My Ansible Project

This project automates the deployment and recovery of Docker services in a HomeLab environment.

The setup is designed for ease of disaster recovery and overall management by deploying Docker services from scratch on a Proxmox-based infrastructure, with containers organized in LXCs.

This project uses roles, templates, and variables to streamline the configuration, making it modular and scalable.

Project Overview

• Goal: Automate the setup and recovery of Docker services, ensuring that all configurations are stored with Ansible to facilitate a qucik rebuild if needed.

• Primary Components:

  • Ansible Roles: Each Docker service is configured as a modular role, allowing services to be added or updated easily.

  • Jinja Templates: Each service has a dedicated compose.yaml template stored in the role's template directory.

  • Dynamic Variables: Service directories, environment variables, and configurations are handled with variables - making it adaptable and reusable.

Directory Structure

ansible/
├── roles/
│   └── docker_services/
│       ├── tasks/
│       │   └── deploy.yaml # Main tasks file to set up and deploy services
│       ├── templates/
│       │   ├── espocrm-compose.yaml.j2
│       │   ├── radarr-compose.yaml.j2
│       │   ├── sonarr-compose.yaml.j2
│       │   ├── authentik.compose.yaml.j2
│       │   └── ... # Additional service-specific compose templates
│       └── vars/
│           └── main.yaml # Variables for base paths, services, and template path
├── playbooks/
│   ├── deploy_services.yaml # Main playbook to deploy Docker services
│   ├── recovery.yaml # Disaster recovery playbook for redeployment
│   └── network.yaml # Playbook for setting up networking and proxies\
└── inventory/
    └── hosts # Inventory file defining Docker hosts

Key Files and Directories

• roles/docker_services/vars/main.yaml: Combines variables for base paths, directories for each services, and the template_path variable for dynamic compose.yaml templates.

• roles/docker_services/templates/: Stores Jinja templates for each service's compose.yaml, referenced dynamically with the template_path variable.

• roles/docker_services/tasks/deploy.yaml: Ensures directories exist, creates compose.yaml files from templates, and deploys services using the docker_compose module.

• playbooks/deploy_services.yaml: Main playbook to deploy Docker services across hosts by calling the docker_services role.

Configuration and Usage

Variables Setup

Variables are defined in roles/docker_services/vars/main.yaml including:

• docker_compose_base_path: The base path where all Docker Compose service directories are stored.

• services: A dictionary defining each service's directory, based on docker_compose_base_path.

• template_path: A dynamic path for Jinja templates (e.g. templates/{{ service }}/compose.yaml.j2), allowing the role to select the correct template per service.

Example snippet in vars/main.yaml:

docker_compose_base_path: "/path/to/docker_compose"
services:
   espocrm:
      dir: "{{ docker_compose_base_path }}/espocrm"
   radarr:
      dir: "{{ docker_compose_base_path }}/radarr"
   sonarr:
      dir: "{{ docker_compose_base_path }}/sonarr"
   authentik:
      dir: "{{ docker_compose_base_path }}/authentik"

Main Task File

The main task file in roles/docker_services/tasks/deploy.yaml dynamically references each service's directory and template, using service as a variable for modularity:

- name: Esnure {{ service }} directory exists
  file:
    path: " {{ services[service].dir }}"
    state: directory

- name: Generate compose.yaml for {{ service }}
  template:
    src: "{{ template_path }}"
    dest: "{{ services[service].dir }}/compose.yaml"

- name: Deploy {{ service }} using docker_compose
  community.docker.docker_compose:
    project_src: "{{ services[service].dir }}"
    pull: true
    recreate: true

Deploying Services

Run the main playbook deploy_services.yaml to deploy or recover Docker services:

- name: Deploy Docker services
  hosts: []
  vars:
    service_list:
      - espocrm
      - radarr
      - sonarr
      - authentik
  roles:
    - docker_services

Then execute the playbook:

ansible-playbook playbooks/deploy_services.yaml -i inventory/hosts

Additional Playbooks

• recovery.yaml: Use this playbook for full recovery, deploying all services from scratch on a clean system.

• network.yaml: Use this playbook to set up networking and proxies, such as configuring NGINX Proxy Manager.

Notes

• Modular Design: The structure is designed to be modular, allowing easy addition or modification of services.

• Dynamic Templating: The template_path and services variables allow the role to adapt to multiple services with minimal configuration.

• Ansible Vault: For sensitive information, it's recommended to use Ansible Vault to securely manage environment variables and other sensitive configurations.