Create a Linux virtual machines in Azure using Ansible

Artikkel
08/14/2024

This article presents a sample Ansible playbook for configuring a Linux virtual machine.

In this article, you learn how to:

Create a resource group
Create a virtual network
Create a public IP address
Create a network security group
Create a virtual network interface card
Create a virtual machine

1. Configure your environment

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

Install Ansible: Do one of the following options:
- Install and configure Ansible on a Linux virtual machine
- Configure Azure Cloud Shell

2. Create an SSH key pair

Run the following command. When prompted, specify the files to be created in the following directory: /home/azureuser/.ssh/authorized_keys.
```
ssh-keygen -m PEM -t rsa -b 4096
```
Copy the contents of the public key file. By default, the public key file is named id_rsa.pub. The value is a long string starting with "ssh-rsa ". You'll need this value in the next step.

3. Implement the Ansible playbook

Create a directory in which to test and run the sample Ansible code and make it the current directory.

Create a file named main.yml and insert the following code. Replace the <key_data> placeholder with the public key value from the previous step.

- name: Create Azure VM
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
  - name: Create resource group
    azure_rm_resourcegroup:
      name: myResourceGroup
      location: eastus
  - name: Create virtual network
    azure_rm_virtualnetwork:
      resource_group: myResourceGroup
      name: myVnet
      address_prefixes: "10.0.0.0/16"
  - name: Add subnet
    azure_rm_subnet:
      resource_group: myResourceGroup
      name: mySubnet
      address_prefix: "10.0.1.0/24"
      virtual_network: myVnet
  - name: Create public IP address
    azure_rm_publicipaddress:
      resource_group: myResourceGroup
      allocation_method: Static
      name: myPublicIP
    register: output_ip_address
  - name: Public IP of VM
    debug:
      msg: "The public IP is {{ output_ip_address.state.ip_address }}."
  - name: Create Network Security Group that allows SSH
    azure_rm_securitygroup:
      resource_group: myResourceGroup
      name: myNetworkSecurityGroup
      rules:
        - name: SSH
          protocol: Tcp
          destination_port_range: 22
          access: Allow
          priority: 1001
          direction: Inbound
  - name: Create virtual network interface card
    azure_rm_networkinterface:
      resource_group: myResourceGroup
      name: myNIC
      virtual_network: myVnet
      subnet: mySubnet
      public_ip_name: myPublicIP
      security_group: myNetworkSecurityGroup
  - name: Create VM
    azure_rm_virtualmachine:
      resource_group: myResourceGroup
      name: myVM
      vm_size: Standard_DS1_v2
      admin_username: azureuser
      ssh_password_enabled: false
      ssh_public_keys:
        - path: /home/azureuser/.ssh/authorized_keys
          key_data: "<key_data>"
      network_interfaces: myNIC
      image:
        offer: 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy
        publisher: Canonical
        sku: 22_04-lts
        version: latest

4. Run the playbook

Run ansible-playbook to run the Ansible playbook.

ansible-playbook main.yml

5. Verify the results

Run az vm list to verify the VM was created.

az vm list -d -o table --query "[?name=='myVM']"

6. Connect to the VM

Run the SSH command to connect to your new Linux VM. Replace the <ip-address> placeholder with the IP address from the previous step.

ssh azureuser@<ip_address> -i /home/azureuser/.ssh/authorized_keys/id_rsa

Clean up resources

Save the following code as delete_rg.yml.

---
- hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - name: Deleting resource group - "{{ name }}"
      azure_rm_resourcegroup:
        name: "{{ name }}"
        state: absent
      register: rg
    - debug:
        var: rg

Run the playbook using the ansible-playbook command. Replace the placeholder with the name of the resource group to be deleted. All resources within the resource group will be deleted.
```
ansible-playbook delete_rg.yml --extra-vars "name=<resource_group>"
```
Key points:
- Because of the register variable and debug section of the playbook, the results display when the command finishes.

Run az group delete to delete the resource group. All resources within the resource group will be deleted.
```
az group delete --name <resource_group>
```
Verify that the resource group was deleted by using az group show.
```
az group show --name <resource_group>
```

Run Remove-AzResourceGroup to delete the resource group. All resources within the resource group will be deleted.
```
Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name <resource_group>
```
Verify that the resource group was deleted by using Get-AzResourceGroup.
```
Get-AzResourceGroup -Name <resource_group>
```

Next steps

Manage a Linux virtual machine in Azure using Ansible

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