How to do fast, repeatable Linux installations #3 — Ansible
In previous articles about my use of automation in performing post-install tasks for new Linux installations, Those approaches worked well for the times I used them, but as the requirements of my network and the hosts connected to it grew and became more complex, the capabilities of those tools couldn’t keep up.
I needed a new method for doing post-install tasks. I also needed new ways to perform other tasks, too. I started working with Ansible to first familiarize myself with it and then to perform more complex tasks such as Fedora updates and my post-install tasks.
How to create and use Public/Private/KeyPairs with SSH
SSH is an important mechanism for secure connections between Linux hosts. SSH is a software-based virtual private network (VPN) tool that can create a secure connection whenever needed. It can be used to securely login to any remote host so long as you have proper credentials, and it can be used to enhance tools such as tar and other backup programs like rsync so that remote hosts can be easily backed up to a local system. The scp (secure copy) program uses the SSH encrypted tunnel to copy files between a local host and a remote one.