Is this course hands-on or just theoretical?

It’s fully practical with demos, exercises, and real-world automation examples.

Do I need to know programming to learn this course?

No, you only need basic YAML understanding and IT/Linux familiarity.

What tools or setup do I need?

You’ll need Ansible installed on a Linux system or VM, which is guided in the course.

How does this course fit into the specialization?

It’s the second step, preparing you for advanced roles, inventories, and enterprise workflows in Course 3.

Will I be able to use these skills in real IT environments?

Yes, the course focuses on enterprise-ready automation techniques directly applicable at work.

What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Advance Automation: Playbooks, Roles & Workflow Automation

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Advance Automation: Playbooks, Roles & Workflow Automation

This course is part of Ansible Automation: From Fundamentals to Enterprise Specialization

Instructor: Board Infinity

Included with

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3 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

3 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Write and manage Ansible playbooks with tasks, handlers, and modular scripts.
Implement variables, templates, conditionals, and loops to create dynamic automation.
Organize automation using roles and manage environments with inventories.
Apply best practices for building scalable, maintainable, and idempotent workflows.

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

12 assignments

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Ansible Automation: From Fundamentals to Enterprise Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 3 modules in this course

Step into the next level of IT automation with Playbooks, Roles, and Workflow Automation — an intermediate course designed to help you scale Ansible automation with cleaner, reusable, and enterprise-ready workflows. Whether you’re a system administrator managing complex infrastructures or a DevOps professional streamlining deployments, this course takes you beyond the basics to build automation that is reliable, structured, and production-ready.

Through practical examples, guided videos, and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn how to design and manage Ansible playbooks, implement roles, work with variables and templates, and manage multi-environment workflows. This course emphasizes real-world problem-solving to help you automate at scale with confidence and precision. By the end of this course, you will be able to: - Write and manage Ansible playbooks with tasks, handlers, and modular scripts. - Implement variables, templates, conditionals, and loops to create dynamic automation. - Organize automation using roles and manage environments with inventories. - Apply best practices for building scalable, maintainable, and idempotent workflows. This course is ideal for: - System administrators and IT engineers managing medium-to-large-scale infrastructures. - DevOps professionals looking to build reusable, team-friendly automation frameworks. - Cloud and infrastructure engineers deploying services across multiple environments. - Learners who have completed Foundations of Ansible Automation and want to deepen their expertise. Note: This is Course 2 of the specialization series. Basic knowledge of Ansible playbooks is recommended from Course 1, but no advanced experience is required. Disclaimer: This course is an independent educational resource developed by Board Infinity and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or officially associated with International Business Machines Corporation or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. This course is not an official preparation material of International Business Machines Corporation. All trademarks, service marks, and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.

This module introduces learners to writing Ansible playbooks from scratch and managing playbook execution with tasks, handlers, and modular scripts. Learners will explore syntax, task flow, execution control, and common debugging practices essential for reliable automation.

What's included

9 videos4 readings4 assignments1 discussion prompt

9 videos Total 33 minutes

Anatomy of an Ansible Playbook 4 minutes
Writing Your First Playbook 4 minutes
Using Modules Effectively 4 minutes
Working with Handlers and Notifications 5 minutes
Controlling Task Execution with Tags 4 minutes
Debugging Playbooks: Tools and Tricks 4 minutes
Understanding Idempotence in Automation 4 minutes
Dry Runs and Check Mode for Safer Deployments 3 minutes
Validating Task Success and Logging Results 3 minutes

4 readings Total 55 minutes

Course Syllabus 10 minutes
Read More: From Blueprint to Reality: Crafting Your First Automation Story 15 minutes
Read More: The Art of Flawless Automation: Directing Your Playbook's Flow 15 minutes
Read More: The Automation Golden Rule: Building Trust with Idempotence and Validation 15 minutes

4 assignments Total 150 minutes

Practice Quiz - Introduction to Playbooks 30 minutes
Practice Quiz - Managing Playbook Execution 30 minutes
Practice Quiz - Ensuring Reliability and Idempotence 30 minutes
Graded Quiz - Writing and Managing Playbooks 60 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Meet and Greet 10 minutes

This module covers dynamic automation using variables, facts, and templates. Learners will also explore conditional logic, loops, and data manipulation using Jinja2 templating and YAML dictionaries.

What's included

7 videos3 readings4 assignments

7 videos Total 25 minutes

Understanding Variable Types in Ansible 4 minutes
Using Facts to Drive Automation Decisions 4 minutes
Organizing and Reusing Variables 4 minutes
Intro to Jinja2 Templating 4 minutes
Creating Dynamic Config Files with Templates 4 minutes
Conditional Execution with When 4 minutes
Using Loops to Simplify Repetitive Tasks 2 minutes

3 readings Total 45 minutes

Read More About Working with Variables and Facts 15 minutes
Read More About Templating with Jinja2 15 minutes
Read More About Loops, Conditionals, and Handlers 15 minutes

4 assignments Total 150 minutes

Practice Quiz - Working with Variables and Facts 30 minutes
Practice Quiz - Templating with Jinja2 30 minutes
Practice Quiz - Loops, Conditionals, and Handlers 30 minutes
Graded Quiz - Variables, Templates, and Logic Control 60 minutes

This module explains how to structure large automation projects using roles and inventories. Learners will also explore environment-specific automation across dev, staging, and production systems.

What's included

7 videos3 readings4 assignments

7 videos Total 27 minutes

Introduction to Roles and Their Structure 4 minutes
Building and Reusing Roles in Playbooks 4 minutes
Static and Dynamic Inventory Explained 4 minutes
Grouping Hosts and Applying Variables 4 minutes
Best Practices for Inventory Files 4 minutes
Dev, Test, Prod: Running in Different Environments 2 minutes
Using Tags and Extra Variables per Environment 5 minutes

3 readings Total 45 minutes

Read More About Organizing Automation with Roles 15 minutes
Read More About Managing Inventories and Groups 15 minutes
Read More About Multi-Environment Automation 15 minutes

4 assignments Total 150 minutes

Practice Quiz - Organizing Automation with Roles 30 minutes
Practice Quiz - Managing Inventories and Groups 30 minutes
Practice Quiz - Multi-Environment Automation 30 minutes
Graded Quiz - Roles, Inventories, and Environments 60 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Board Infinity

214 Courses 394,122 learners

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Board Infinity

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, basic knowledge from Foundations of Ansible Automation (Course 1) is recommended.

You’ll learn to write playbooks, use variables, build roles, and automate workflows at scale.

System admins, DevOps professionals, and cloud engineers looking to advance their automation skills.

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.