If you are in the DevOps space, then you might have heard about Ansible, one of the powerful tools for infrastructure automation. In the past, when you need to set up a server for your application, you need to go to each server and install all the software and verify it. This slow, manual, and painful server setup process is over, with tools like Ansible, Chef, Puppet, and Salt making their way. These are the tools that promote the idea of Infrastructure as code which also brings the added benefit of versioning and scaling when it comes to infrastructure automation. This is really important if you want to build a new server and scale as building new servers for your application can take a lot of time but you can reduce them by using automation tools like Chef and Ansible.
If you are working towards a career in DevOps, you are already a DevOps champion in your team, then learning about Ansible is a good idea, and you have come to the right place.
In the past, I have shared DevOps RoadMap, best DevOps Courses, and books, and in this article, I will share some of the best courses to learn Ansible in 2024.
I have made the best efforts to include both beginners and advanced classes so that you can learn Ansible from scratch and take your Ansible skill to the next level with plugins and modules if you already know Ansible.
You need to manually install software like Java, Tomcat, and Apache on each server, which can take a long time even if you have a handful of serves. Thankfully, all that can be automated now using Ansible.
All you need to do is create an Ansible playbook, much like a script, and then Ansible will do the setup and installation for you.
It's not that Ansible is the only tool that can do that as you also have Puppet, Chef, and SaltStack. Still, Ansible is probably the most straightforward tool as it can do all this using SSH, while others like Puppet require a dedicated agent installed on each server.
Ansible script, called Ansible playbook, can be written using YAML (Yet Another Markup Language), which reads like English and doesn't require a lot of learning.
It's also backed by RedHat and can be customized using many Python plugins; this makes Ansible a perfect choice for server setup and automation. These courses are good places to kick-start your Ansible journey.
The best part of the course is that it has hands-on exercises for writing Ansible investors, which you can practice in your browser. It also introduces YAML, which is used to write Ansible build scripts, also known as Playbook.
Packed with 2 hours of content, this course will teach you everything you need to learn to automate your web server deployment. Talking about social proof, this course has been trusted by more than 27,750 students who speak volumes about its quality. If you want to learn Ansible in 2024, this is the course you should join.
The course is designed as a journey through configuring a realistic application stack from the ground up. This means, Instead of going page-by-page through the Ansible documentation, topics are ordered to align with the growing complexity of our application as you build it up and refactor it.
It's another course I highly recommend to beginners learning Ansible. If you want to learn how to do configuration management with Ansible and how to create a very clean and sound ansible-playbook, then this course is for you.
This is a very detailed course, and you will learn about things like implementing Ansible playbooks, writing YAML scripts, variables, scopes, modules, inventories, etc. The good thing is there I a guided exercise for all sections, which means you will be learning by doing.
The course provides an introduction to Ansible and shows many ways to use this tool and create a solid automation pipeline. If you can connect with an instructor, then this is an excellent course to learn Ansible.
You should take this course only after taking any of the first three courses, ideally the first one in the list, Ansible for the Absolute Beginner because this course is from the same instructor, Mumshad Mannambeth.
This is the second course in the series on Ansible, and in this course, you will learn some advanced concepts in Ansible and some real-life use cases like writing custom modules.
Btw, there are a couple of things that are different between beginner and this course, like the OS used in the beginner course was CentOS, but this one uses Debian, which may take some time to set up the environment.
What is Ansible? What problem does it solve?
If you don't know what Ansible is or have heard the name Ansible the first time, let me give you a quick overview. Ansible is a tool for automating the server setup part. Suppose you have worked as a developer and have ever set up your UAT and production environment. In that case, you know that there is a lot of effort involved in getting your server ready before running or installing your application.You need to manually install software like Java, Tomcat, and Apache on each server, which can take a long time even if you have a handful of serves. Thankfully, all that can be automated now using Ansible.
All you need to do is create an Ansible playbook, much like a script, and then Ansible will do the setup and installation for you.
It's not that Ansible is the only tool that can do that as you also have Puppet, Chef, and SaltStack. Still, Ansible is probably the most straightforward tool as it can do all this using SSH, while others like Puppet require a dedicated agent installed on each server.
Ansible script, called Ansible playbook, can be written using YAML (Yet Another Markup Language), which reads like English and doesn't require a lot of learning.
It's also backed by RedHat and can be customized using many Python plugins; this makes Ansible a perfect choice for server setup and automation. These courses are good places to kick-start your Ansible journey.
5 Best Online Training Courses to learn Ansible for DevOps in depth
Now that you know what Ansible is and how it can help with server setup, automation, and scalability, let's dive into some of the best courses to learn Ansible in depth. As I have said, the list includes both beginner and advanced Ansible courses to learn from scratch and level up your Ansible skills.1. Ansible for the Absolute Beginner - Hands-On - DevOps
This is my #1 course for anyone who wants to learn Ansible from scratch. It's one of the best Ansible beginner courses and will teach you step by step how to write Ansible playing book, build Ansible inventory files, and deploy software on several hosts.The best part of the course is that it has hands-on exercises for writing Ansible investors, which you can practice in your browser. It also introduces YAML, which is used to write Ansible build scripts, also known as Playbook.
Packed with 2 hours of content, this course will teach you everything you need to learn to automate your web server deployment. Talking about social proof, this course has been trusted by more than 27,750 students who speak volumes about its quality. If you want to learn Ansible in 2024, this is the course you should join.
2. Mastering Ansible [Udemy Course]
This is another beginner-level course that provides a complete guide to configuration management and orchestration with Ansible. If you like project-based learning or fan of learn-by-doing, then this course is for you.The course is designed as a journey through configuring a realistic application stack from the ground up. This means, Instead of going page-by-page through the Ansible documentation, topics are ordered to align with the growing complexity of our application as you build it up and refactor it.
It's another course I highly recommend to beginners learning Ansible. If you want to learn how to do configuration management with Ansible and how to create a very clean and sound ansible-playbook, then this course is for you.
3. Mastering Ansible Automation - Step by Step
If you want to start a career in IT automation and learn Ansible from the ground up, then this is the right course for you. In this course, Shikhar Verma will teach you Ansible Step by Step.This is a very detailed course, and you will learn about things like implementing Ansible playbooks, writing YAML scripts, variables, scopes, modules, inventories, etc. The good thing is there I a guided exercise for all sections, which means you will be learning by doing.
The course provides an introduction to Ansible and shows many ways to use this tool and create a solid automation pipeline. If you can connect with an instructor, then this is an excellent course to learn Ansible.
4. Ansible Advanced - Hands-On - DevOps
As I have said at the start of this article, you will find both beginners and advanced Ansible courses on this, and keeping that promise, here is a course to learn and practice advanced topics in Ansible, including Roles, Jinja2 Lookups, Filter.You should take this course only after taking any of the first three courses, ideally the first one in the list, Ansible for the Absolute Beginner because this course is from the same instructor, Mumshad Mannambeth.
This is the second course in the series on Ansible, and in this course, you will learn some advanced concepts in Ansible and some real-life use cases like writing custom modules.
Btw, there are a couple of things that are different between beginner and this course, like the OS used in the beginner course was CentOS, but this one uses Debian, which may take some time to set up the environment.
5. Hands-on Ansible
This is a great course to learn Ansible on Pluralsight. The course starts with orchestration and change management fundamentals then moves to how Ansible works.You will also build your test environment and, along the way, go through several practical examples and features that Ansible provides.
After going through this course, you will be able to run ad-hoc commands across all your systems, write playbooks, and create roles using the hundreds of modules that come with Ansible. The course also has many hands-on demos to show how to implement your automation tasks.
Overall a great course to learn Ansible, but you need a Pluralsight membership to access this course, which costs around $299 per year. Alternatively, you can sign up for the 10-day free trial and take this course for free.
That's all about the Top 5 online courses to learn Ansible in depth. As I have said, Ansible is an excellent tool to keep up to your sleeve, particularly for DevOps engineers. You can use Ansible to automate your production configuration. It can create package with right configuration depending upon environment like different configuration for development and production environment.
As a senior developer, you should also know about Ansible to play with those Ansible playbooks and understand how my servers are set up. You can also learn Ansible if you want a career in DevOps; it's definitely worth it.
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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these best Ansible online training courses, please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.
P. S. - If you are looking for some free courses to start your DevOps journey and learn essential tools like Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes then, you should check out this list of Free Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes courses for DevOps and Programmers.
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