ansible-initial-server

Initial configuration of a freshly installed Debian or Ubuntu server to be used as a template in KVM.

use the latest tagged version which has been tested more thoroughly than 'master'

Requirements

Install from ISO

Tested with a default install of Debian 10 net-install ISO

installed from debian-10.x.y-amd64-netinst.iso

Also tested with a default install of Ubuntu 18.04 server ISO

installed from ubuntu-18.04.3-server-amd64.iso (not live-server)
Software: Standard System Utilities and SSH Server (Standard and Server in Ubuntu)
Default user deploy (customizable)
Partitions: 1 primary ext4 root partition /dev/sda1 (no swap); Grub on MBR
an auto-install http/preseed.cfg can be used to speed-up the initial install
used by packer-proxmox-templates

Configuration features

qemu-guest-agent for Packer SSH and in Proxmox for shutdown and backups
haveged random number generator to speed up boot
passwordless sudo for default user 'deploy' (name can be changed)
SSH public key installed for default user with only key login
no login for root
display IP and SSH fingerprint before console login
serial console
generates new SSH host keys on first boot to avoid duplicates in cloned VMs
automatically grow partition after resizing VM disk
optional SSH warning banner
optional Verse of the Day displayed on motd

Vanilla

Running the role with the vanilla tag will only make minimal modifications to the system after an initial ISO installation:

passwordless sudo for default user 'deploy' (name can be changed)
SSH public key installed for default user with only key login
no login for root
serial console
no change to apt sources.list and no installation of additional base packages
set hostname and /etc/hosts
set timezone
no customization to motd, bashrc, etc.
does not disable Ubuntu swapfile

After Installation from ISO

check networking, that the VM is reachable via SSH

Important Role Variables

iserver_user

Username of the default user

iserver_repos

List of repositories which will replace the initial defaults

iserver_packages

List of system utilities to install

iserver_hostname and iserver_domain

iserver_sshkey

SSH-key of the default user

Example Playbook

Name of playbook: server-template.yml

make sure the correct username is used, which is the default user name set up during iso installation

- name: Initial configuration of a server.
  hosts: servers
  user: administrator
  vars_files:
    - server-template-vars.yml
  roles:
    - role: ansible-initial-server
      vars:
        iserver_user: administrator

The Debian installer by default creates a root user with a root password, who is not permitted to SSH in to the server. Sudo is not installed by default. Therefore the default user can SSH into Debian, but has to use su to do roots tasks. There is no need to change sshd_config to PermitRootLogin yes, because this Ansible role can authenticate with the initial user password and then 'become' root using 'su'.

Only for the first run on Debian (before sudo is active & the SSH key has been transferred):

ansible-playbook --ask-pass --ask-become-pass -e iserver_become=su -v server-template.yml

For subsequent runs or on installations which have sudo and SSH-key already enabled:

ansible-playbook --v server-template.yml

For the first run on Ubuntu (before the SSH key has been transferred):

ansible-playbook --ask-pass --ask-become-pass -v server-template.yml

For subsequent runs:

ansible-playbook -vv server-template.yml

License

MIT

Author Information

Christian Wagner

Pobek/ansible-initial-server