Ansible is an open-source software platform for configuring and managing computers. It combines multi-node software deployment, ad-hoc task execution, and configuration management.
Ansible is an open-source software platform for configuring and managing computers. It combines multi-node software deployment, ad-hoc task execution, and configuration management. It manages nodes over SSH and does not require any additional remote software to be installed on them. Modules work over JSON and standard output and can be written in any programming language. The system uses YAML to express reusable descriptions of systems.
The platform was created by Michael DeHaan, the author of the provisioning server application Cobbler and co-author of the Func framework for remote administration. It is included as part of the Fedora distribution of Linux, owned by Red Hat inc., and is also available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS and Scientific Linux via Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) as well as other operating systems. Ansible was commercially supported and sponsored by AnsibleWorks. Since October 2015 Ansible is owned by RedHat.
It was named by DeHaan after the fictional instantaneous hyperspace communication system featured in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.