Ansible Desktop

⚠️ This project needs to be reworked.

This repository aims at automating the setup of my Debian workstations using Ansible.

This repo works in combination with my utils (my own small housekeeping programs) and my dotfiles (config files for the programs I use).

Procedure

This short documentation acts as a personal reminder :)

Basic Debian installation

1. Download a netinst ISO image from the official website.
2. Create a bootable USB drive.
   • With dd:

     sudo dd if=[path_to_iso] of=[path_to_usb]
             

     I usually use lsblk to know the path to the USB drive. Be careful, as choosing the wrong path might cause serious damage.

   • Sometimes Rufus can work where dd doesn’t.
3. Install Debian.

   Note: the Debian installation itself can be automated using preseeding. My experimental preseed configuration can be found on the preseed branch here.

   A manual install works for me at the moment. Here are a few important choices I usually make:

   • I usually set up an encrypted LVM.
   • I don’t create a root user, only a normal user, who will automatically be placed in the sudo group. This is convenient since I don’t have to manually install sudo on the new machine.
   • I only install the standard system utilities and the SSH server, i.e. no X server nor desktop environment such as GNOME - Ansible will take care of everything. The SSH server is required to connect to the machine from the Ansible controller (usually another machine on my network).

Provisioning

There are 3 ways to execute the Ansible playbook.

Run from a controller (recommended)

The provisioning may be done from a so-called controller, i.e. another machine on my local network.

1. Install sshpass and log into the node once using SSH. This will add the fingerprint to the known_hosts file.
2. Test the connection. For example:

   ansible -m ping -i 192.168.1.7, -u alc --ask-pass all
       

   Without -u, the default user would be the same as the one who’s logged in on the controller.

   Sometimes I use a QEMU virtual machine for testing purpose, with a SSH port forwarding on port 2222. In this case:

   ansible -m ping -i localhost, -e "ansible_port=2222" --ask-pass all
       

3. Run the playbook. I use the basic-system tag to setup, well, a basic system, according to my preferences:

   ansible-playbook \
       -u alc \
       -i 192.168.1.7, \
       --ask-pass \
       --ask-become-pass \
       --ask-vault-pass \
       --tags "basic-system"
       playbook.yml
       

   • --ask-pass is necessary for the SSH connection (sshpass is installed on the controller). This could also be done using SSH keys.
   • --ask-become-pass is for sudo.
   • --ask-vault-pass is for decrypting the vault. I use it to store a Github token allowing to add a public key to my Github repository (see the ssh-key role).

     The password can be tested beforehand on the encrypted token using:

     ansible-vault decrypt
             

     Just press Enter then C-d after pasting the string.

   For QEMU, this is the same, but with -i localhost and -e "ansible_port=2222.

Run locally

Alternatively, the playbook can be executed on the current machine itself (localhost) if all the necessary tools are already installed (ansible, etc.). This is useful to maintain my current machine in a desired state defined by Ansible.

ansible-playbook \
    -u alc \
    -i localhost, \
    -e "ansible_connection=local" \
    --ask-become-pass \
    --ask-vault-pass \
    --tags "basic-system"
    playbook.yml

Run locally after bootstrapping

Finally, the playbook might also be run locally on a fresh Debian install by running a bootstrapping script:

wget -qO - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alecigne/ansible-desktop/master/bootstrap.bash | bash

The bootstrapping script will install Git and Ansible and will clone this repository. It will then execute Ansible twice:

• A first time for switching from Debian stable to Debian testing and updating the system (debian-upgrade tag).

  ansible-playbook \
      -i localhost, \
      -e "ansible_connection=local" \
      --ask-become-pass \
      playbook.yml \
      --tags debian-upgrade
      

• A second time to execute the rest of the playbook using an updated version of Ansible.

  ansible-playbook \
      -i localhost, \
      -e "ansible_connection=local" \
      --ask-become-pass \
      --ask-vault-pass \
      playbook.yml \
      --skip-tags debian-upgrade
      

Links

• https://github.com/cytopia/ansible-debian