Introduction
Ansible is one of the most popular IT automation tools used in modern software development. With Ansible, users can automate tasks such as configuring servers and deploying applications quickly and efficiently. The open-source version of Ansible is free and provides most of the functionality that users need. However, there is a paid version of Ansible known as Ansible Tower & open source version of Tower called AWX that offers additional features for large enterprises. In this blog, we will compare Ansible vs Tower/AWX to help you decide which one is best for your automation needs.
The biggest advantage of using Ansible AWX over Tower is that it provides you with almost the same core functionality as that of Tower but without incurring the expensive enterprise licensing cost of Tower.
Note
If you are looking to quickly set up and explore AWX, Techlatest.net provides out-of-the-box setup for the latest AWX version on AWS, Azure and GCP. Please follow the below links for the step-by-step guide to set up AWX on your choice of cloud platform.
What is Ansible?
Ansible is an open-source automation tool that simplifies IT automation. It is a powerful tool that allows you to automate everything from system setup to application deployment. Ansible is agentless, meaning you don’t need to install any agents on the target systems you want to automate. Instead, Ansible communicates with remote systems over SSH or WinRM (for Windows systems) to execute tasks.
With Ansible, you can define tasks as code using YAML files, which are easy to read and write. This makes it easy to version control your infrastructure code and collaborate with your team. Ansible also has a large community and a vast ecosystem of modules that you can use to automate a wide range of tasks.
Ansible — Open-Source IT Automation
Ansible offers many advantages. One of the key benefits of Ansible is that it is easy to learn and use, making it a popular tool for developers and operations teams alike. With Ansible, users can define configuration files (also known as playbooks) in YAML format, which is a human-readable data serialization language. Ansible can also automate the deployment of applications to multiple servers and cloud environments, such as AWS or Google Cloud.
However, Ansible has a few limitations. For example, Ansible is command-line-oriented, so it can be more challenging for users who prefer a graphical interface. Additionally, while Ansible is efficient when it comes to managing small environments with a limited number of servers, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage and maintain in larger environments due to its command-line nature and lack of a Web interface.
What is Ansible Tower/AWX?
Note: For simplicity, in this article, we are considering Tower & AWX as the same offering from a core functionality perspective, however, there are key differences between Tower and AWX which we have covered in this article.
Ansible Tower is a web-based UI and REST API for Ansible. It provides a more user-friendly way to manage and visualize your Ansible automation. With Ansible Tower, you can centralize your automation, giving you better control and visibility over your infrastructure. Ansible Tower adds enterprise-grade features on top of Ansible, such as:
Role-based access control: You can define roles and permissions for different users, allowing you to control who can access and modify your automation.
Job scheduling: You can schedule jobs to run at specific times or intervals, making it easy to automate repetitive tasks.
Workflow automation: You can create workflows that chain multiple playbooks together, allowing you to orchestrate complex tasks.
Graphical inventory management: You can manage your inventory using a web-based UI, making it easy to visualize your infrastructure.
Audit trails: You can track changes to your automation using the audit trail, giving you visibility into who made changes and when.
Ansible Tower — The Paid Enterprise Version
Ansible Tower is a paid version of Ansible that provides additional features aimed at large enterprises. Ansible Tower is designed to make it easier to manage the automation of IT infrastructure across large environments. Some of the key features provided by Ansible Tower include the following:
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Ansible Tower offers granular access control, allowing administrators to grant different levels of access and permissions to different users and teams. This is particularly important in large organizations with many teams and departments.
Job Scheduling
Ansible Tower allows users to schedule jobs to run at specific times or dates. This feature is particularly useful for organizations that need to perform maintenance or updates during off-peak hours without human intervention.
REST API
The REST API in Ansible Tower provides a programmatic interface to access Tower resources. This is particularly useful for developers who want to automate the management of Ansible Tower from their own applications or scripts.
Scalability
Ansible Tower’s architecture is designed to scale to thousands of nodes, making it ideal for large enterprises with complex IT environments.
Ansible vs Ansible Tower
The main difference between Ansible and Ansible Tower is that Ansible Tower adds a graphical user interface, role-based access control, and job scheduling on top of Ansible. Ansible Tower is designed for organizations that need to scale their automation, manage multiple teams, and have strict security requirements.
Ansible, on the other hand, is a command-line tool that is ideal for small to medium-sized organizations that want to automate their infrastructure. Ansible is easy to learn and use, and it has a large community that provides support and a vast ecosystem of modules.
In summary, if you are just starting with automation and have a small infrastructure, Ansible is a great choice. However, as your infrastructure grows, and you need more enterprise-grade features such as role-based access control, job scheduling, and workflow automation, Ansible Tower is a better option.
Conclusion
Both Ansible and Ansible Tower are powerful tools for IT automation. Ansible is great for smaller teams or startups with limited budgets, while Ansible Tower is a better choice for large enterprises with more complex IT infrastructure requirements. With Ansible, users can quickly and easily automate tasks, such as deploying applications and managing configuration files. Ansible Tower provides additional features that help organizations manage large-scale IT automation deployments across multiple teams and departments. Ultimately, the decision between Ansible versus Ansible Tower comes down to the size and complexity of your IT infrastructure, as well as the features you need.
