How to Install Ansible on Ubuntu, RHEL, and macOS (Beginner’s Guide)

Introduction

Ansible is one of the most popular Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automation tools. It allows administrators to automate server configuration, software deployment, and repetitive operational tasks without installing agents on target servers. Ansible uses SSH and YAML-based playbooks, making it simple and powerful.

Prerequisites

• Linux, macOS, or WSL machine
• Python installed
• Sudo privileges
• SSH access to managed servers

Install Ansible on Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ansible -y

Verify installation:

ansible --version

Install Ansible on RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux

sudo dnf install ansible-core -y

Verify:

ansible --version

Install Ansible with pip

python3 -m pip install --user ansible

Or:

pip install ansible

Install Ansible on macOS

brew install ansible

Verify Connectivity

Create an inventory file:

[web]
192.168.1.100
``

Run a ping test:

ansible web -i hosts -m ping

Expected output:

SUCCESS => {
    "ping": "pong"
}

Key Takeaways

• Ansible is agentless.
• Uses SSH for Linux automation.
• Control node needs Ansible installed.
• Managed nodes generally only need Python