Deploy Your First Configuration

Write an Ansible playbook in the ops0 editor, get it approved, and deploy it to a server — with full output tracking and rollback capability.

Scenario

You need to configure a server — install nginx, set up a service, or apply a system setting — consistently and repeatably. You want to:

• Write the Ansible playbook in ops0
• Run a dry run to see what would change
• Deploy to one or more servers
• Have a full record of what was applied

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create a Configuration Project

Step 2: Write the Playbook

The configuration editor opens with a Monaco editor (YAML syntax, full highlighting and validation).

Paste or type your playbook:

---
- name: Install and configure nginx
  hosts: all
  become: yes

  vars:
    nginx_port: "{{ port | default(80) }}"
    server_name: "{{ server_name | default('localhost') }}"

  tasks:
    - name: Update apt cache
      apt:
        update_cache: yes
        cache_valid_time: 3600
      when: ansible_os_family == "Debian"

    - name: Install nginx
      package:
        name: nginx
        state: present

    - name: Start and enable nginx
      service:
        name: nginx
        state: started
        enabled: yes

    - name: Check nginx is responding
      uri:
        url: "http://localhost:{{ nginx_port }}"
        status_code: 200
      register: nginx_check
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: Show nginx status
      debug:
        msg: "nginx is {{ 'running' if nginx_check.status == 200 else 'not responding' }}"

Step 3: Define Variables (Optional)

Click the Variables panel on the right side of the editor to set default values:

Variables can be overridden at deploy time without editing the playbook.

Step 4: Get Approval

If your organization requires approval before configuration deployments:

1. Click Submit for Approval
2. An admin reviews the playbook and either approves or rejects it
3. Rejected playbooks return with comments for revision
4. Once approved, the configuration is ready to deploy

If approval is not required in your org, skip to Step 5.

Step 5: Run a Dry Run

Before deploying, run a dry run to see what would change without making any actual changes.

The dry run output shows each task and whether it would make a change:

TASK [Update apt cache] ───────────────────────── ok
TASK [Install nginx]    ───────────────────────── changed  ← would install
TASK [Start nginx]      ───────────────────────── changed  ← would start
TASK [Check nginx]      ───────────────────────── skipped (dry run)

Dry run complete. 2 tasks would make changes.

Step 6: Deploy

Once you're satisfied with the dry run results:

The deployment output streams in real time:

PLAY [Install and configure nginx] ─────────────────────

TASK [Gathering Facts] ──────────────────────────── ok
TASK [Update apt cache] ─────────────────────────── ok
TASK [Install nginx] ────────────────────────────── changed
TASK [Start and enable nginx] ───────────────────── changed
TASK [Check nginx is responding] ────────────────── ok
TASK [Show nginx status] ────────────────────────── ok
  msg: nginx is running

PLAY RECAP ──────────────────────────────────────────────
web-server-01: ok=6  changed=2  failed=0  skipped=0

Deployment complete.

Verification

After the deploy:

1. The deployment record shows Succeeded with a summary: ok=6 changed=2 failed=0
2. SSH into the server and verify: systemctl status nginx
3. You should see nginx active and listening on port 80

Deployment History

Every deployment is recorded with:

• Timestamp and who triggered it
• Variables used
• Full play output
• Summary (ok/changed/failed counts)

Click History on the configuration project to see all past deployments and their outputs.

Next Steps

Troubleshooting