Automating Server Configuration with Ansible and Docker Compose

Introduction

Infrastructure as Code engines like Terraform are excellent at provisioning virtual machines, but they leave operating systems unconfigured. Combining Ansible for configuration management with Docker Compose for container runtime management offers a lightweight, highly reliable automation toolchain.

Ansible Configuration Playbook

---
- name: Configure Production Web Server
  hosts: webservers
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Update apt cache
      apt:
        update_cache: yes

    - name: Install Docker CE
      apt:
        name: docker-ce
        state: present

    - name: Start Application via Docker Compose
      docker_compose:
        project_src: /opt/app/
        state: present