Module 2: Introduction to Automation Controller

In the following chapter, you will learn about the web UI dashboard and explore the Inventory, Projects, and Job Templates sections.

The Overview screen is the main dashboard. It shows a summary of your hosts, projects, and inventories, with each count being a direct link to the corresponding objects. Below the resource counts, you will find a Job Activity graph and a card-like summary of recent Jobs, Projects, and Inventories.

You can access the Jobs view by clicking Jobs from the left navigation bar. This view shows all the jobs that have run, including project syncs, SCM updates, playbook runs, and more.

You can access the Schedules view by clicking Automation Execution → Schedules in the left navigation menu. This view shows all scheduled jobs that are configured to launch on a regular basis. They can be used to launch jobs, sync inventory sources, and import project content from version control.

Your first task is to explore the Overview dashboard. The initial screen will show little information due to the lack of recent activity, but you can compare it again after you finish the lab to see the difference.

You will find the following sections:

A new feature in Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 is a section with quick start guides and interactive how-tos, which is very useful for getting started right after an installation.

Feel free to click on any of the titles or "View all" links to explore the corresponding sections.

An inventory is a collection of hosts against which playbooks can be run. It’s the same concept as an inventory file you might be familiar with from the command line, but with added features and better reusability.

A project is a logical grouping of Ansible Playbooks within the automation controller. These playbooks typically reside in a source code version control system like Git.