To manage a PowerEdge server with Ansible, you need the following components, as shown in Figure 1:
- Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)—iDRAC is native to PowerEdge and provides the Redfish API interface for managing PowerEdge servers.
- Authorized user for iDRAC—To prevent unauthorized access to the iDRAC, Redfish requires authentication before Ansible performs any action. Ansible employs the authorized user while performing actions against the iDRAC.
- Linux server—This server can be either a virtual or physical machine, with Python 3.x or later installed. For exact versions, see the Ansible release notes. Currently, Ansible can manage Windows hosts but cannot be installed on Windows.
- Dell OpenManage Python SDK—This SDK is a Python library that automates the life cycle management of PowerEdge servers and modular infrastructure. It is available on Dell GitHub at https://github.com/dell/omsdk.
- Dell OpenManage Ansible collection—This Dell Ansible collection contains modules to automate and orchestrate the deployment and update of PowerEdge servers and modular infrastructure. It is available on Ansible Galaxy at https://galaxy.ansible.com/dellemc/openmanage.
Figure 1. Components for managing PowerEdge server with Ansible