I recently started experimenting with Ansible. I am still learning the mechanics of how it works and if it can actually be benefiting. The motivation behind this is in learning how to more effectively perform certain tasks using Ansible. In particular, for me, I want to quickly, accurately, and efficiently apply DISA STIG to VMware software and appliances.
DISA is an acronym for the Defense Information Systems Agency. It is a US Department of Defense combat support agency. STIG is a Security Technical Implementation Guide. STIGs are comprised of one or more documents that contain checks and fixes for security vulnerabilities and general hardening guidelines for various computer technologies.
After a little experimenting, though, I quickly realized a few things. Getting Ansible to connect to VMware ESXi is not as easy as I thought. ESXi is not Linux, so it doesn’t just work out of the box. ESXi is ESXi and Linux is Linux.
I will be creating a few separate pages to document this process. Hopefully others who are exploring this option can use these resources as a starting point. A couple resources I have used to start the journey include the following:
- Ansible for DevOps by Jeef Geerling
- Ansible From Beginner to Pro by Michael Heap
- docs.ansible.com
- www.ansible.com