vagrant docker ansible

Recently, I had the opportunity to see a presentation on the subject by Alexandros Kosiaris.

I was never fan of vagrant (or even virtualbox) but I gave it a try and below are my personal notes on the matter.
All my notes are based on Archlinux as it is my primary distribution but I think you can try them with every Gnu Linux OS.

Vagrant

So what is Vagrant ?

Vagrant is a wrapper, an abstraction layer to deal with some virtual solutions, like virtualbox, Vmware, hyper-v, docker, aws etc etc etc
With a few lines you can describe what you want to do and then use vagrant to create your enviroment of virtual boxes to work with.

Just for the fun of it, I used docker

Docker

We first need to create and build a proper Docker Image!

The Dockerfile below, is suggesting that we already have an archlinux:latest docker image.
You can use your own dockerfile or docker image.

You need to have an ssh connection to this docker image and you will need -of course- to have a ssh password or a ssh authorized key built in this image for root. If you are using sudo (then even better) dont forget to add the user to sudoers!



# vim Dockerfile

# sshd on archlinux
#
# VERSION               0.0.2

FROM     archlinux:latest
MAINTAINER  Evaggelos Balaskas < evaggelos _AT_ balaskas _DOT_ gr >

# Update the repositories
RUN  pacman -Syy && pacman -S --noconfirm openssh python2

# Generate host keys
RUN  /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -A

# Add password to root user
RUN  echo 'root:roottoor' | chpasswd

# Fix sshd
RUN  sed -i -e 's/^UsePAM yes/UsePAM no/g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config && echo 'PermitRootLogin yes' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Expose tcp port
EXPOSE   22

# Run openssh daemon
CMD  ["/usr/sbin/sshd", "-D"]

Again, you dont need to follow this step by the book!
It is an example to understand that you need a proper docker image that you can ssh into it.

Build the docker image:



# docker build -t archlinux:sshd .

On my PC:



# docker images

REPOSITORY          TAG                 IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
archlinux           sshd                1b074ffe98be        7 days ago          636.2 MB
archlinux           latest              c0c56d24b865        7 days ago          534 MB
archlinux           devel               e66b5b8af509        2 weeks ago         607 MB
centos6             powerdns            daf76074f848        3 months ago        893 MB
centos6             newdnsps            642462a8dfb4        3 months ago        546.6 MB
centos7             cloudstack          b5e696e65c50        6 months ago        1.463 GB
centos7             latest              d96affc2f996        6 months ago        500.2 MB
centos6             latest              4ba27f5a1189        6 months ago        489.8 MB

Environment

We can define docker as our default provider with:


# export VAGRANT_DEFAULT_PROVIDER=docker

It is not necessary to define the default provider, as you will see below,
but it is also a good idea - if your forget to declare your vagrant provider later

Before we start with vagrant, let us create a new folder:



# mkdir -pv vagrant
# cd vagrant

Initialization

We are ready to initialized our enviroment for vagrant:


# vagrant init

A `Vagrantfile` has been placed in this directory. You are now
ready to `vagrant up` your first virtual environment! Please read
the comments in the Vagrantfile as well as documentation on
`vagrantup.com` for more information on using Vagrant.

Initial Vagrantfile

A typical vagrant configuration file looks something like this:



# cat Vagrantfile
 cat Vagrantfile
# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

# All Vagrant configuration is done below. The "2" in Vagrant.configure
# configures the configuration version (we support older styles for
# backwards compatibility). Please don't change it unless you know what
# you're doing.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  # The most common configuration options are documented and commented below.
  # For a complete reference, please see the online documentation at
  # https://docs.vagrantup.com.

  # Every Vagrant development environment requires a box. You can search for
  # boxes at https://atlas.hashicorp.com/search.
  config.vm.box = "base"

  # Disable automatic box update checking. If you disable this, then
  # boxes will only be checked for updates when the user runs
  # `vagrant box outdated`. This is not recommended.
  # config.vm.box_check_update = false

  # Create a forwarded port mapping which allows access to a specific port
  # within the machine from a port on the host machine. In the example below,
  # accessing "localhost:8080" will access port 80 on the guest machine.
  # config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080

  # Create a private network, which allows host-only access to the machine
  # using a specific IP.
  # config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.33.10"

  # Create a public network, which generally matched to bridged network.
  # Bridged networks make the machine appear as another physical device on
  # your network.
  # config.vm.network "public_network"

  # Share an additional folder to the guest VM. The first argument is
  # the path on the host to the actual folder. The second argument is
  # the path on the guest to mount the folder. And the optional third
  # argument is a set of non-required options.
  # config.vm.synced_folder "../data", "/vagrant_data"

  # Provider-specific configuration so you can fine-tune various
  # backing providers for Vagrant. These expose provider-specific options.
  # Example for VirtualBox:
  #
  # config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
  #   # Display the VirtualBox GUI when booting the machine
  #   vb.gui = true
  #
  #   # Customize the amount of memory on the VM:
  #   vb.memory = "1024"
  # end
  #
  # View the documentation for the provider you are using for more
  # information on available options.

  # Define a Vagrant Push strategy for pushing to Atlas. Other push strategies
  # such as FTP and Heroku are also available. See the documentation at
  # https://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/push/atlas.html for more information.
  # config.push.define "atlas" do |push|
  #   push.app = "YOUR_ATLAS_USERNAME/YOUR_APPLICATION_NAME"
  # end

  # Enable provisioning with a shell script. Additional provisioners such as
  # Puppet, Chef, Ansible, Salt, and Docker are also available. Please see the
  # documentation for more information about their specific syntax and use.
  # config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
  #   apt-get update
  #   apt-get install -y apache2
  # SHELL
end

If you try to run this Vagrant configuration file with docker provider,
it will try to boot up base image (Vagrant Default box):



# vagrant up --provider=docker

Bringing machine 'default' up with 'docker' provider...
==> default: Box 'base' could not be found. Attempting to find and install...
    default: Box Provider: docker
    default: Box Version: >= 0
==> default: Box file was not detected as metadata. Adding it directly...
==> default: Adding box 'base' (v0) for provider: docker
    default: Downloading: base
An error occurred while downloading the remote file. The error
message, if any, is reproduced below. Please fix this error and try
again.

Couldn't open file /ebal/Desktop/vagrant/base

Vagrantfile

Put the initial vagrantfile aside and create the below Vagrant configuration file:


Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  config.vm.provider "docker" do |d|
    d.image = "archlinux:sshd"
  end
end

That translate to :

Vagrant Provider: docker
Docker Image: archlinux:sshd

Basic commands

Run vagrant to create our virtual box:


#  vagrant up

Bringing machine 'default' up with 'docker' provider...
==> default: Creating the container...
    default:   Name: vagrant_default_1466368592
    default:  Image: archlinux:sshd
    default: Volume: /home/ebal/Desktop/vagrant:/vagrant
    default:
    default: Container created: 4cf4649b47615469
==> default: Starting container...
==> default: Provisioners will not be run since container doesn't support SSH.

ok, we havent yet configured vagrant to use ssh

but we have a running docker instance:



# vagrant status

Current machine states:

default                   running (docker)

The container is created and running. You can stop it using
`vagrant halt`, see logs with `vagrant docker-logs`, and
kill/destroy it with `vagrant destroy`.

that we can verify with docker ps:


#  docker ps -a

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND               CREATED              STATUS              PORTS               NAMES
4cf4649b4761        archlinux:sshd      "/usr/sbin/sshd -D"   About a minute ago   Up About a minute   22/tcp              vagrant_default_1466368592

Destroy

We need to destroy this instance:



#  vagrant destroy

    default: Are you sure you want to destroy the 'default' VM? [y/N] y
==> default: Stopping container...
==> default: Deleting the container...

Vagrant ssh

We need to edit Vagrantfile to add ssh support to our docker :



# vim Vagrantfile

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

    config.vm.provider "docker" do |d|
        d.image = "archlinux:sshd"
        d.has_ssh = true
    end

end

and re-up our vagrant box:


#  vagrant up

Bringing machine 'default' up with 'docker' provider...
==> default: Creating the container...
    default:   Name: vagrant_default_1466368917
    default:  Image: archlinux:sshd
    default: Volume: /home/ebal/Desktop/vagrant:/vagrant
    default:   Port: 127.0.0.1:2222:22
    default:
    default: Container created: b4fce563a9f9042c
==> default: Starting container...
==> default: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
    default: SSH address: 172.17.0.2:22
    default: SSH username: vagrant
    default: SSH auth method: private key
    default: Warning: Authentication failure. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Authentication failure. Retrying...

Vagrant will try to connect to our docker instance with the user: vagrant and a key.
But our docker image only have a root user and a root password !!


# vagrant status

Current machine states:

default                   running (docker)

The container is created and running. You can stop it using
`vagrant halt`, see logs with `vagrant docker-logs`, and
kill/destroy it with `vagrant destroy`.

#  vagrant destroy

    default: Are you sure you want to destroy the 'default' VM? [y/N] y
==> default: Stopping container...
==> default: Deleting the container...

Vagrant ssh - the Correct way !

We need to edit the Vagrantfile, properly:



# vim Vagrantfile

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

    config.ssh.username = 'root'
    config.ssh.password = 'roottoor'

    config.vm.provider "docker" do |d|
        d.image = "archlinux:sshd"
        d.has_ssh = true
    end

end



# vagrant up

Bringing machine 'default' up with 'docker' provider...
==> default: Creating the container...
    default:   Name: vagrant_default_1466369126
    default:  Image: archlinux:sshd
    default: Volume: /home/ebal/Desktop/vagrant:/vagrant
    default:   Port: 127.0.0.1:2222:22
    default:
    default: Container created: 7fef0efc8905bb3a
==> default: Starting container...
==> default: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
    default: SSH address: 172.17.0.2:22
    default: SSH username: root
    default: SSH auth method: password
    default: Warning: Connection refused. Retrying...
    default:
    default: Inserting generated public key within guest...
    default: Removing insecure key from the guest if it's present...
    default: Key inserted! Disconnecting and reconnecting using new SSH key...
==> default: Machine booted and ready!

# vagrant status

Current machine states:

default                   running (docker)

The container is created and running. You can stop it using
`vagrant halt`, see logs with `vagrant docker-logs`, and
kill/destroy it with `vagrant destroy`.

# vagrant ssh-config

Host default
  HostName 172.17.0.2
  User root
  Port 22
  UserKnownHostsFile /dev/null
  StrictHostKeyChecking no
  PasswordAuthentication no
  IdentityFile /tmp/vagrant/.vagrant/machines/default/docker/private_key
  IdentitiesOnly yes
  LogLevel FATAL

# vagrant ssh

[root@7fef0efc8905 ~]# uptime
 20:45:48 up 11:33,  0 users,  load average: 0.53, 0.42, 0.28
[root@7fef0efc8905 ~]#
[root@7fef0efc8905 ~]#
[root@7fef0efc8905 ~]#
[root@7fef0efc8905 ~]# exit
logout
Connection to 172.17.0.2 closed.

Ansible

It is time to add ansible to the mix!

Ansible Playbook

We need to create a basic ansible playbook:



# cat playbook.yml

---
- hosts: all

  vars:
      ansible_python_interpreter: "/usr/bin/env python2"

  gather_facts: no

  tasks:

    # Install package vim
    - pacman: name=vim state=present

The above playbook, is going to install vim, via pacman (archlinux PACkage MANager)!
Archlinux comes by default with python3 and with ansible_python_interpreter you are declaring to use python2!

Vagrantfile with Ansible



# cat Vagrantfile

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

    config.ssh.username = 'root'
    config.ssh.password = 'roottoor'

    config.vm.provider "docker" do |d|
        d.image = "archlinux:sshd"
        d.has_ssh = true
    end

    config.vm.provision "ansible" do |ansible|
        ansible.verbose = "v"
        ansible.playbook = "playbook.yml"
    end

end