Containerized Learning Environment Ansible-HandsOn is a lightweight local lab environment designed for learning, testing, and mastering Ansible infrastructure automation.

Instead of relying on resource-heavy Virtual Machines (VMs), this project leverages Docker containers to simulate a real-world network infrastructure in seconds.

The system consists of 3 containers:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              ansible_controller                  │
│  (Python + Ansible + code-server IDE)            │
│  Port 8080 - Browser-based IDE                   │
└────────────┬─────────────────────────┬───────────┘
             │                         │
             ▼                         ▼
┌──────────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────┐
│   ansible_worker1    │  │   ansible_worker2    │
│   Ubuntu 22.04       │  │   Red Hat UBI 9      │
│   OpenSSH + Python   │  │   OpenSSH + Python   │
└──────────────────────┘  └──────────────────────┘

---
services:
  ansible-controller:
    image: yoas1/ansible-handson:controller-0.0.1
    container_name: ansible_controller
    hostname: ansible_controller
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    volumes:
      - ./:/workspace
    networks:
      - ansible
    depends_on:
      - worker1
      - worker2
    restart: unless-stopped
  
  worker1:    
    image: yoas1/ansible-handson:worker1-0.0.1
    hostname: worker1
    container_name: ansible_worker1
    networks:
      - ansible
    restart: unless-stopped

  worker2:
    image: yoas1/ansible-handson:worker2-0.0.1
    hostname: worker2
    container_name: ansible_worker2
    networks:
      - ansible
    restart: unless-stopped


networks:
  ansible:

1. Spin up the environment:

   docker compose up -d

2. Access the IDE: Open a browser at http://localhost:8080 (code-server with no authentication).

3. Run a Playbook: Inside the controller (or from the IDE terminal):

   ansible-playbook playbooks/host_information.yaml

4. Edit configs in real-time: Modify files in the .config/ directory — inotifywait on the controller will automatically run update_config.sh to apply changes.