Ansible container

In order to run Ansible in a Docker container, you can use a Dockerfile and a docker-compose file.

Dockerfile¶

# Use Python base image
FROM --platform=linux/amd64 python:3

# Set environment variables
ENV ANSIBLE_HOME=/ansible
WORKDIR $ANSIBLE_HOME

# Install system dependencies
RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
        sshpass \
        libffi-dev \
        libssl-dev \
        build-essential \
        python3-dev \
        python3-pip \
        git \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Upgrade pip
RUN pip install --upgrade pip

# Install Ansible and required Python packages
RUN pip install ansible requests unificontrol

# Install Ansible collections
RUN ansible-galaxy collection install community.general

# Default shell entry point for manual use (Option 1)
CMD ["/bin/sh"]

# Uncomment the following lines for Option 2: Automatically run a specific playbook
# ENTRYPOINT ["ansible-playbook"]
# CMD ["playbooks/collect_unifi_inventory.yml"]

# Notes:
# - Option 1 (default): The container starts with a shell, allowing you to manually run Ansible commands or playbooks.
# - Option 2: Uncomment the ENTRYPOINT and CMD lines above to automatically run the specified playbook when the container starts.

docker-compose¶

version: '3.8'

# option 2 is for MacOS and Windows
networks:
  ansible_net:
    driver: bridge

services:
  ansible:
    build: .
    container_name: ansible-controller
    networks:
      - ansible_net
    # option 1 is for Linux systems, not MacOS or Windows
    # option 1 #network_mode: "host"  # Use the host's network stack
    volumes:
      # specific files mapped to the '/ansible' directory
      - ./ansible.cfg:/ansible/ansible.cfg:ro
      - ./playbooks/playbook-inventory.yml:/ansible/playbook-inventory.yml:ro
      - ./vault.yml:/ansible/vault.yml:rw
      # specific subdirectories mapped to the '/ansible' directory
      - ./backup:/ansible/backup:rw
      - ./group_vars:/ansible/group_vars:ro
      - ./inventory:/ansible/inventory
      - ./roles:/ansible/roles:ro
    working_dir: /ansible
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true
    restart: unless-stopped

Reference list¶

Links found when looking up Running Ansible in a container: