How to install Ansible AWX with Docker on CentOS 7

5 min readJan 25, 2023

Ansible AWX is the OpenSource version of ansible tower. AWX provides a web-based user interface, REST API, and task engine built on top of Ansible. It is the upstream project for Tower, a commercial derivative of AWX.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to install and configure AWX using Docker.

I will be using 3 servers with centos 7 minimal installation and SELinux in permissive mode.

192.168.1.25 AWX Server
192.168.1.21 client1
192.168.1.22 client2

System Requirements for AWX Server

At least 4GB of memory.
At least 2 cpu cores.
At least 20GB of space.
Running Docker, Openshift, or Kubernetes.

Check the SELinux configuration.

sestatus

Result:

[root@awx ~]# sestatus

SELinux status:                 enabled

SELinuxfs mount:                /sys/fs/selinux

SELinux root directory:         /etc/selinux

Loaded policy name:             targeted

Current mode:                   permissive

Mode from config file:          permissive

Policy MLS status:              enabled

Policy deny_unknown status:     allowed

Max kernel policy version:      28

[root@awx ~]#

Disable firewalld.

[root@awx installer]# systemctl stop firewalld

[root@awx installer]# systemctl disable firewalld

Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/firewalld.service.

Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/dbus-org.fedoraproject.FirewallD1.service.

[root@awx installer]#

Adding the host entries in /etc/hosts

[root@awx ~]# cat /etc/hosts

192.168.1.25 awx.sunil.cc awx

192.168.1.21 client1.sunil.cc client1

192.168.1.22 client2.sunil.cc client2

[root@awx ~]#

Enable epel repo.

[root@awx ~]# yum install -y epel-release

Install the packages.

[root@awx ~]# yum install -y yum-utils device-mapper-persistent-data lvm2 ansible git python-devel python-pip python-docker-py vim-enhanced

Configure docker ce stable repository.

[root@awx ~]# yum-config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

Installing docker.

[root@awx ~]# yum install docker-ce -y

Start docker service.

[root@awx ~]# systemctl start docker

Enable docker service.

[root@awx ~]# systemctl enable docker

Cloning the AWX repo.

[root@awx ~]# git clone https://github.com/ansible/awx.git

[root@awx ~]# cd awx/

[root@awx awx]# git clone https://github.com/ansible/awx-logos.git

[root@awx awx]# pwd

/root/awx

[root@awx awx]#

Go into the installer directory within /root/awx.

[root@awx awx]# cd installer/

Edit the following parameters in inventory.

[root@awx awx]# vim inventory

postgres_data_dir=/var/lib/pgdocker

awx_official=true

awx_alternate_dns_servers="4.2.2.1,4.2.2.2"

project_data_dir=/var/lib/awx/projects

Your configuration should look like this.

[root@awx installer]# cat inventory |grep -v "#"

localhost ansible_connection=local ansible_python_interpreter="/usr/bin/env python"



[all:vars]



dockerhub_base=ansible

dockerhub_version=latest

rabbitmq_version=3.6.14





awx_secret_key=awxsecret







postgres_data_dir=/var/lib/pgdocker

host_port=80





docker_compose_dir=/var/lib/awx







pg_username=awx

pg_password=awxpass

pg_database=awx

pg_port=5432





awx_official=true





awx_alternate_dns_servers="4.2.2.1,4.2.2.2"



project_data_dir=/var/lib/awx/projects

[root@awx installer]#

Now deploying AWX via Docker.

[root@awx installer]# ansible-playbook -i inventory install.yml -vv

This will take a while depending upon the configuration of the server.

To check the deployment of ansible play for AWX run the below command.

[root@awx installer]# docker container ls

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                     COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                                NAMES

318c7c95dcbb        ansible/awx_task:latest   "/tini -- /bin/sh -c."   12 minutes ago      Up 12 minutes       8052/tcp                             awx_task

642c2f272e31        ansible/awx_web:latest    "/tini -- /bin/sh -c."   12 minutes ago      Up 12 minutes       0.0.0.0:80->8052/tcp                 awx_web

641b42ab536f        memcached:alpine          "docker-entrypoint.s."   18 minutes ago      Up 18 minutes       11211/tcp                            memcached

b333012d90ac        rabbitmq:3                "docker-entrypoint.s."   19 minutes ago      Up 19 minutes       4369/tcp, 5671-5672/tcp, 25672/tcp   rabbitmq

ada52935513a        postgres:9.6              "docker-entrypoint.s."   19 minutes ago      Up 19 minutes       5432/tcp                             postgres

[root@awx installer]#

AWX is ready and can be accessed from the browser.

username is “admin” and the password is “password”.

Configure passwordless login from AWX server

Create a user on all 3 hosts. Follow the steps below on all 3 servers.

[root@awx ~]# useradd ansible

[root@client1 ~]# useradd ansible

[root@clien2 ~]# useradd ansible

Generating ssh key:

[root@awx ~]# su - ansible

[ansible@awx ~]$ ssh-keygen

Generating public/private rsa key pair.

Enter file in which to save the key (/home/ansible/.ssh/id_rsa):

Created directory '/home/ansible/.ssh'.

Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):

Enter same passphrase again:

Your identification has been saved in /home/ansible/.ssh/id_rsa.

Your public key has been saved in /home/ansible/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.

The key fingerprint is:

SHA256:j30gyTVQxcWIocdKMbVieZvfJzGkCjXhjtc5qu+fE8o ansible@awx.sunil.cc

The key's randomart image is:

+---[RSA 2048]----+

|        +o==.+.  |

|         O.oo .  |

|        * @   .  |

|       + @ * +   |

|        S * = o  |

|         B =.o o |

|        ..=.o.o .|

|         .E... o |

|        .oo.o.   |

+----[SHA256]-----+

[ansible@awx ~]$

Adding the sudoers entry on all 3 servers as a last entry to the file.

[root@awx ~]# visudo

ansible ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Copy the content of id_rsa.pub to authorized_keys on all the 3 servers.

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ cat id_rsa.pub

ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC4QmuzjVnGUnT1o6xGXD3DCDPUMiTf0xUkOU4kYrkpxHYZ1nWG1MBNGWChyWobnTKYDh4c80+ftSyPHAdeV6KOwADOu6MXvMXHMK3EDe4jn+R0ZArQTEF2qKSBgve23wQu5IoqdWjvBoIEGqxw3LkYbdGxZ5dqKlP5ePkRKal4TncV+tlhueDaKz8QfvXgz+y2jc3HMWAH6a7UYsDKutDttmDDVUwfMcvoS9j2VYOUHkTCenx/2Y3296ULmWCREW9e6fTXLmOowIBDAar01CThmAzYCnBDNAFOsolh9dL1CKwLCvOyK1UBgJlfrzdGI/+fS7aFiaqhXpt6hI4xndJf ansible@awx.sunil.cc

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ pwd

/home/ansible/.ssh

[ansible@awx ~]$ cat .ssh/authorized_keys

ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC4QmuzjVnGUnT1o6xGXD3DCDPUMiTf0xUkOU4kYrkpxHYZ1nWG1MBNGWChyWobnTKYDh4c80+ftSyPHAdeV6KOwADOu6MXvMXHMK3EDe4jn+R0ZArQTEF2qKSBgve23wQu5IoqdWjvBoIEGqxw3LkYbdGxZ5dqKlP5ePkRKal4TncV+tlhueDaKz8QfvXgz+y2jc3HMWAH6a7UYsDKutDttmDDVUwfMcvoS9j2VYOUHkTCenx/2Y3296ULmWCREW9e6fTXLmOowIBDAar01CThmAzYCnBDNAFOsolh9dL1CKwLCvOyK1UBgJlfrzdGI/+fS7aFiaqhXpt6hI4xndJf ansible@awx.sunil.cc

[ansible@awx ~]$chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys

client1

[root@client1 ~]# su - ansible

[ansible@client1 ~]$ ls

[ansible@client1 ~]$ mkdir .ssh

[ansible@client1 ~]$ cat .ssh/authorized_keys

ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC4QmuzjVnGUnT1o6xGXD3DCDPUMiTf0xUkOU4kYrkpxHYZ1nWG1MBNGWChyWobnTKYDh4c80+ftSyPHAdeV6KOwADOu6MXvMXHMK3EDe4jn+R0ZArQTEF2qKSBgve23wQu5IoqdWjvBoIEGqxw3LkYbdGxZ5dqKlP5ePkRKal4TncV+tlhueDaKz8QfvXgz+y2jc3HMWAH6a7UYsDKutDttmDDVUwfMcvoS9j2VYOUHkTCenx/2Y3296ULmWCREW9e6fTXLmOowIBDAar01CThmAzYCnBDNAFOsolh9dL1CKwLCvOyK1UBgJlfrzdGI/+fS7aFiaqhXpt6hI4xndJf ansible@awx.sunil.cc

[ansible@client1 ~]$ chmod 700 .ssh

[ansible@client1 ~]$ chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys

client2

[root@client2 ~]# su - ansible

[ansible@client2 ~]$ ls

[ansible@client2 ~]$ mkdir .ssh

[ansible@client2 ~]$ cat .ssh/authorized_keys

ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC4QmuzjVnGUnT1o6xGXD3DCDPUMiTf0xUkOU4kYrkpxHYZ1nWG1MBNGWChyWobnTKYDh4c80+ftSyPHAdeV6KOwADOu6MXvMXHMK3EDe4jn+R0ZArQTEF2qKSBgve23wQu5IoqdWjvBoIEGqxw3LkYbdGxZ5dqKlP5ePkRKal4TncV+tlhueDaKz8QfvXgz+y2jc3HMWAH6a7UYsDKutDttmDDVUwfMcvoS9j2VYOUHkTCenx/2Y3296ULmWCREW9e6fTXLmOowIBDAar01CThmAzYCnBDNAFOsolh9dL1CKwLCvOyK1UBgJlfrzdGI/+fS7aFiaqhXpt6hI4xndJf ansible@awx.sunil.cc

[ansible@client2 ~]$ chmod 700 .ssh

[ansible@client2 ~]$ chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys

Validating the keyless login:

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ ssh client1

The authenticity of host 'client1 (192.168.1.21)' can't be established.

ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:TUQNYdF4nxofGwFO7/z+Y5dUETVEI0xPQL4n1cUcoCI.

ECDSA key fingerprint is MD5:5d:73:1f:64:0e:03:ac:a7:7b:33:76:08:6d:09:90:26.

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

Warning: Permanently added 'client1,192.168.1.21' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

Last login: Sun Mar  4 13:39:33 2018

[ansible@client1 ~]$ exit

logout

Connection to client1 closed.

[ansible@awx .ssh]$

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ ssh client2

The authenticity of host 'client2 (192.168.1.22)' can't be established.

ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:7JoWzteeQBwzc4Q3GGN+Oa4keUPMca/jtqv7gmmEZxg.

ECDSA key fingerprint is MD5:85:77:3a:a3:07:31:d4:c1:41:ed:30:db:74:b4:ce:67.

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

Warning: Permanently added 'client2,192.168.1.22' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

Last login: Sun Mar  4 13:51:27 2018

[ansible@client2 ~]$ exit

logout

Connection to client2 closed.

[ansible@awx .ssh]$

Now click on this icon and go to credentials -> add

Choose an organization and fill in the username and description.

Here the username is “ansible”

Choose ‘machine’ under credential type and fill the details.

Get the private key from AWX server.

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ pwd

/home/ansible/.ssh

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ cat id_rsa

id_rsa      id_rsa.pub

[ansible@awx .ssh]$ cat id_rsa

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

MIIEpAIBAAKCAQEAuEJrs41ZxlJ09aOsRlw9wwgz1DIk39MVJDlOJGK5KcR2GdZ1

htTATRlgoclqG50ymA4eHPNPn7UsjxwHXleijsAAzrujF7zFxzCtxA3uI5/kdGQK

0ExBdqikgYL3tt8ELuSKKnVo7waCBBqscNy5GG3RsWeXaipT+Xj5ESmpeE53FfrZ

Ybng2is/EH714M/sto3NxzFgB+mu1GLAyrrQ7bZgw1VMHzHL6EvY9lWDlB5Ewnp8

f9mN9velC5lgkRFvXun01y5jqMCAQwGq9NQk4ZgM2ApwQzQBTrKJYfXS9QisCwrz

sitVAYCZX683RiP/n0u2hYmqoV6beoSOMZ3SXwIDAQABAoIBAQCcfiUU6S9fJfca

DTmqxHrcIyJJzZDN3GvvSRBaDNLwa2BWz3Mf4Z+1m6Ebp4IME/W9ePgQZIGyxeAj

Z43Gja2Nifrlmi2JYpWjeG+MvLwN26XfSHx6rtlGmzKkoIQc98qIvSevqepGYAOa

0sC0VnKKEfNvtei+jVam4hy/e9/oQWHV8c/yueLWpCx2pWOy5m7WVLdwNQSK+8pu

sxHLFTNCSC9wddBN80FVxhJQ7L4D2DzcprhcfUz6Uz7Ju7v8MtSksirDnaGliWJ3

NvxhntJYKvgQ30pvBr//y0lYnAB+O0jJhOpHlgD2hNSlI8sgUxmVyl+gC9Dhnq+v

1uKm3CThAoGBAOx+YIGGT/ymqJ53k8Dj4keKctI4+E3p/7Tr2jEyRff177VUjITQ

UnrRTw1W+XSE5cszitVYbv0WUwTJoSSrKaRaVG7iORaqcv0LkG8gnlcrcifRXSl5

5xMsPCw0adwtoyhrHQLbENntMl+iQw2JbE6fvldvNe2kPdL3B2T7Jw1RAoGBAMd1

GvsOHLaKtTD0me+wgGnql0GIp90elE7rQ1p6VMxZkE68b+0jX9xHAt2zxocR84+L

Gi6uAZvBqnwmH48c7Do6/oulrJXH2OcT6S8+F/kM7PWNT0Z0J0MW/+npVoPwSihZ

N4/uanR47L0YYVlTRgxmakSUZnitrEz754V+YjivAoGBAM1qtC6tWHrO0/XZTbik

+F5FrphVLbCXiSlAF6TV0xqfP5gUmX2faZUOi4i9vC3uZZ9L5NKNXtJseq3U6Sht

l90PLPmnfAjpArozOkCcZ4y1yxE09KPbI9BugtGusSizZ13rNCbP22I/eprA2Vc/

v5jHflB547DIEX9WXNDkqjYRAoGACD3ag40tuo04t3Ej+zd71uSOo3KWHRjqX+hw

vAhaAKeiwt4ecdoIV/3HLIoFJgej3MaOqmceQeVaug6JN0ympjFR20tZOkcru0Cj

XgRe0Tergun34J1kEe2dXXj6zjDbn5cwKI5db7qfbaDYROyf9Fs3AOZw5YOnnva5

tlZmkJkCgYB0tuVLQSOWsqjTAgkw7tDIMOds9o8dpGJTvXxcs2qWJIDQPQWxHVSl

Qimh5DFBkrNDAYKKC386KaZOEKwG7G1YuGbh1+ns3piscJaBi2lPaeA1Y/QA6pCT

t9Hbdzre5x0gDbKSHOk+QLJkVdfQX9jamRE6W0k0pXVF6ur8N5zfxA==

-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

[ansible@awx .ssh]$

Private key (example).

Copy the private key under ssh private key and click on save.

Click on Inventories and click on add inventory.

Fill the details accordingly.

Click on hosts -> add host.

Add the below details:

Add the below details for client2.

Test the connectivity via AWX.

Select both the hosts and click on run commands.

Choose ping and other details and click on Launch.

That’s it for this tutorial. I will show you in the next tutorial how to install AWX via rpm and also how to run playbooks, doing API calls in further tutorials.

https://www.computingpost.com/how-to-install-ansible-awx-with-docker-on-centos-7/?feed_id=26220&_unique_id=63d1101d3b501

How to install Ansible AWX with Docker on CentOS 7

System Requirements for AWX Server

Configure passwordless login from AWX server

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