satcb: SATellite server 6 - Content Baseline

This playbook will publish new versions of CV and CCV's. And promote CCV's to designated lifecycle.

This playbook can also control the number of versions of CV / CCV to keep after promoting to a lifecycle.

The first (alpha) version of this playbook originally used the Ansible Role: satellite6-content_views from Ansible Galaxy:-

https://galaxy.ansible.com/ogerbron/satellite6-content_views

However, I have since modified the playbook to incorporate the role as it became clear it did not fullfil all my requirements.

COMPATIBILITY: This playbook has been tested on Satellite v6.8.6

NOTE:

In the future it is my intention to restructure this into a more friendly version using roles (and maybe eventually to re-create it as a module).

Disclaimer

This is my first 'major' attempt at doing something useful in Ansible. If you see something that does not follow good practice or could just be done better then please (politely :-) ) let me know.

I am aware there is some code cleanup is required ... :-)

RPM Pre-requisites

ansible-engine
python-dns (used for performing a pre-check on the satellite server hostname)

Installation

< still to be written :-) >

< still to be written :-) >

Define ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH

It is recommended to define a value for the environment variable: ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH if it is not already set. This will make is easier to check the playbook run if there are any issues.

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=~/code/ansible/log/ansible_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%N).log

Notice the use of "%N" in the date command. This will create a date string using nano second precission. This will prevent the same logfile from being used if the playbook is executed at the 'same time' more than once.

The log path will be referenced in the Email report summary.

Playbook Configuration Parameters

In the var directory of the playbook there are various configuration files:-

satcb_config-default.yaml

Here is a list of all the default variables for this playbook.

(If a vaiable in the playbook does not begin with 'satcb' then it is

a internal variable and should not be touched.)

Here are the main variables needed (excluding API credentials)

Variable name	Required	Default	Choices	TYPE	Comments
`satcb_hostname`	yes			STRING	FQDN of the Satellite 6 Server to connect to
`satcb_organization`	yes			STRING	Name of the ORGRANIZATION to use in the Satellite Server.
`satcb_promote_ccv_only`	no	true	true / false	BOOLEAN	Determine if the playbook is to create new versions of CV/CCV's or simply promote to a lifecycle.
`satcb_promote_ccv_to_env`	no	"Library"		STRING	Name of a VALID lifecycle environment to promote CCV's to.
`satcb_build_frequency`	yes		See comment	STRING	Used to create the baseline description. Valid choices: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly
`satcb_email_to`	yes*			LIST	Required if satcb_email_send is 'true'. One or more Email addresses in a list.
`satcb_email_send`	no*	true	true / false	BOOLEAN	If set to 'false' no Email report summary will be sent - unless there is an error.
`satcb_email_from`	yes*			STRING	Required if satcb_email_send is 'true'.
`satcb_remove_old_cv_ccv`	no	true	true / false	BOOLEAN	If set to FALSE, then OLD versions will NOT be removed
`satcb_email_port`	yes*	25		INTEGER	Port to use for SMTP traffic
`satcb_email_host`	yes*	localhost		STRING	Name of the Email server (typically 'localhost')
`satcb_email_subject`	no*			STRING	Subject is automatically generated if not specified.

* required only if satcb_email_send is TRUE.

Define API related parameters

Variable name	Required	Default	Choices	TYPE	Comments
`satcb_http_protocol`	no	https	https or http	STRING	Define the HTTP protocol to use.
`satcb_url_timeout`	yes	180		INTEGER	Number of seconds before a API call will time-out
`satcb_wait_task_retries`	yes	90		INTEGER	Number of times to check if a API call has finished
`satcb_wait_task_delay`	yes	10		INTEGER	Number of SECONDS to wait before checking again if a API call has finished

Define Satellite API user/password credentials

Variable name	Required	Default	Choices	TYPE	Comments
`satcb_user`	yes			STRING	API user name to connect to the Satellite Server in `satcb_hostname`
`satcb_password`	yes			VAULT ENCRYPED STRING	API user password - stored as a vault encrypted string

NOTE:

It is highly recomended to encrypt the password in: satcb_password.

Use the following process:-

ansible-vault encrypt_string --vault-password-file '<password value>' --name satcb_password

The above will result in something like the following which you can place in the playbook config file.

satcb_password: !vault | $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.1;AES256 78613037393830313365386631653333356230647432363534383037393339636330343730643161 3664663833653439613338303433656362786639393763300a383239326561306339353865653966 63396574353865783336383662356238396161663866653332373039383061616666383562636262 3863356436393432610a333961336639617232303537326635313065316364726532643732623738 38356534733963323564323230303635326137667061363033356637623865796135

(Note to hackers: the above encrypted text is not a valid password - sorry! :) )

The vault password used should be stored in a (secure) file and referenced when the playbook is run with the following option:-

--vault-password-file=<path to vault password file>

e.g.

ansible-playbook []
--vault-password-file=~/code/ansible/vault/my_vault_password.txt

Define the name of custom configuration, exclude or include file list:-

Variable name	Required	Default	TYPE	Comments
`satcb_exclude_list_filename`	no	exclude_list-default.yaml	STRING	Name of file containing the list of CV/CCV to EXCLUDE
`satcb_include_list_filename`	no	include_list-default.yaml	STRING	Name of file containing the list of CV/CCV to INCLUDE
`satcb_config_filename`	no	satcb_config-default.yaml	STRING	Custom configuration file

NOTE:

If there is a configuration file named:-

satcb_config-<FQDN satellite hostname>.yaml then this will take precedence over the 'default' configuration file (satcb_config-default.yaml).

Include / Exclude List

Variable name	Required	Default	Choices	TYPE	Comments
`satcb_exclude_list`	yes			LIST	List of CV and/or CCV to not publish/promote
`satcb_include_list`	yes			LIST	List of CV and/or CCV to publish/promote

* required only if satcb_email_send is TRUE.

NOTE:

This GIT repository provides 'example' files:-

satcb-config_example.yaml exclude_list-example.yaml include_list-example.yaml

*You should copy these to 'default' files. Any future changes required to the config/include/exclude will be added to the 'example' files.

Usage

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=

ansible-playbook /tasks/main.yaml
--vault-password-file=<path to vault password file to decrypt satcb_password var>
--extra-vars='{"satcb_hostname": "" [, \

optional parameters:-

                "satcb_email_send": <true|false>,                                   \
                "satcb_email_to": ["<email address>", "<email address>" ... ],      \
                "satcb_email_cc": ["<email address>", "<email address>" ... ],      \
                "satcb_email_bcc": ["<email address>", "<email address>" ... ],     \
                "satcb_email_port": <port number>                                   \
                "satcb_email_host": "<hostname>"                                    \
                "satcb_promote_ccv_only": <true|false>,                             \
                "satcb_promote_ccv_to_env": "<valid lifecycle environment>",        \
                "satcb_http_protocol": <"https" | "http>,                           \
                "satcb_url_timeout": <integer>,                                     \
                "satcb_wait_task_retries": <integer>,                               \
                "satcb_wait_task_delay": <integer>,

Example #1

PUBLISH new versions of all CV and CCV not in the exclude list on the DEVELOPMENT

Satellite Server: my-satellite.acme.com.

NOTE:

The CV & CCV will only be promoted to LIBRARY. Also, the exclude / include list will be derived from the default files.

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=~/code/ansible/log/ansible_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%N).log
ansible-playbook ./satcb/tasks/main.yaml                              \
    --vault-password-file=~/code/ansible/vault/my_vault_password.txt  \
    --extra-vars='{ "satcb_hostname": "my-satellite.acme.com" }'

Example #2

PROMOTE ALL CCV to Lifecycle Environment: average

NOTE:

The exclude / include list will be derived from the default files.

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=~/code/ansible/log/ansible_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%N).log
ansible-playbook ./satcb/tasks/main.yaml                              \
    --vault-password-file=~/code/ansible/vault/my_vault_password.txt  \
    --extra-vars='{ "satcb_hostname": "my-satellite.acme.com",   \
                    "satcb_promote_ccv_only": true                    \
                    "satcb_promote_ccv_to_env": "average" }'

Example #3

PUBLISH new CV and PROMOTE CCV to Lifecycle Environment: pilot for Satellite Server: my-satellite.acme.com

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=~/code/ansible/log/ansible_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%N).log
ansible-playbook ./satcb/tasks/main.yaml                              \
    --vault-password-file=~/code/ansible/vault/my_vault_password.txt  \
    --extra-vars='{ "satcb_hostname": "my-satellite.acme.com",   \
                    "satcb_promote_ccv_to_env": "pilot" }'

Example #4

PROMOTE CCV to Lifecycle Environment: average excluding the CCV listed in the exclude file:-

exclude_list-mytest.yaml

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=~/code/ansible/log/ansible_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%N).log
ansible-playbook ./satcb/tasks/main.yaml                              \
    --vault-password-file=~/code/ansible/vault/my_vault_password.txt  \
    --extra-vars='{ "satcb_hostname": "my-satellite.acme.com",   \
                    "satcb_promote_ccv_only": true                    \
                    "satcb_promote_ccv_to_env": "average"             \
                    "satcb_exclude_list_filename": "exclude_list-mytest.yaml" }'

NOTE:

By using different include / exclude files when promoting certain CCV can be limited to particular Lifecycle Environments.

i.e. If a new CCV was needed only for testing then it could be left out of dedicated include list files for lifecycles beyond pilot. Or, it could be added to exclude list files for each lifecycle environment it was not needed for.

Example #5

Use a custom configuration file:-

export ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH=~/code/ansible/log/ansible_$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.%N).log
ansible-playbook ./satcb/tasks/main.yaml                              \
    --vault-password-file=~/code/ansible/vault/my_vault_password.txt  \
    --extra-vars='{ "satcb_hostname": "my-satellite.acme.com",   \
                    "satcb_config_filename": "mytest-conf-file.yaml"  }'

Future Improvements

Limit publishing of CV's to only those CV's which are in a CCV.

Limit promoting CCV's only up-to a specific Lifecycle environment.

i.e. If the Lifecycle Path was:-

 dev -> test -> uat -> prod
 
 then CCV: ccv-my-test should only get promoted to LE: 'dev' and
 'test' and not to:  'uat' or 'prod'.

Re-structure with roles.
Replace this playbook by creating an Ansible module.
Only publish a new CV (or CCV) if there has been a change (I expect this to be a non-trivial and time-consuming task).

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Please make sure to update tests as appropriate.

License

GPLv3

DarkMatter68/satcb

satcb: SATellite server 6 - Content Baseline

Disclaimer

RPM Pre-requisites

Installation

Define ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH

Playbook Configuration Parameters

satcb_config-default.yaml

Define API related parameters

Define Satellite API user/password credentials

Define the name of custom configuration, exclude or include file list:-

Include / Exclude List

Usage

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

Example #4

Example #5

Future Improvements

Contributing

License