# Ansible Tower

> Configure and use the OneFuse Ansible Tower module with VMware Aria Automation 8x/Cloud

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Site [llms.txt](/llms.txt)

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To learn more about this OneFuse module, refer to [Ansible Tower](/docs/onefuse/configure/modules/ansible-tower/).

## Prerequisites

1. Configure OneFuse [Property Set(s)](/docs/onefuse/templating/property-sets/) and OneFuse Module Policies.
1. Run [OneFuse Configuration](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/installation-and-setup/#run-the-onefuse-configuration-workflow) per Cloud Assembly Organization per [Installation and setup](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/installation-and-setup/).
1. Review an overview on [OneFuse modules](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/modules/) with Aria Automation 8.1+/Cloud.
1. Create a new **Cloud Template** (if none exist) or determine which existing Cloud Template(s) will utilize this OneFuse Module.
   - Resource: [Designing your vRealize Automation Cloud Assembly deployments](https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Automation/8.1/Using-and-Managing-Cloud-Assembly/GUID-BFD33C28-ADCC-43F4-BE43-CC92B62FBE2E.html)

## Steps

1. **Know the name of the OneFuse Endpoint** created via OneFuse Configuration (see [Installation and setup](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/installation-and-setup/)).
1. **Determine _which_ OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies to run** for this Cloud Template.
1. **Determine _when_ to run each OneFuse Ansible Tower Policy** for the deployment provisioning lifecycle with vRA's EBS.
1. **Update the Cloud Template** to add in necessary vRA Properties and/or add in the Custom Resource to invoke OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies.
1. **Deploy the Cloud Template** to provision a vRA Deployment and run Provision Job Template(s).
1. **Destroy the vRA Deployment** to run Deprovision Job Template(s), if any.

### Update the Cloud Template

1. Log in to vRA > **Cloud Assembly**.
1. Select the **Design** tab from the top menu bar.
1. Select the **Cloud Templates** tab from the left menu.
1. **Edit the Cloud Template** and perform the steps below.

#### Option 1: add in necessary vRA properties

The following vRA Properties need to be added to the Cloud Template's **Code** section under the **Resource(s)** of interest.

**1. Trigger vRA EBS for Ansible Tower:**

| Property name format | Property value |
| --- | --- |
| See options below | `'true'` |

**Option 1.** Trigger only specific individual EBS state(s):

<div class="alert alert-info" role="alert">


This method is recommended to decrease provision time since it will only run the execute for the states defined. This also offers a quicker way to turn on/off the Policy for testing.
</div>


- `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_<EBSExecutionString>`
- Replace `<EBSExecutionString>` with an appropriate [Event Broker Subscription](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/modules/event-broker-subscriptions/) execution string.

**OR:**

**Option 2.** Trigger all EBS state(s):

<div class="alert alert-warning" role="alert">


This overrides the individual EBS Execution triggers if they are present.
</div>


- `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger`

**2. Call Ansible Tower Policy for a vRA EBS:**

| Property name format | Property value format |
| --- | --- |
| `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_<EBSExecutionString>_<CustomID>` | `'<OneFuse Endpoint Name>:<Ansible Tower Policy Name>:<Ansible Tower Host>:<Ansible Tower Limit>'` |

- Replace `<EBSExecutionString>` with an appropriate [Event Broker Subscription](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/modules/event-broker-subscriptions/) execution string.
- Replace `<CustomID>` with a unique, user-defined friendly label.
- `<Ansible Tower Host>` _(Optional)_: specific Hostname (FQDN) or IP Address of the Host to add to the Ansible Tower Inventory.
- `<Ansible Tower Limit>` _(Optional)_: valid Limit definition to pass to Ansible Tower. Can be a specific Hostname (FQDN), IP Address, or any valid Limit pattern. See [Patterns: targeting hosts and groups](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/intro_patterns.html).

<div class="alert alert-warning" role="alert">


It is recommended to insert a [required filter](/docs/onefuse/templating/filters/#required) for the `<Ansible Tower Limit>`. When left blank, it will execute an Ansible Tower Job on the entire Ansible Host Inventory.
</div>


**Example YAML:**

```yaml
# Execute 2 OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies

# <EBSExecutionString> is replaced with ComputeProvisionPostLate

# -- Property Name
# <CustomID> is replaced with 001Apache and 002BasicSetup

# -- Property Value
# <OneFuse Endpoint Name>  is onefuse
# <Ansible Tower Policy Name> is linux_Apache and linux_setup
# <Ansible Tower Host> is {{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}
# <Ansible Tower Limit> is {{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}

name: Simple Example
resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      image: CentOS7
      flavor: small
      count: 1
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ComputeProvisionPostLate: 'true' # Trigger Property
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ComputeProvisionPostLate_001Apache: 'onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}'
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ComputeProvisionPostLate_002BasicSetup: 'onefuse:linux_setup:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}'
```

##### Add additional vRA Properties for Ansible Tower policy execution retry count

| Property Name Format | Property Value |
| --- | --- |
| `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_ExecutionRetryCount` | `'<OneFuse Ansible Policy Execution Count in number>'`: specifies how many times the workflow should retry. Default value is 1 if not provided. |
| `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_RetrySleepSeconds` | `'<Sleep Time between retries in Seconds>'`: adds sleep time between retries. Default value is 120 seconds if not provided. |

Note: Additional trigger for Ansible Tower policy is not supported.

##### Ansible Tower EBS execution states

**EBSExecutionString** refers to a specific vRA EBS State for the OneFuse Module's policy to execute on. Replace the `<EBSExecutionString>` variable with one of the following EBS Execution States:

Note: Additional trigger for Ansible Tower policy is not supported.

| EBS Execution | Subscription State | EBS Priority | EBS Name |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Provision** | | | |
| ComputeAllocationPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeAllocationPreEarly |
| ComputeAllocationPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeAllocationPreLate |
| NetworkConfigure | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_NetworkConfigureEarly |
| NetworkConfigure | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_NetworkConfigureLate |
| ComputeProvisionPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPreEarly |
| ComputeProvisionPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPreLate |
| ComputeProvisionPost | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPostEarly |
| ComputeProvisionPost | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPostLate |
| **Deprovision** | | | |
| ComputePreRemoval | - | 15 | OneFuse_De-Provision_AnsibleTower |

**List of vRA EBS Trigger Properties:**

```yaml
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankHost: 'true'
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankLimit:'true'
```

##### CustomID

**CustomID** refers to a user-specified text string to identify and can set an order of precedence for execution when calling multiple Policies for the OneFuse Module in the same vRA EBS State.

Replace the `<CustomID>` variable with a unique custom identifier:

- Format is alphanumeric characters only `A-Z, a-z, 0-9`. No spaces, underscores, hyphens, or special characters.
- Must be unique across all EBS Execution Strings for the OneFuse Module on the specific VM for the Blueprint/Cloud Template.
- Is reusable either between different VM components of the Blueprint/Cloud Template canvas or between different Blueprints/Cloud Templates.

**Specify sorting with CustomID:**

When executing multiple different OneFuse Module Policies in the same EBS State, prefix the `<CustomID>` with a numeric value (for example, 001, 002, etc.).

The `<CustomID>` is sorted prior to executing the OneFuse module's policies.

```yaml
# Execute 2 OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies

# <EBSExecutionString> is replaced with ComputeProvisionPostLate

# -- Property Name
# <CustomID> is replaced with 001Apache and 002BasicSetup

# -- Property Value
# <OneFuse Endpoint Name>  is onefuse
# <Ansible Tower Policy Name> is linux_Apache and linux_setup
# <Ansible Tower Host> is {{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}
# <Ansible Tower Limit> is {{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}

name: Simple Example
resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      image: CentOS7
      flavor: small
      count: 1
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ComputeProvisionPostLate: 'true' # Trigger Property
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ComputeProvisionPostLate_001Apache: 'onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}'
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ComputeProvisionPostLate_002BasicSetup: 'onefuse:linux_setup:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}'
```

##### Additional helpful vRA Properties

**Purpose: Relate OneFuse Policy executions from different OneFuse Modules together with a Tracking ID.**

| Property | Value Format |
| --- | --- |
| `OneFuse_Tracking_Id` | A GUID (globally unique identifier) that links OneFuse Policy Executions and the resulting Managed Objects together for a given resource on a deployment. The first OneFuse Module Policy execution will populate this vRA property and it will be passed into other OneFuse Modules automatically. When a Tracking ID is not provided, a Tracking ID gets generated for the Policy execution. Learn more about OneFuse [Tracking ID](/docs/onefuse/concepts/tracking-id/). |

**Purpose: Reference a specific NIC's values to get hostname, IP Address, etc.**

| Property Format | Example |
| --- | --- |
| `OneFuse_VmNic<#>.<value>`: replace `<#>` with a number from `0` to `9`, one for each NIC. Replace `<value>` with an appropriate key: `dnsSuffix`, `fqdn`, `gateway`, `hostname`, `ipAddress`, `macAddress`, `netmask`, `network`, `subnet`, `target`. | For most use cases, NIC 0 is the primary network interface and the target hostname is a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN): `OneFuse_VmNic0.dnsSuffix`, `OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn`, `OneFuse_VmNic0.hostname`, `OneFuse_VmNic0.ipAddress`, `OneFuse_VmNic0.target` (when DNS Suffix is provided, will be the FQDN; otherwise, will be the hostname without domain). |

##### Error handling

You can control whether or not the vRO workflow should error out or fail in case the "host" and/or "limit" part of the Policy custom property renders to blank.

Use the properties `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankHost` and `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankLimit` to control behavior.

```yaml
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankHost: 'true'
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankLimit:'true'
```

If these properties are set to `true` as shown above, and the corresponding field renders to either undefined, null, or an empty string, OneFuse instructs vRealize Orchestrator to fail the workflow if the host and/or limit field renders to a blank value. The corresponding workflow will fail before Jobs are executed in OneFuse/Ansible Tower.

Note: These properties are available for use only in vRA Upstream Provider package versions 1.4.0.14248426 and 9.4.7.14248328 or later.

##### Example Cloud Template YAML code

```yaml
# Execute 2 OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies

# <EBSExecutionString> is replaced with ComputeProvisionPostLate

# -- Property Name
# <CustomID> is replaced with 001Apache and 002BasicSetup

# -- Property Value
# <OneFuse Endpoint Name>  is onefuse
# <Ansible Tower Policy Name> is linux_Apache and linux_setup
# <Ansible Tower Host> is {{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}
# <Ansible Tower Limit> is {{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}

name: Simple Example
resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      image: CentOS7
      flavor: small
      count: 1
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ComputeProvisionPostLate: 'true' # Trigger Property
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ComputeProvisionPostLate_001Apache: 'onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}'
      OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ComputeProvisionPostLate_002BasicSetup: 'onefuse:linux_setup:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}'
```

#### Option 2: Add in Custom Resource for OneFuse Ansible Tower

<div class="alert alert-warning" role="alert">


Review [OneFuse custom resources](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/modules/custom-resources/) before using this method.
</div>


- From the **Resource Types** navigation, expand **Custom Resources**.
- Drag-and-drop `OneFuse:AnsibleTower_v1` to the Cloud Template canvas.
- In the **Code** tab, provide values for the following _properties_:

| Parameter Name | Required? | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `endpointName` | Required | OneFuse Endpoint Name in vRA. Refer to [Managing endpoints](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/installation-and-setup/). |
| `policyName` | Required | OneFuse Module Policy Name (string). |
| `templateProperties` | Optional | Additional properties that are referenced within the Policy. JSON format. |
| `trackingId` | Optional | Tracking ID (string) to link multiple OneFuse Policy Executions and resulting OneFuse Managed Objects together. If none is passed, one gets generated by OneFuse for that specific Policy Execution. |

_Ansible Tower specific parameters:_

| Parameter Name | Required? | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `hosts` | Optional | List of specific hosts to execute against. Similar to `limit`, but will match against exact hostnames. |
| `limit` | Optional | Ansible Tower Policy Limit. Pattern matches hosts. For example, `dev-*` will match all hosts that start with "dev-". |

### Provision

Deploy a Cloud Template with the OneFuse Ansible Tower module configured. Ansible Tower Provisioning Job Template(s) will run on the resource(s) and add the host to the Ansible Tower Inventory (if configured).

#### Outputs

The following vRA Property will have the generated OneFuse Ansible Tower Managed Object as a JSON string on the Deployment.

| Property Name | Property Value Format |
| --- | --- |
| `OneFuse_AnsibleTower_<CustomID>` | _JSON string of OneFuse Ansible Tower Managed Object_ |

### Deprovision

Destroy an existing deployment with the OneFuse Ansible Tower Module configured. Ansible Tower Deprovisioning Job Template(s) will run and remove the host from the Ansible Tower Inventory (if configured).

## vRA EBS

| EBS Execution | Subscription State | EBS Priority | EBS Name |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Provision** | | | |
| ComputeAllocationPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeAllocationPreEarly |
| ComputeAllocationPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeAllocationPreLate |
| NetworkConfigure | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_NetworkConfigureEarly |
| NetworkConfigure | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_NetworkConfigureLate |
| ComputeProvisionPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPreEarly |
| ComputeProvisionPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPreLate |
| ComputeProvisionPost | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPostEarly |
| ComputeProvisionPost | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ComputeProvisionPostLate |
| **Deprovision** | | | |
| ComputePreRemoval | - | 15 | OneFuse_De-Provision_AnsibleTower |

**List of vRA EBS Trigger Properties:**

```yaml
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankHost: 'true'
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_FailOnBlankLimit:'true'
```

## Troubleshooting

Troubleshoot in vRealize Orchestrator.

1. Log in to **vRealize Orchestrator**.
1. Turn on [Verbose Logging](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/modules/#troubleshooting-verbose-logging) and try again to see additional log messages in vRO Workflows:
   - Select **Library** > **Workflows** from the left menu.
   - Go to: **OneFuse** > **Ansible Tower** > **vRA8** to find corresponding workflow runs and view logs.
   - Optionally, run the workflows in the **Manual** folder to manually test.
1. Optionally, [configure timeouts for EBS](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/modules/event-broker-subscriptions/#configure-ebs-timeouts) and/or [Configure timeouts for OneFuse modules](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/installation-and-setup/#configure-timeouts-for-onefuse-modules).

**Additional resources:**

- Review [Troubleshooting in OneFuse](/docs/onefuse/getting-started/troubleshooting/)
- Review [VMware troubleshooting resources](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/aria-automation-8x/getting-started/#troubleshooting)