Have managed thousands of servers with streamlined configuration processes
What is our primary use case?
I have created resources for the monitoring tech stack with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, especially for setting up one master data center and another data center for different applications routed to the monitoring setup, where I have created Splunk servers and installed all Splunk agents and prerequisites with the help of Ansible, including an Ansible playbook.
I have used the agentless architecture in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, as SSH is agentless.
I use a centralized automation controller in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, called the master setup, where we execute our commands with installed prerequisites, inventory information, and the Ansible playbook, managing other node servers with a passwordless setup.
When creating any server with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, it is a significant advantage because if we set up a Splunk agent in one case, it is necessary for each server. By writing the playbook, the agent is installed immediately during server provisioning, providing us with an edge.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is very helpful due to passwordless integration and the ability to interact with multiple servers at once, which is especially advantageous when dealing with thousands of servers.
The integration aspect of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform has optimized my IT ecosystem significantly by consolidating multiple tools, such as a CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins, where we validate everything, including testing and SonarQube code quality.
The agentless architecture of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, using the SSH key, makes it passwordless and allows us to push configurations with one click, creating a major advantage.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's main benefit is that it allows us to push configurations to multiple servers without manually visiting each one, maintaining efficiency.
What needs improvement?
I have observed that Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform could improve by creating modules for upcoming AI and ML tech stacks, as currently, specific modules for these are not available.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have worked on Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, especially Ansible Playbooks, for around three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not encountered any performance issues, crashes, downtimes, or limitations with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
How are customer service and support?
Ansible is a Red Hat product, so they provide all necessary support.
I have not escalated any questions to the Red Hat support team regarding Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, as their modules are professional and complete.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Both Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Chef have similar capabilities but differ in architecture; one is agentless while the other is agent-full.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform on the AWS cloud is very straightforward; I take one server, install Ansible, set up the inventory, and use it.
What was our ROI?
By using the enterprise version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, we receive support that aids in overcoming challenges, a measurable benefit in terms of ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For enterprise users of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, there are fees, but it is free and open-source for testing or small labs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have worked with Chef as a configuration management tool for one project, and I have used Chef and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform together in the same project.
What other advice do I have?
I have worked on the AWS cloud with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform was hosted on AWS.
I prefer Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform because it is easy to implement, and the extensive supporting documentation is very helpful.
I suggest everyone consider Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform because it is agentless, easy to implement, and has sufficient supporting documentation available.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
I love the parallelism with Ansible Automation Platform
What do you like best about the product?
User Interface. I think that platform can be used for less experienced user to improve automation experience and usability of the code.
What do you dislike about the product?
Not supporting the same type credentials. I would love to use two machine type credentials within the same template.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Able to push changes to 250+ sites simultaneously. Integrating self-service, where customer can get what they need without involvement from the Network Engineer.
AAP is the greatest
What do you like best about the product?
It makes automation extremely easy and adds extreme value to my job.
What do you dislike about the product?
User Group Setup can be an annoyance but overall it isn't bad
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Standardizing configuration across our env.
Ansible Automation user
What do you like best about the product?
Playbook automation is fairly straightforward
What do you dislike about the product?
The UI output for jobs is sometimes buggy
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use it to automated security patching for our organization
I deploy and manage AAP on OpenShift in a production environment.
What do you like best about the product?
AAP allows users and administrators to have a comprehensive, visual view of the system.
What do you dislike about the product?
OpenShift Operator API changes between AAP version upgrades can be tricky to navigate.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
AAP reduces manpower requirements, allowing the same amount of work to be done with fewer employees.
Awesome product
What do you like best about the product?
Easy to use. Very user friendly and new features being added all the time.
What do you dislike about the product?
I really haven't come across anything I don't like.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Biggest things we use AAP for is OS patching, server builds and decoms.
System Engineer
What do you like best about the product?
The automation that ansible allows our organization to perform is outstanding! It provides us piece of mind that certain configurations are getting pushed to our Linux nodes without interaction. It gives us more time to focus on the things that require our attention.
What do you dislike about the product?
If I had to select one thing I don't like about ansible, it's the time it takes to configure an automation script to properly run without issue. It would be nice if AI could be integrated into (nano, vi, and vim) , so while you're developing the script AI is checking for syntax errors that can be corrected right then and there. Otherwise it's great!
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Free's up human resources (i.e.) engineers to focus on matters that are pressing, while knowing that they simple/small things are taken care of in background.
Simplifies automation
What do you like best about the product?
It's flexibility. I've been able to solve many problems across different stacks, technologies etc. at scale using Ansible.
What do you dislike about the product?
The logging is not the best. It could be improved.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have been able to scale and deploy applications, updates, configuration changes etc with reliability and very little human intervention.
Ansible Automation platform
What do you like best about the product?
Ansible Automation platform provides an organized GUI
What do you dislike about the product?
not much to dislike about Ansible Automation platform
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
configuration management, enterprise mgmt
Ansible for Automation
What do you like best about the product?
The best thing I like about the product of its agent less feature which help us to maintain upgrade process easy.
What do you dislike about the product?
The windows Agent less still require improvement in the product. There should also be a seem less upgrade from one version to another.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are using this product for security compliance
