Ansible-Driven CI/CD for AWS EC2 Deployments

This project demonstrates a CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins and Ansible to deploy a Java Maven application within Docker containers on Amazon EC2 instances. It uses a dedicated Ansible server and leverages the AWS inventory plugin for dynamic EC2 discovery.

Table of Contents

• Project Overview
• Implementation Steps
• Key Configuration
• Technologies Used
• Pipeline Details
• Ansible Playbook Details
• Screenshots

Project Overview

This project automates the deployment of a containerized Java application stack on AWS EC2, handling Docker installation, user management, and application deployment via Docker Compose. Ansible, using the AWS inventory plugin, dynamically discovers and manages the target EC2 instances. The pipeline utilizes Jenkins for orchestration and includes these key phases:

1. Loads custom functions from script.groovy.
2. Copies files to the Ansible server.
3. Executes the Ansible playbook to deploy the application.

Implementation Steps

The Jenkinsfile defines the CI/CD pipeline, which includes the following key steps:

1. Connect to the Ansible server: Establishes a connection to the dedicated Ansible control node.

2. Prepare the Ansible server: Copies Ansible playbooks, configuration files, and SSH keys to the Ansible server and installs necessary dependencies (Ansible, Python3, Boto3).

3. Execute the Ansible playbook: Configures the EC2 instances, installs Docker and Docker Compose, creates a user and adds them to the Docker group, and deploys the application's containers using docker-compose.yaml.

Key Configuration

• Jenkinsfile: Defines the CI/CD pipeline.
  • ANSIBLE_SERVER: Ansible control node IP.
  • VERSION: Application version.
• script.groovy: Contains functions for copying files and executing the playbook.
• ansible/deploy-docker-ec2.yaml: Ansible playbook for EC2 configuration and deployment.
• ansible/inventory_aws_ec2.yaml: Defines the dynamic inventory plugin for AWS EC2.
• docker-compose.yaml: Defines the application's Docker containers.
• prepare-ansible-server.sh: Installs Ansible and dependencies on the control node.

Technologies Used

• Ansible: Configuration management and automation.
• Jenkins: CI/CD pipeline automation.
• Docker: Containerization.
• Docker Compose: Multi-container application definition.
• EC2: Virtual servers in the cloud.
• Boto3: AWS SDK for Python.

Pipeline Details

The Jenkinsfile orchestrates:

1. Initialization: Loads script.groovy.
2. Copy Files to Ansible Server: Copies playbooks, docker-compose.yaml, and SSH keys to the Ansible control node.
3. Run Ansible Playbook: Executes prepare-ansible-server.sh and the deploy-docker-ec2.yaml playbook.

Ansible Playbook Details

The Ansible playbook:

1. Installs Docker and Docker Compose.
2. Creates a user and adds them to the Docker group.
3. Deploys containers defined in docker-compose.yaml.

Screenshots

Jenkins Pipeline Overview: