As long as everything is all right

My job involves a lot of things, but managing infrastructure as code using Ansible holds a special spot in my heart. Each day is driven by the thrill of seeing ansible's efficiency and how easily it simplifies tasks over the traditional scripts.

Not limited to just managing infrastructure, Ansible has proven invaluable for an assorted variety of tasks. From configuration management, application deployment, to orchestrating complex IT tasks. It plays a crucial role in interconnecting my systems.

A key integration that has caught my attention is its ability to invoke Terraform. Yes, that's right! Using Ansible, you can automate your Terraform procedures, making it an even more powerful tool in your IT toolbox.

When you encounter a problem

Using Ansible is not all smooth sailing though. When confronted with errors, the Ansible command output can quickly turn into a jigsaw puzzle. The output is often cluttered and almost unreadable. Navigation through the maze of code to correct the issue becomes a significant challenge.

I used to refrain from directly tackling this problem, opting for the lengthy process of copy-pasting the command output into an editor to simplify it and make the errors easier to spot. Every time I did this, I wished for a better solution.

Discovering Ansible stdout callback plugins

My prayers for a more readable output were answered when I stumbled upon Ansible stdout callback plugins. These plugins handle Ansible's output in various ways to meet your needs.

Okay, it's not really a trick, but it looks like one. A quick change to my ansible.cfg file by adding stdout_callback = yaml drastically impacted the readability of the command output. It brought life to the previously chaotic mess. The output display, transformed through YAML, was crisp, clean, and straightforward to comprehend.

Trying out stdout_callback plugins

If you too are intrigued and want to explore stdout callback plugins for yourself, here are the steps to do it:

1. Go to your Ansible Configuration file ansible.cfg
2. Under the defaults section, add stdout_callback = yaml.

This simple addition will transform your Ansible output, making it much more readable and easy to manage.

Harness the power of Ansible stdout callback plugins. They not only make your results more readable, but they also save you the hassle of having to manually format your output, making your work with Ansible more intuitive and error-free!

Onward with Ansible

Incorporate the efficiency of Ansible in your daily tasks and experience its potential beyond just managing infrastructure. Don’t forget to try invoking Terraform with Ansible and employing stdout callback plugins for a smooth workflow experience. It has greatly improved my job as a devops, and I am confident it will do the same for you.

Happy ansible-ing!