencies* - It installed, at the very beginning of its Dockerfile, the `software-properties-common` package, which in turns installed some Python packages. I prefered to incorporate these stuff only when absolutely needed.
149 Therefore, I built these Docker images on my own.
151 **NOTE:** [`ansible/ansible-docker-base`](https://github.com/ansible/ansible-docker-base) announced in September 2015: “Ansible no longer maintains images in Dockerhub directly.”
153 ### Comparison: image size
156 REPOSITORY TAG VIRTUAL SIZE
157 --------------------------- ------------------- ------------
158 ansible/centos7-ansible stable 367.5 MB
159 ansible/ubuntu14.04-ansible stable 286.6 MB
161 williamyeh/ansible alpine3-onbuild 66.4 MB
162 williamyeh/ansible centos6-onbuild 264.2 MB
163 williamyeh/ansible centos7-onbuild 275.3 MB
164 williamyeh/ansible debian7-onbuild 134.4 MB
165 williamyeh/ansible debian8-onbuild 178.3 MB
166 williamyeh/ansible ubuntu12.04-onbuild 181.9 MB
167 williamyeh/ansible ubuntu14.04-onbuild 238.3 MB
173 Used mostly as a *base image* for configuring other software stack on some specified Linux distribution(s).
175 Take Debian/Ubuntu/CentOS for example. To test an Ansible `playbook.yml` against a variety of Linux distributions, we may use [Vagrant](https://www.vagrantup.com/) as follows:
180 Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
182 # ==> Choose a Vagrant box to emulate Linux distribution...
183 #config.vm.box = "ubuntu/xenial64"
184 config.vm.box = "ubuntu/trusty64"
185 #config.vm.box = "debian/jessie64"
186 #config.vm.box = "bento/centos-7.2"
187 #config.vm.box = "maier/alpine-3.3.1-x86_64"
190 # ==> Executing Ansible...
191 config.vm.provision "ansible" do |ansible|
192 ansible.playbook = "playbook.yml"
198 Virtual machines can emulate a variety of Linux distributions with good quality, at the cost of runtime overhead.
201 Docker to be a rescue. Now, with these **williamyeh/ansible** series, we may test an Ansible `playbook.yml` against a variety of Linux distributions as follows:
207 # ==> Choose a base image to emulate Linux distribution...
208 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu16.04
209 FROM williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu14.04
210 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:debian8
211 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:centos7
212 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:alpine3
215 # ==> Copying Ansible playbook...
219 # ==> Creating inventory file...
220 RUN echo localhost > inventory
222 # ==> Executing Ansible...
223 RUN ansible-playbook -i inventory playbook.yml \
224 --connection=local --sudo
227 You may also work with `onbuild` variants, which take care of many routine steps for you:
232 # ==> Choose a base image to emulate Linux distribution...
233 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu16.04-onbuild
234 FROM williamyeh/ansible:ubuntu14.04-onbuild
235 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:debian8-onbuild
236 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:centos7-onbuild
237 #FROM williamyeh/ansible:alpine3-onbuild
240 # ==> Specify requirements filename; default = "requirements.yml"
241 #ENV REQUIREMENTS requirements.yml
243 # ==> Specify playbook filename; default = "playbook.yml"
244 #ENV PLAYBOOK playbook.yml
246 # ==> Specify inventory filename; default = "/etc/ansible/hosts"
247 #ENV INVENTORY inventory.ini
249 # ==> Executing Ansible (with a simple wrapper)...
250 RUN ansible-playbook-wrapper
255 With Docker, we can test any Ansible playbook against any version of any Linux distribution without the help of Vagrant. More lightweight, and more portable across IaaS, PaaS, and even CaaS (Container as a Service) providers!
257 If better OS emulation (virtualization) isn't required, the Docker approach (containerization) should give you a more efficient Ansible experience.
263 Author: William Yeh <william.pjyeh@gmail.com>
265 Licensed under the Apache License V2.0. See the [LICENSE file](LICENSE) for details.