Ansible is a great tool, and trying things out with a virtual-machine is a great way to learn, try things out, and test changes. But if you're trying to learn Ansible and Vagrant/Virtualbox all at once, configuring a test-setup just right can be a steep learning curve. This template demonstrates how to set-up Vagrant to test your new Ansible role.
To startup tests simply run:
cd vagrant/
vagrant upIn case you want to relaunch the tests, restart vagrant provision
vagrant provisionFor debugging purpose vagrant provide an easy way to connect inside the VM
vagrant sshVagrantfile sets up a testing virtual-machine,
by default named debianjessie64 (see Vagrantfile).
This should be renamed to something sensible for your role so you can
recognise it if you have multiple VM's up and running, e.g. when running::
vagrant global-status... to remind yourself where all your RAM went.
The ansible.cfg file tells ansible how to find the Vagrant SSH login details, which makes it easy to run Ansible manually against your VM via the command line, rather than indirectly by re-running Vagrant commands - this can speed up testing.
To retrieve a copy of the roles listed in a requirements file, run::
ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml
## or
ansible-galaxy install --force -r requirements.ymlNote that ansible.cfg is configured such that roles installed via Ansible Galaxy will be installed under vagrant/galaxy_roles.
When documenting a role, you should either specify expected pre-requisites (e.g. git) in the README, or if your dependencies are provided by a specific role then you should record it in the role metadata (see docs).