# Ansible Tower

> Configure and use the OneFuse Ansible Tower module with VMware vRealize Automation 7.6

---

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

---

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/vrealize-automation-76/installation-and-setup/#run-the-onefuse-configuration-workflow) per vRA Tenant.
1. Review the [OneFuse Modules](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/vrealize-automation-76/modules/) overview for vRealize Automation 7.6.
1. Create a new **vRA Blueprint** (if none exist) or determine which existing Blueprint(s) will utilize this OneFuse Module.
   - Resource: [Designing Machine Blueprints](https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Automation/7.6/com.vmware.vra.prepare.use.doc/GUID-62A92480-A122-4C89-A4E3-F8F6EC26C19E.html#GUID-62A92480-A122-4C89-A4E3-F8F6EC26C19E)

## Configure the Blueprint

1. **Know the name of the OneFuse Endpoint** created via [OneFuse Configuration](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/vrealize-automation-76/installation-and-setup/#run-the-onefuse-configuration-workflow).
1. **Determine _which_ OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies to run** for this Blueprint.
1. **Determine _when_ to run each OneFuse Ansible Tower Policy** for the deployment provisioning lifecycle with vRA's EBS'.
1. **Update the Blueprint** to add in necessary vRA Properties to invoke OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies.
1. **Deploy the Blueprint** 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 Blueprint

1. Log in to the **vRA Tenant**
1. Select the **Design** tab from the top menu bar
1. Select the **Blueprints** tab from the left menu
1. **Edit the Blueprint** and perform the below:

#### Add in necessary vRA Properties

The following vRA Properties need to be added to the Blueprint's **Properties** > **Custom Properties** 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/vrealize-automation-76/modules/event-broker-subscriptions/).

**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 (see above).
</div>


- `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger`

**Example vRA Custom Properties** (in `key: value` pair format)

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

**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/vrealize-automation-76/modules/event-broker-subscriptions/).
- Replace `<CustomID>` with a unique, user-defined friendly label.
- _(Optional)_ `<Ansible Tower Host>` is a specific hostname (FQDN) or IP address of the host to add to the Ansible Tower Inventory.
- _(Optional)_ `<Ansible Tower Limit>` is a valid limit definition to pass to Ansible Tower. This 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. Refer to example below.
</div>


**Example vRA Custom Properties** (in `key: value` pair format)

```yaml
# Execute 2 OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies

# <EBSExecutionString> is replaced with ProvisionedPreLate

# -- 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") }}

OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ProvisionedPreLate: true
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_001Apache: onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_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` | `<count>` |
| `OneFuse_AnsibleTowerBehavior_RetrySleepSeconds` | `<seconds>` |

- `<count>`: Number of times the workflow should retry. Default: `1`.
- `<seconds>`: Sleep time between retries in seconds. Default: `120`.

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:

| EBS Execution | Subscription State | EBS Priority | EBS Name |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Provision** | | | |
| BuildingPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_BuildingPreEarly |
| BuildingPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_BuildingPreLate |
| ProvisionedPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ProvisionedPreEarly |
| ProvisionedPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ProvisionedPreLate |
| **Deprovision** | | | |
| MachineDisposingPost | - | 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 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, nor 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.

```yaml
# Execute 2 OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies

# <EBSExecutionString> is replaced with ProvisionedPreLate

# -- 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") }}

OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ProvisionedPreLate: true
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_001Apache: onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_002BasicSetup: onefuse:linux_setup:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}
```

**Specify sorting with CustomID:**

When executing multiple different OneFuse Module's 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 ProvisionedPreLate

# -- 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") }}

OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ProvisionedPreLate: true
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_001Apache: onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_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. Learn more about OneFuse [Tracking ID](/docs/onefuse/concepts/tracking-id/). |

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


When a Tracking ID is not provided, a Tracking ID gets generated for the Policy execution.
</div>


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

| Property format | Example |
| --- | --- |
| `OneFuse_VmNic<#>.<value>` | See examples below |

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`

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


For most use cases, NIC 0 is the primary network interface and the target hostname is a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
</div>


Examples:

- `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).

#### Custom property placement methods

Influence **Custom Properties** for Resources using different methods:

| Method | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Basic | Add a Custom Property to the vSphere machine on the blueprint canvas, or to the blueprint layer itself. |
| Advanced 1 | Add a Custom Property to an existing or new vRA [Property Group](https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Automation/7.6/com.vmware.vra.prepare.use.doc/GUID-73D5DB94-3B5D-410A-8E9C-CF42D4ADF6F0.html). |
| Advanced 2 | Add a Custom Property to a more global level, such as vCenter Endpoint (to run on all deployments) and/or a Reservation (to run on all deployments using that reservation), etc. |

Learn more: [Understanding Custom Properties Precedence](https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Automation/7.6/com.vmware.vra.prepare.use.doc/GUID-F45F332E-1003-45BC-BC05-0EA2FDE1B31F.html)

#### 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 `""` (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.

### Compiled example vRA Custom Properties

Review the example below of vRA Custom Properties (in `key: value` pair format) for this OneFuse Module.

```yaml
# Execute 2 OneFuse Ansible Tower Policies

# <EBSExecutionString> is replaced with ProvisionedPreLate

# -- 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") }}

OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_Trigger_ProvisionedPreLate: true
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_001Apache: onefuse:linux_Apache:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}
OneFuse_AnsibleTowerPolicy_ProvisionedPreLate_002BasicSetup: onefuse:linux_setup:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn }}:{{ OneFuse_VmNic0.fqdn | required("Limit is not defined") }}
```

### Provision

Deploy a Blueprint 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** | | | |
| BuildingPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_BuildingPreEarly |
| BuildingPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_BuildingPreLate |
| ProvisionedPre | Early | 15 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ProvisionedPreEarly |
| ProvisionedPre | Late | 2005 | OneFuse_Provision_AnsibleTower_ProvisionedPreLate |
| **Deprovision** | | | |
| MachineDisposingPost | - | 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/vrealize-automation-76/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** > **vRA7** 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/vrealize-automation-76/modules/event-broker-subscriptions/#configure-ebs-timeouts) and/or [Configure timeouts for OneFuse modules](/docs/onefuse/consume/vmware-aria-automation/vrealize-automation-76/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/vrealize-automation-76/getting-started/#troubleshooting)