Red Hat Ansible 2.1 supports Windows and Azure to build hybrid, automated environments

Once again, Microsoft’s flirtation with the open source community is bearing fruit for both the company and its traditionally non-Windows based consumers. Specifically, the world’s foremost open source provider Red Hat Inc. just announced the general availability of Ansible 2.1 with support for network automation and an expansion of capabilities, thanks in part to its new support for Microsoft Windows environments.

Ansible stood as Red Hat’s premier agentless open sourced IT automation framework that enabled the easy configuring and managing of computers. By combining multi-node software deployment, ad-hoc task execution, and management configuration, Ansible has become the default solution for businesses seeking open-sourced options.

With Ansible 2.1 bringing support for Microsoft Windows and Azure technologies, users can look forward to the following extensibility features:

Ansible 2.1 now includes support for Microsoft Windows environments, enabling users to use a single automation platform for complete cross-platform automation. New features include:

• Broader support for Microsoft Azure, expanding Ansible’s support for hybrid cloud deployments, including the ability to take advantage of Azure’s Resource Manager functionality.
• New Windows modules, enabling the management of Windows file sharing and the Windows firewall, further increasing Windows’ automatable surface area within Ansible.
• Easier management of domain-joined machines with NT LAN Manager (NTLM), enabling more secure authentication of domain users with just a username and password – reducing the need to configure and manage Kerberos on the Ansible control machine.
• Kerberos delegation expanded for multi-hop scenarios, enabling better credential flow for legacy scripts and installations that need transparent access to domain file shares, Microsoft SQL Server, and more.
• Simple reboots with new win_reboot action, helping to solve the challenge of automating software installations on Windows platforms that also require a system restart as part of a workflow.

Also, Ansible 2.1 brings expanded support for Containers that includes a new module, docker service, and a rewrite of existing Docker modules. Ansible 2.1 is now available on GitHub, PyPi and package manager for most supported Linux distributions.

For more info on Ansible 2.1, visit redhat.com.