basic_Morpheus_Ansible setup.md

🧰 Morpheus + Ansible Integration (Standalone Mode) for VM Provisioning (On-Prem & Cloud)

This guide walks you through setting up Morpheus 8 to provision virtual machines both on-prem (vSphere, KVM, Hyper-V) and in the cloud (AWS, Azure, etc.), and to automatically configure them using Ansible (Standalone mode) running from the Morpheus appliance.

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🧱 1. Prepare Base VM Template

Ensure your VM image (on-prem or cloud) includes:

✅ Requirements:

• OS: Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, etc.
• User: A non-root user (e.g. ubuntu, morpheus, centos)
• SSH Access:
  • Public key added to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
  • sshd enabled
• Sudo Access:
  • Passwordless sudo configured:

    echo "morpheus ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" > /etc/sudoers.d/morpheus

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☁️ 2. Configure Morpheus for VM Provisioning

A. Add a Cloud Integration

Navigate to: Infrastructure > Clouds > + Add

• For on-prem:
  • VMware vCenter
  • KVM (libvirt)
  • Hyper-V
• For cloud:
  • AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.
• Provide access credentials, resource pools, networks

B. Create Credentials

Navigate to: Infrastructure > Credentials > + Add

• Type: SSH Key or Username/Password
• Username: User in your base image
• Private Key: Paste SSH private key
• Save and assign to your Cloud or Instance Layout

C. Create Instance Type & Layout

Go to: Library > Instance Types > + Add

• Name: Linux-Base (example)
• Create a Layout:
  • Select Cloud, image/template, size
  • Assign credential and provisioning method (Cloud-Init if supported)

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⚙️ 3. Add Ansible Standalone Integration

Navigate to: Admin > Integrations > + Add

• Type: Ansible
• Mode: Standalone
• Executable Path: /usr/bin/ansible-playbook
• Save the integration

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📁 4. Upload or Link Ansible Playbook

Option A: Upload a Playbook

Navigate to: Library > Templates > Scripts > + Add

• Name: Configure Webserver
• Type: Ansible Playbook
• Upload a .yml file or ZIP with site.yml
• Choose your Ansible integration

Option B: Use Git

Navigate to: Admin > Integrations > Code Repositories > + Add

• Add your Git repo (public or private)
• Morpheus syncs your playbooks automatically

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📜 5. Ansible Playbook Structure

You can use a flat playbook or a role-based layout. Example below:

site.yml

---
- name: Configure VM post-provision
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  vars:
    ansible_python_interpreter: /usr/bin/python3
  roles:
    - webserver

roles/webserver/tasks/main.yml

---
- name: Install NGINX
  apt:
    name: nginx
    state: present
  when: ansible_os_family == "Debian"

- name: Start NGINX
  service:
    name: nginx
    state: started
    enabled: yes

Optional: roles/webserver/templates/nginx.conf.j2

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name {{ inventory_hostname }};
  root /var/www/html;
}

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🔄 6. Create Automation Workflow

A. Create Task

Go to: Library > Automation > Tasks > + Add

• Type: Ansible Playbook
• Select uploaded .yml or synced playbook
• Choose the correct Ansible integration

B. Create Workflow

Go to: Library > Automation > Workflows > + Add

• Type: Provisioning Workflow
• Add the Ansible Task you just created

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🔗 7. Attach Workflow to VM Build Process

Attach the workflow to:

• Instance Layout
• Blueprint
• Or manually during provisioning

Go to: Library > Instance Types > [Layout] > Automation Tab
Attach the Provisioning Workflow

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✅ 8. Test the Workflow

Provision a new VM using your configured Instance Type. Then:

• Navigate to: Instances > [Your VM] > History
• View the Automation Logs to confirm Ansible executed successfully

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🧪 Optional: Use Cloud-Init to Inject SSH Key/User

Create a Cloud-Init script to inject keys and users at build time:

#cloud-config
users:
  - name: morpheus
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
    groups: sudo
    shell: /bin/bash
    ssh_authorized_keys:
      - ssh-rsa AAAAB3Nza...your_key_here...
disable_root: true
ssh_pwauth: false

Upload at: Library > Templates > Scripts > + Add
Type: Cloud-Init
Attach to your Layout’s Provisioning Scripts section

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📎 Summary Checklist

Step	Action
✅	Prepare image with SSH, user, sudo
✅	Add Cloud (vSphere, AWS, etc.)
✅	Create and assign Credentials
✅	Set up Ansible Standalone Integration
✅	Upload or sync Ansible Playbooks
✅	Create Ansible Task & Workflow
✅	Attach Workflow to Layout or Blueprint
✅	Provision VM and confirm automation

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🧰 Bonus: Debug Task Example

Add this task to print host info during provisioning:

- name: Debug host info
  debug:
    msg: "Hostname: {{ inventory_hostname }}, IP: {{ ansible_host }}, Cloud: {{ cloud_name | default('N/A') }}"

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