Ansible AD (Active Directory) Lab

Ansible playbook to automate the creation and configuration of an Active Directory home and/or work lab environment using VMware.

Note: this project heavily relies on the templates created by vmware-samples/packer-examples-for-vsphere.

Table Of Contents

1. Description
2. Playbook Structure
3. Getting Started
4. Dependancies
5. Running The Playbook
6. Examples
7. Help
8. Version History
9. Acknowledgements

Description

The build consists of an Active Directory Domain Controller and both Windows and Linux machines. The code streamlines the provisioning and configuration process, enabling users to set up a home or work lab environment quickly and easily. The project is designed for those who want to learn about Active Directory, or for those who need to test and develop solutions for a multi-platform environments.

The code can be easily modified to suit specific lab environment by editing the vars/*.yml files after running config.sh.

Playbook Structure

ansible-ad-lab
├── scripts
│   └── powershell
|     ├── ad_scripts
|     └── general_scripts
├── tasks
│   ├── vmware_create_ad
|   | └── main.yml
|   ├── vmware_create_linux_clients
|   | └── main.yml
|   ├── vmware_create_linux_servers
|   | └── main.yml
|   ├── vmware_create_windows_clients
|   | └── main.yml
|   └── vmware_create_windows_servers
|     └── main.yml
├── templates
|   └── *.j2
├── vars
|   ├── ad_vars.yml.example
|   ├── common_vars.yml.example
|   └── vsphere_vars.yml.example
├── inventory_custom.ini.example
├── main.yml
├── requirements.txt
├── config.sh
└── README.md

• scripts/: directory containing scripts and other files required by the playbook.
• tasks/: directory containing tasks that will be run by the playbook.
• templates/: directory containing files for ubuntu realm join.
• vars/: directory for yml variable files.
• inventory_custom.ini.example: example inventory of machines to create.
• main.yml: main playbook in root folder.
• requirements.txt: dependancies for playbook to run.
• readme.md: instructions and links related to this playbook.
• config.sh: renames example vars files and inventory file.

Getting Started

Dependencies

• VMware vCenter (vSphere) Environment

  • Tested on: Version 7.0.3

• VMware templated virtual machines - Template Naming Convention Example linux-ubuntu-22.04-lts-v23.01

  • Tested and working with:
    • Windows
      • Windows Server 2019 Datacenter
      • Windows Server 2019 Core
      • Windows Server 2022 Datacenter
      • Windows Server 2022 Core
      • Windows 10 Enterprise
    • Linux
      • CentOS 7.9
      • Ubuntu 18.04
      • Ubuntu 20.04
      • Ubuntu 22.04

• Ansible - Tested on: Version 2.9.27

  • See requirements.txt for other dependancies
  • sshpass may also be required, yum/apt install sshpass
  • community.vmware collection, ansible-galaxy collection install community.vmware

Running the Playbook

On your Ansible Control Node:

• Clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/blink-zero/ansible-ad-lab.git

• Change dir to cloned dir

cd ansible-ad-lab

• Install requirements

pip install -r requirements.txt

• Run config.sh to rename example var files and inventory file

chmod +x config.sh
./config.sh

• Modify vars/*.yml (See Examples)

• Modify inventory_custom.ini (See Example)

• Modify ad_import_users.csv

• Run playbook with inventory file

ansible-playbook main.yml -i inventory_custom.ini

• Enter in passwords when prompted

Examples

Executing (Example)

ansible-playbook main.yml -i inventory_custom.ini

vars/ad_vars.yml Configuration (Example)

---
ad_domain: "lab.example.local"
ad_new_domain_admin_password: 'R@in!$aG00dThing.'
ad_ntp_servers: "0.us.pool.ntp.org,1.us.pool.ntp.org,2.us.pool.ntp.org,3.us.pool.ntp.org"
ad_centos_ou_membership: OU=Computers,DC=lab,DC=example,DC=local
ad_ubu_ou_membership: CN=Computers,DC=lab,DC=example,DC=local
ad_recovery_password: 'R@in!$aG00dThing.'
ad_reverse_dns_zone: "172.16.0.0/24"
ad_upstream_dns_1: 8.8.8.8
ad_upstream_dns_2: 8.8.4.4

vars/common_vars.yml Configuration (Example)

---
common_dns2: "172.16.0.1"
common_domain_admin: '{{ad_domain}}\administrator'
common_domain_admin_simple_name: 'administrator'
common_gateway: "172.16.0.1"
common_lin_disk_size: 40
common_local_admin: '.\administrator'
common_lin_local_admin: 'administrator'
common_netmask: "255.255.255.0"
common_timezone: "255"
common_vm_hw_scsi: "paravirtual"
common_vm_net_name: "VM Network"
common_vm_net_type: "vmxnet3"
common_vm_state: "poweredon"
common_win_disk_size: 100

vars/vsphere_vars.yml Configuration (Example)

---
vsphere_esxi_host: "192.168.0.21"
vsphere_vcenter_datacenter: "Datacenter"
vsphere_vcenter_hostname: "vc.example.local"
vsphere_vcenter_username: "administrator@vsphere.local"
vsphere_vcenter_validate_certs: false
vsphere_vm_disk_datastore: "Datastore_name"
vsphere_vm_folder: "Lab"
vsphere_vm_type: "thin"

inventory_custom.ini Configuration (Example) - Full List of Tested OS below

Note: Comment out lines with ';' to disable building that machine.

[dc]
172.16.0.20 inventory_guest_hostname='2022DC01' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-server-2022-datacenter-dexp-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
[win_server]
172.16.0.50 inventory_guest_hostname='2022SERVER01' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-server-2022-datacenter-dexp-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
172.16.0.51 inventory_guest_hostname='2022SERVER02' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-server-2022-datacenter-core-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
172.16.0.52 inventory_guest_hostname='2019SERVER01' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-server-2019-datacenter-dexp-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
172.16.0.53 inventory_guest_hostname='2019SERVER02' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-server-2019-datacenter-core-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
[win_client]
172.16.0.101 inventory_guest_hostname='W10CLIENT01' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-desktop-10-enterprise-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
172.16.0.102 inventory_guest_hostname='W10CLIENT02' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-desktop-10-enterprise-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
172.16.0.103 inventory_guest_hostname='W10CLIENT03' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-desktop-10-enterprise-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
172.16.0.104 inventory_guest_hostname='W10CLIENT04' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='windows-desktop-10-enterprise-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='windows9Server64Guest'
[lin_server]
172.16.0.61 inventory_guest_hostname='CO7SERVER01' inventory_guest_vcpu='1' inventory_guest_vram='2048' inventory_template_name='linux-centos-7-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='centos64Guest'
172.16.0.62 inventory_guest_hostname='UBUSERVER01' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='linux-ubuntu-18.04-lts-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='ubuntu64Guest'
172.16.0.63 inventory_guest_hostname='UBUSERVER02' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='linux-ubuntu-20.04-lts-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='ubuntu64Guest'
172.16.0.64 inventory_guest_hostname='UBUSERVER03' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='linux-ubuntu-22.04-lts-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='ubuntu64Guest'
[lin_client]
172.16.0.201 inventory_guest_hostname='CO7CLIENT01' inventory_guest_vcpu='1' inventory_guest_vram='2048' inventory_template_name='linux-centos-7-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='centos64Guest'
172.16.0.202 inventory_guest_hostname='UBUCLIENT01' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='linux-ubuntu-18.04-lts-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='ubuntu64Guest'
172.16.0.203 inventory_guest_hostname='UBUCLIENT02' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='linux-ubuntu-20.04-lts-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='ubuntu64Guest'
172.16.0.204 inventory_guest_hostname='UBUCLIENT03' inventory_guest_vcpu='2' inventory_guest_vram='4096' inventory_template_name='linux-ubuntu-22.04-lts-v23.01' inventory_vm_guestid='ubuntu64Guest'

Help

How do I create the 'Golden Images' VMware Template?

• See: packer-examples-for-vsphere
• Convertion of the created content store images to VM then to templates is required.

How do I install Ansible?

• Please refer to the Ansible documentation for install guidance: Ansible Install

Why is Ansible saying X module is missing?

• Run pip install -r requirements.txt before running playbook

Version History

v1.2.1 (Latest)

• Minor readme updates

v1.2.0

• Added GUI to Linux Client machines
  • Support for Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 22.04 and CentOS 7
• Added Linux Realm join
  • Support for Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 22.04 and CentOS 7
• Powershell script folders and files deleted after use
• Various code clean up

v1.1.0

• Cleaned up variables
• Rebuilt vars files (common, vsphere, ad)
• Added Powershell scripts for Client/Server Applications
• Split inventory into clients/servers
• config.sh added for renaming example var files

v1.0.0

• Initial Release

Acknowledgments

Inspiration, code snippets, etc.

• blink-zero/ansible-deploy-vm
• madlabber/examples
• vmware-samples/packer-examples-for-vsphere
• tvories/ansible-realmd