.. _ansible-download:

---------------------------
Preparing Ansible Inventory
---------------------------

Downloading |ansible|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Run the following command to download |ansible|:

::
      
   git clone https://github.com/confluentinc/cp-ansible
   
The ``cp-ansible`` directory created with the above command must not have the
world-writable permissions (777). Due to a security risk, Ansible will not load
the configuration file, ``ansible.cfg`` if the file is in the world-writable
directory.

If you are not installing the latest release of |cp|, check out the branch you
want to install. For example, if you want to install |cp| |release|, check out
the |release|-post branch of |ansible|. Run the following command to check out
the branch:

::
      
   git checkout <release>-post

Generating an Inventory File
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Before running the Ansible playbooks, you need to generate an inventory file.
The inventory file provisions the hosts used for the |cp| components. See
`Inventory basics: hosts and groups
<https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/intro_inventory.html#inventory-basics-hosts-and-groups>`__
for more information about the Ansible inventory file.

To generate an inventory file, in the directory you installed |ansible|, copy the ``hosts_example.yml`` file onto the host running Ansible as ``hosts.yml``. 

Verifying SSH to |cp| hosts
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   
To run Ansible playbooks, it is required that the Ansible bastion can reach each host over SSH. Use the following commnand to verify that Ansible can connect over SSH:

::
      
   ansible -i /path/to/hosts.yml all -m ping
      
If ping fails, you need to set up your ``ssh`` variables. See `Connecting to
hosts: behavioral inventory parameters
<https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/intro_inventory.html#connecting-to-hosts-behavioral-inventory-parameters>`__
for more information about setting up ``ssh`` variables.