Use Ansible to create an ECS instance on Alibaba Cloud

Tutorial overview

This tutorial splits the ECS instance creation and configuration into different Ansible playbooks to help you understand how to declare configurations in YAML format. You can use the complete example to run the playbook and create an ECS instance. For more information, see ECS example.

Prerequisites

Install and configure Ansible for use with Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Install and configure Ansible.

Create a VPC

Before you create an ECS instance, you must create a virtual private cloud (VPC).

The following Ansible playbook shows how to create a VPC.

---
- name: Create a new VPC
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
  - name: Create a new alicloud VPC resource
    ali_vpc:
      alicloud_region: 'cn-qingdao'
      cidr_block: '192.168.0.0/16'
      vpc_name: 'vpc_test'
    register: vpc

Create a vSwitch

You must specify a vSwitch when you create an ECS instance.

You can use the following Ansible playbook to create a vSwitch in a VPC.

---
- name: Create a new Alibaba Cloud VSwitch resource
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
  - name: Create a new Alibaba Cloud VSwitch resource
    ali_vswitch:
      alicloud_region: 'cn-qingdao'
      alicloud_zone: 'cn-qingdao-b'
      state: 'present'
      cidr_block: '192.168.0.0/24'
      vswitch_name: 'vswitch_test'
      description: 'Test creating a vSwitch with Ansible'
      vpc_id: 'vpc-m5e08bfrh8288********'
    register: vswitch
~                    

Create a security group

The following Ansible playbook creates a security group and associates it with a VPC.

---
- name: Create a security group
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
  - name: Create a security group
    ali_security_group:
      alicloud_region: 'cn-qingdao'
      state: 'present'
      name: 'group_test'
      description: 'Test creating a security group with Ansible'
      vpc_id: 'vpc-m5e08bfrh8288********'
    register: group

Create an ECS instance

The following Ansible playbook creates an ECS instance.

---
- name: Create an ECS instance
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
  - name: Create an ECS instance
    ali_instance:
      alicloud_region: 'cn-qingdao'
      alicloud_zone: 'cn-qingdao-b'
      image_id: 'aliyun_3_x64_20G_alibase_20240528.vhd'
      instance_type: 'ecs.g6.large'
      internet_charge_type: 'PayByTraffic'
      instance_name: 'ecs_ansible_test'
      description: 'Test creating an ECS instance with Ansible'
      system_disk_category: 'cloud_efficiency'
      system_disk_size: '40'
      password: 'ansible@1234'
      vswitch_id: 'vsw-m5ey1ybjn0yh0********'
      security_groups: ['sg-m5e2fjcye6yb********']
      host_name: 'myhost'
      count: 1
      instance_charge_type: 'PostPaid'
    register: ecs

Run the playbook to create an ECS instance

You can create an ECS instance using a playbook.

1. Create a file named alicloud_create_ecs.yml and open it in the VI editor.

   vi alicloud_create_ecs.yml

2. In edit mode, paste the following playbook example into the alicloud_create_ecs.yml file.

   Note

   Modify the ECS configuration in the example as needed.

   ---
   - name: Create a new VPC 
     hosts: localhost
     connection: local
     vars: 
       vpc_cidr: "172.16.0.0/12"
       vpc_name: "VPC_From_Ansible"
       vpc_description: "Create a new VPC resource via Ansible example alicloud-ecs-vpc."
       alicloud_region: cn-qingdao
       alicloud_zone: cn-qingdao-b
       vswitch_cidr: "172.16.1.0/24"
       vswitch_name: "VSwitch_From_Ansible"
       vswitch_description: "Create a new VSwitch resource via Ansible example alicloud-ecs-vpc."
       group_name: "Security_Group_From_Ansible"
       group_description: "Create a new security group resource via Ansible example alicloud-ecs-vpc."
       group_inboundRules:
         - ip_protocol: tcp
           port_range: 22/22
           source_cidr_ip: 0.0.0.0/0
           dest_cidr_ip: 47.89.23.33/32
           priority: 2
       image: centos_6_8_64_40G_base_20170222.vhd
       type: ecs.n4.small
       instance_name: newtests2
       description: travis-ansible-instance2
       host_name: myhost
       count: 1
       allocate_public_ip: True
       internet_charge_type: PayByBandwidth
       max_bandwidth_in: 200
       max_bandwidth_out: 10
       key_name: ECS_KEY
       tags:
         role: frontend
     tasks: 
     - name: Create a new alicloud VPC resource
       ali_vpc:
         alicloud_region: '{{ alicloud_region }}'
         cidr_block: '{{ vpc_cidr }}'
         vpc_name: '{{ vpc_name }}'
       register: vpc
     - name: Create a new alicloud VSwitch resource
       ali_vswitch:
         alicloud_region: '{{ alicloud_region }}'
         alicloud_zone: '{{ alicloud_zone }}'
         state: 'present'
         cidr_block: '{{ vswitch_cidr }}'
         vswitch_name: '{{ vswitch_name }}'
         description: '{{ vswitch_description }}'
         vpc_id: '{{vpc.vpc.id}}'
       register: vswitch
     # - name: Output the VPC information
     #   debug:
     #     msg: "The created VPC is {{ vpc }}."
     # - name: Output the vSwitch information
     #   debug:
     #     msg: "The created vSwitch is {{ vswitch }}."
     # - name: Get the existing VPC
     #   ali_vpc_facts:
     #     region: '{{alicloud_region}}'
     #     vpc_name: '{{vpc_name}}'
     #   register: vpcs
   
     - name: Creating security group
       ali_security_group:
         alicloud_region: '{{ alicloud_region }}'
         state: 'present'
         name: '{{ group_name }}'
         description: '{{ group_description }}'
         vpc_id: '{{vpc.vpc.id}}'
         rules: '{{ group_inboundRules }}'
       register: group
   
     - name: Creating an ECS instance
       ali_instance:
         alicloud_region: '{{ alicloud_region }}'
         alicloud_zone: '{{ alicloud_zone }}'
         image_id: '{{ image }}'
         instance_type: '{{ type }}'
         instance_name: '{{ instance_name }}'
         description: '{{ description }}'
         host_name: '{{ host_name }}'
         vswitch_id: '{{vswitch.vswitch.id}}'
         security_groups: '{{group.group.id}}'
         count: '{{count}}'
         allocate_public_ip: '{{ allocate_public_ip }}'
         internet_charge_type: '{{ internet_charge_type }}'
         max_bandwidth_in: '{{ max_bandwidth_in }}'
         max_bandwidth_out: '{{ max_bandwidth_out }}'
         tags: '{{tags}}'
       register: ecs
     - name: Output the VM information
       debug:
         msg: "The created VM is {{ ecs }}."
   

3. Save the file and exit edit mode.

4. Run the Ansible playbook to create the ECS instance.

   ansible-playbook alicloud_create_ecs.yml