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Connect machines at scale using Ansible playbooks

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You can onboard Ansible-managed nodes to Azure Arc-enabled servers at scale using Ansible playbooks. To do so, you'll need to download, modify, and then run the appropriate playbook.

Before you get started, be sure to review the prerequisites and verify that your subscription and resources meet the requirements. For information about supported regions and other related considerations, see supported Azure regions. Also review our at-scale planning guide to understand the design and deployment criteria, as well as our management and monitoring recommendations.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Automatic connection for SQL Server

When you connect a Windows or Linux server to Azure Arc that also has Microsoft SQL Server installed, the SQL Server instances will automatically be connected to Azure Arc as well. SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc provides a detailed inventory and additional management capabilities for your SQL Server instances and databases. As part of the connection process, an extension is deployed to your Azure Arc-enabled server and new roles will be applied to your SQL Server and databases. If you don't want to automatically connect your SQL Servers to Azure Arc, you can opt out by adding a tag to the Windows or Linux server with the name ArcSQLServerExtensionDeployment and value Disabled when it's connected to Azure Arc.

For more information, see Manage automatic connection for SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc.

Generate a service principal and collect Azure details

Before you can run the script to connect your machines, you'll need to do the following:

  1. Follow the steps to create a service principal for onboarding at scale.

    • Assign the Azure Connected Machine Onboarding role to your service principal and limit the scope of the role to the target Azure subscription or resource group.
    • Make a note of the Service Principal Secret and Service Principal Client ID; you'll need these values later.

  2. Collect details on the Tenant ID, Subscription ID, Resource Group, and Region where the Azure Arc-enabled resource will be onboarded.

Download the Ansible playbook

If you are onboarding machines to Azure Arc-enabled servers, copy the following Ansible playbook template and save the playbook as arc-server-onboard-playbook.yml.

---
- name: Onboard Linux and Windows Servers to Azure Arc-enabled servers with public endpoint connectivity
  hosts: all
  # vars:
  #   azure:
  #     service_principal_id: 'INSERT-SERVICE-PRINCIPAL-CLIENT-ID'
  #     service_principal_secret: 'INSERT-SERVICE-PRINCIPAL-SECRET'
  #     resource_group: 'INSERT-RESOURCE-GROUP'
  #     tenant_id: 'INSERT-TENANT-ID'
  #     subscription_id: 'INSERT-SUBSCRIPTION-ID'
  #     location: 'INSERT-LOCATION'
  tasks:
  - name: Check if the Connected Machine Agent has already been downloaded on Linux servers
    stat:
      path: /usr/bin/azcmagent
      get_attributes: False
      get_checksum: False
    register: azcmagent_lnx_downloaded
    when: ansible_system == 'Linux'

  - name: Download the Connected Machine Agent on Linux servers
    become: yes
    get_url:
      url: https://aka.ms/azcmagent
      dest: ~/install_linux_azcmagent.sh
      mode: '700'
    when: (ansible_system == 'Linux') and (azcmagent_lnx_downloaded.stat.exists == false)

  - name: Install the Connected Machine Agent on Linux servers
    become: yes
    shell: bash ~/install_linux_azcmagent.sh
    when: (ansible_system == 'Linux') and (not azcmagent_lnx_downloaded.stat.exists)

  - name: Check if the Connected Machine Agent has already been downloaded on Windows servers
    win_stat:
      path: C:\Program Files\AzureConnectedMachineAgent
    register: azcmagent_win_downloaded
    when: ansible_os_family == 'Windows'

  - name: Download the Connected Machine Agent on Windows servers
    win_get_url:
      url: https://aka.ms/AzureConnectedMachineAgent
      dest: C:\AzureConnectedMachineAgent.msi
    when: (ansible_os_family == 'Windows') and (not azcmagent_win_downloaded.stat.exists)

  - name: Install the Connected Machine Agent on Windows servers
    win_package:
      path: C:\AzureConnectedMachineAgent.msi
    when: (ansible_os_family == 'Windows') and (not azcmagent_win_downloaded.stat.exists)

  - name: Check if the Connected Machine Agent has already been connected
    become: true
    command:
     cmd: azcmagent check
    register: azcmagent_lnx_connected
    ignore_errors: yes
    when: ansible_system == 'Linux'
    failed_when: (azcmagent_lnx_connected.rc not in [ 0, 16 ])
    changed_when: False

  - name: Check if the Connected Machine Agent has already been connected on windows
    win_command: azcmagent check
    register: azcmagent_win_connected
    when: ansible_os_family == 'Windows'
    ignore_errors: yes
    failed_when: (azcmagent_win_connected.rc not in [ 0, 16 ])
    changed_when: False

  - name: Connect the Connected Machine Agent on Linux servers to Azure Arc
    become: yes
    shell: azcmagent connect --service-principal-id "{{ azure.service_principal_id }}" --service-principal-secret "{{ azure.service_principal_secret }}" --resource-group "{{ azure.resource_group }}" --tenant-id "{{ azure.tenant_id }}" --location "{{ azure.location }}" --subscription-id "{{ azure.subscription_id }}"
    when:  (ansible_system == 'Linux') and (azcmagent_lnx_connected.rc is defined and azcmagent_lnx_connected.rc != 0)

  - name: Connect the Connected Machine Agent on Windows servers to Azure
    win_shell: '& $env:ProgramFiles\AzureConnectedMachineAgent\azcmagent.exe connect --service-principal-id "{{ azure.service_principal_id }}" --service-principal-secret "{{ azure.service_principal_secret }}" --resource-group "{{ azure.resource_group }}" --tenant-id "{{ azure.tenant_id }}" --location "{{ azure.location }}" --subscription-id "{{ azure.subscription_id }}"'
    when: (ansible_os_family == 'Windows') and (azcmagent_win_connected.rc is defined and azcmagent_win_connected.rc != 0)

Modify the Ansible playbook

After downloading the Ansible playbook, complete the following steps:

  1. Within the Ansible playbook, modify the variables under the vars section with the service principal and Azure details collected earlier:

    • Service Principal ID
    • Service Principal Secret
    • Resource Group
    • Tenant ID
    • Subscription ID
    • Region

  2. Enter the correct hosts field capturing the target servers for onboarding to Azure Arc. You can employ Ansible patterns to selectively target which hybrid machines to onboard.

  3. This template passes the service principal secret as a variable in the Ansible playbook. Please note that an Ansible vault could be used to encrypt this secret and the variables could be passed through a configuration file.

Run the Ansible playbook

From the Ansible control node, run the Ansible playbook by invoking the ansible-playbook command:

ansible-playbook arc-server-onboard-playbook.yml

After the playbook has run, the PLAY RECAP will indicate if all tasks were completed successfully and surface any nodes where tasks failed.

Verify the connection with Azure Arc

After you have successfully installed the agent and configured it to connect to Azure Arc-enabled servers, go to the Azure portal to verify that the servers in your target hosts have successfully connected. View your machines in the Azure portal.

Next steps