satellite and ansible

content/posts/2024/11/_index.md

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+title = "Example posts"
+sort_by = "date"
+template = "posts.html"
+page_template = "post.html"
+transparent = true
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+
+Posts

content/posts/2024/11/needs-reboot-satellite-and-ansible/index.md

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+title = "needs-reboot, Satellite, and Ansible"
+description = "An explainer on using Ansible within Satellite to detect when a server requires a reboot."
+date = 2024-11-21
+# updated = 2024-11-21
+draft = true
+[taxonomies]
+tags = []
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+
+This post outlines a solution I came up with for a recent problem at work: detecting if servers required a reboot after an update. 
+I'll explain the problem and provide the solution in the form of some Ansible job templates for use in Red Hat Satellite 6.15.
+
+---
+
+# Problem
+
+Prior to RHEL9, you could use the `katello-host-tools-tracer` package to provide Satellite with information about if a host required any services to be restarted. 
+This method is no longer supported and as far as I can tell there is no alternative integrated into Satellite. 
+However, you can use the command `dnf needs-restarting -r` on the host to list services that will require a reboot to benefit from updates. 
+This is an ideal time to use Ansible and the job templates within Satellite.
+
+# Solution
+
+This solution uses three job templates: one to collect information from hosts, one to safely reboot the hosts, and one to reset the host facts created by the first one.
+
+The job templates can be created in "Hosts -> Templates -> Job Templates". 
+You can copy from a pre-existing playbook job, or create a new one and change "Job -> Provider Type" to "Ansible".
+You'll also need to enable the checkbox "Ansible -> Enable Ansible Callback" to allow the hosts to send facts back to Satellite.
+_This is critical._
+
+This is the job template to check for the reboot and store the host fact.
+```yaml
+---
+- hosts: all
+  tasks:
+    - name: Run needs-restarting check
+      shell: dnf needs-restarting -r
+      changed_when: false
+      register: needs_restarting_result
+      failed_when: false
+
+    - name: Register fact
+      set_fact: 
+        needs_restarting: "{{ (needs_restarting_result.rc == 1) | bool }}" 
+```
+
+This job template will allow you to restart the servers. 
+```yaml
+---
+- hosts: all
+  tasks:
+    - name: Safety check
+      ansible.builtin.debug:
+        msg: "Has \"restart_safety_variable\" been set to \"YES\"?: {{ restart_safety_variable }}"
+      failed_when: restart_safety_variable != "YES" 
+  
+    - name: Reboot with 10 minute timeout
+      ansible.builtin.reboot:
+        reboot_timeout: 600
+  
+    - name: Register fact
+      set_fact: 
+        needs_restarting: false
+
+# Add an input in the job template with the following parameters:
+# Name: "restart_safety_variable"
+# Required: enabled
+# Input Type: User input
+# Value Type: Plain
+# Advanced: disabled
+# Hidden value: disabled
+# Options: (blank)
+# Default: "NO"
+
+```
+It's possible to use the "Ansible Command" job with a "restart" command, but this method offers a few benefits:
+- It will automatically reset the `needs_restarting` variable to `false`.
+- It will detect if the host came back online.
+I've also included a "safety" feature that will fail the playbook if "YES" is not entered while configuring a job execution to prevent a potential accident.
+To use it, enter "YES" into the "restart_safety_variable" box on the target selection screen when running the job.
+
+Finally, this job template is either to get the initial facts for each host, or to reset everything if you've done some manual reboots. 
+```yaml
+---
+- hosts: all
+  tasks:
+    - name: Register fact
+      set_fact: 
+        needs_restarting: false
+```
+
+You can search for which hosts need a restart by going to "Hosts -> All Hosts" and searching for `facts.needs_restarting = true`. 
+

newpost.sh

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 # Fix post name for filesystem
-post_file_name=$(echo $post_name | sed "s/[ _]/-/g" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+post_file_name=$(echo $post_name | sed "s/[ _,]/-/g" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
 
 post_path="$posts_root/$post_file_name"