managing-configurationlisted

# Configuration Management ## Purpose This skill provides guidance for automating server and application configuration using Ansible and related tools. It covers playbook creation, role structure, inventory management (static and dynamic), secret management, testing patterns, and idempotency best practices to ensure safe, repeatable configuration deployments. ## When to Use This Skill Invoke this skill when: - Creating Ansible playbooks to configure servers or deploy applications - Structuring reusable Ansible roles with proper directory layout - Managing inventories (static files or dynamic cloud-based) - Securing secrets with ansible-vault or HashiCorp Vault integration - Testing roles with Molecule before production deployment - Ensuring idempotent playbooks that safely run multiple times - Migrating from Chef or Puppet to Ansible - Implementing GitOps workflows for configuration as code - Debugging playbook failures or handler issues ## Quick Start ### Basic Playbook Example ```yaml --- # site.yml - name: Configure web servers hosts: webservers become: yes tasks: - name: Ensure nginx is installed apt: name: nginx state: present notify: Restart nginx - name: Start nginx service service: name: nginx state: started enabled: yes handlers: - name: Restart nginx service: name: nginx state: restarted ``` Run with: ```bash ansible-playbook -i inventory/production site.ym