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MAR-129: Updated requirements:
- Introduce Sphinx as requirement (need for building documentation).
- Updated requirements to Ansible 2.5.4 with dependencies.
- Introduce Sphinx as requirement (need for building documentation).
- Updated requirements to Ansible 2.5.4 with dependencies.
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Usage
=====
Majic Ansible Roles are targeted at sysadmins who wish to deploy services for
their own, small-scale use. This chapter gives a simple tutorial-like set of
instructions for using all of the roles available.
.. contents:: :local:
Overview
--------
There is a number of different roles that can prove useful for setting-up a
small infrastructure of your own.
Some roles are suited for one-off operations during installation, like the
``preseed`` and ``bootstrap``, while some are better suited for periodic runs
for maintaining the users and integrity of the system.
By the end of the instructions you will have the following:
* Ansible server, used for configuring the remaining servers.
* Communications server, providing the LDAP, mail, and XMPP services.
* Web server, providing the web services.
* Backup server, where the backups will be stored at.
Pre-requisites
--------------
For the set-up outlined in this usage guide you'll need the following:
* One server where Ansible will be installed at. Debian Jessie will be installed
on top of this server. The server will be set-up manually (this is currently
out of scope for the *Majic Ansible Roles* automated set-up).
* Three servers where the services will be set-up. All servers must be able to
communicate over network with each-other, the Ansible servers, and with
Internet. Debian Jessie will be installed on top of this server as part of the
usage instructions.
* Debian Jessie network install CD.
* All servers should be on the same network.
* IP addresses for all servers should be known.
* Netmask for all servers should be known.
* Gateway for all servers should be known.
In case of the servers listed above, it might be safest to have them as VMs -
this is cheapest thing to do, and simplest (who wants to deal with pesky hardware anyway?).
Usage instructions assume the following:
* Domain used for all servers is ``example.com``. If you wish to use a different
domain, adjust the instructions accordingly.
* Server hostnames are ``ansible``, ``comms``, ``www``, and ``bak`` (for Ansible
server, communications server, web server, and backup server, respectively).
Installing the OS on Ansible server
-----------------------------------
Start-off by installing the operating system on the Ansible server:
1. Fire-up the ``ansible`` server, and boot from the network installation CD.
2. Select the **Install** option.
3. Pick **English** as language.
4. Pick the country you are living in (or whatever else you want).
5. Pick the **en_US.UTF-8** locale.
6. Pick the **American English** keymap.
7. Configure the network if necessary.
8. Set the hostname to ``ansible``.
9. Set the domain to ``example.com``.
10. Set the root password.
11. Create a new user. For simplicity, call the user **Ansible user**, with
username **ansible**.
12. Set-up partitioning in any way you want. You can go for **Guided - use
entire disk** if you want to keep it simple and are just testing things.
13. Wait until the base system has been installed.
14. Pick whatever Debian archive mirror is closest to you.
15. If you have an HTTP proxy, provide its URL.
16. Pick if you want to participate in package survey or not.
17. Make sure that at least the **standard system utilities** and **SSH server**
options are selected on task selection screen.
18. Wait for packages to be installed.
19. Install the GRUB boot loader on MBR.
20. Finalise the server install, and remove the installation media from server.
Installing required packages
----------------------------
With the operating system installed, it is necessary to install a couple of
packages, and to prepare the environment a bit on the Ansible server:
1. Install the necessary system packages (using the ``root`` account)::
apt-get install -y virtualenv virtualenvwrapper git python-pip python-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev
2. Set-up the virtual environment (using the ``ansible`` account):
.. warning::
If you are already logged-in as user ``ansible`` in the server, you will
need to log-out and log-in again in order to be able to use
``virtualenvwrapper`` commands!
::
mkdir ~/mysite/
mkvirtualenv -a ~/mysite/ mysite
pip install -U pip setuptools
pip install 'ansible~=2.3.0' dnspython
.. warning::
The ``dnspython`` package is important since it is used internally via
``dig`` lookup plugin.
Cloning the *Majic Ansible Roles*
---------------------------------
With most of the software pieces in place, the only missing thing is the Majic
Ansible Roles:
1. Clone the git repository::
git clone http://code.majic.rs/majic-ansible-roles ~/majic-ansible-roles
2. Checkout the correct version of the roles::
cd ~/majic-ansible-roles/
git checkout -b 2.0-dev 2.0-dev
Preparing the basic site configuration
--------------------------------------
Phew... Now that was a bit tedious and boring... But at least you are now ready
to set-up your own site :)
First of all, let's set-up some basic directory structure and configuration:
1. Create Ansible configuration file.
.. warning::
Since Ansible 2.x has introduced much stricter controls over security of
deployed Python scripts, it is recommended (as in this example) to use the
``pipelining`` option (which should also improve performance). This is in
particular necessary in cases where the SSH user connecting to remote
machine is *not* ``root``, but there are tasks that use ``become`` with
non-root ``become_user`` (which is the case in Majic Ansible Roles). See
`official documentation
<http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/become.html#becoming-an-unprivileged-user>`_
and other alternatives to this.
:file:`~/mysite/ansible.cfg`
::
[defaults]
roles_path=/home/ansible/majic-ansible-roles/roles:/home/ansible/mysite/roles
force_handlers = True
retry_files_save_path = /home/ansible/mysite/retry
inventory = /home/ansible/mysite/hosts
[ssh_connection]
pipelining = True
2. Create directory where retry files will be stored at (so they woudln't
pollute your home directory)::
mkdir ~/mysite/retry
3. Create the hosts file.
:file:`~/mysite/hosts`
::
[preseed]
localhost ansible_connection=local
[communications]
comms.example.com
[web]
www.example.com
[backup]
bak.example.com
4. Create a number of directories for storing playbooks, group variables, SSH
keys, and GnuPG keyring (we'll get to this later)::
mkdir ~/mysite/playbooks/
mkdir ~/mysite/group_vars/
mkdir ~/mysite/ssh/
mkdir ~/mysite/gnupg/
5. Before moving ahead, we should also create SSH private/public key pair that
will be used by Ansible for connecting to destination servers, as well as
for some roles::
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa -N ''
Preseed files
-------------
The ``preseed`` role is useful for generating Debian preseed files. Preseed
files can be used for automating the Debian installation process.
Preseed files are commonly created on the Ansible host, and then in some way
served to the servers using them during install.
So, let's set this up for start:
1. First of all, create the playbook for generating the preseed files locally.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/preseed.yml`
::
---
- hosts: preseed
roles:
- preseed
2. And that is about it to be able to actually use this particular role! So
let's try running it::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/preseed.yml
3. If all went well, you should have the following files created:
* :file:`~/mysite/preseed_files/comms.example.com.cfg`
* :file:`~/mysite/preseed_files/www.example.com.cfg`
* :file:`~/mysite/preseed_files/bak.example.com.cfg`
4. You can have a look at them, but you might notice the settings in the file
might not be to your liking. In particular, it could be using wrong timezone,
defaulting to DHCP for network configuration etc. Let's concentrate on making
the network configuration changes - this is the main thing that will probably
differ in your environment. Create a new configuration file:
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/preseed.yml`
::
---
# Set your default (initial) root password.
preseed_root_password: changeit
# Use manual network configuration (no DHCP).
preseed_network_auto: no
# Set the gateway for all servers.
preseed_gateway: 10.32.64.1
# Set the netmask for all servers.
preseed_netmask: 255.255.255.0
# Set the DNS for all servers.
preseed_dns: 10.32.64.1
# Set the domain for all servers.
preseed_domain: example.com
# Set the server-specific options.
preseed_server_overrides:
comms.example.com:
hostname: comms
ip: 10.32.64.19
www.example.com:
hostname: www
ip: 10.32.64.20
bak.example.com:
hostname: bak
ip: 10.32.64.23
5. Now re-run the preseed playbook::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/preseed.yml
6. The preseed files should have been updated now, and you should have the new
customised configuration files in the ``preseed_files`` directory. You can
now use these to install the servers.
Installing the servers with preseed files
-----------------------------------------
You have your preseed files now, so you can go ahead and install the servers
``comms.example.com``, ``www.example.com``, and ``bak.example.com`` using
them with network install CD. Have a look at `Debian
<https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/amd64/apbs02.html.en>`_ instructions for
more details.
If you need to, you can easily serve the preseed files from the Ansible server
with Python's built-in HTTP server::
cd ~/mysite/preseed_files/
python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000
Bootstrapping servers for Ansible set-up
----------------------------------------
In order to effectively use Ansible, a small initial bootstrap always has to be
done for managed servers. This mainly involves set-up of Ansible users on the
destination machine, and distributing the SSH public keys for authorisation.
When you use the preseed configuration files to deploy a server, you get the
benefit of having the authorized_keys set-up for the root operating system user,
making it easier to bootstrap the machines subsequently via Ansible.
Let's bootstrap our machines now:
1. For start, create a dedicated playbook for the bootstrap process.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/bootstrap.yml`
::
---
- hosts: [communications, web, backup]
remote_user: root
roles:
- bootstrap
2. The ``bootstrap`` role has only one parameter - an SSH key which should be
deployed for the Ansible user on managed server (in the ``authorized_keys``
file). This defaults to content of local file ``~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub``, so no
need to make any changes so far.
3. SSH into all machines at least once from the Ansible server in order to
store the SSH fingerprints into known hosts file::
ssh root@comms.example.com date
ssh root@www.example.com date
ssh root@bak.example.com date
4. Now, simply run the bootstrap role against the servers::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/bootstrap.yml
6. At this point you won't be able to ssh into the machines with root account
anymore. You will be able to ssh into the machines using the private key of
the ``ansible`` user (from the Ansible server). The ``ansible`` user will
also be granted ability to run the ``sudo`` commands without providing
password.
7. After this you can finally move on to configuring what you really want -
common configuration and services for your site.
Common server configuration
---------------------------
Each server needs to share some common configuration in order to be functioning
properly. This includes set-up of some shared accounts, perhaps some hardening
etc.
Let's take care of this common configuration right away:
1. Create playbook for the communications server:
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/communications.yml`
::
---
- hosts: communications
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
2. Create playbook for the web server:
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
3. Create playbook for the backup server:
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/backup.yml`
::
---
- hosts: backup
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
4. Create the global site playbook:
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/site.yml`
::
---
- include: preseed.yml
- include: communications.yml
- include: web.yml
- include: backup.yml
5. Time to create configuration for the role. Since this role is supposed to
set-up a common base, we'll set-up the variables file that applies to all
roles:
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/all.yml`
::
---
os_users:
- name: admin
uid: 1000
additional_groups:
- sudo
authorized_keys:
- "{{ lookup('file', '~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub') }}"
password: "{{ 'admin' | password_hash('sha512') }}"
common_packages:
- emacs24-nox
.. note::
The ``common`` role comes with ability to set-up time
synchronisation using NTP. This is not done by default. For
details see the role parameter ``ntp_servers``.
6. That's all for configuration, time to apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
7. After this you should be able to *ssh* from Ansible server onto the managed
servers as user ``admin`` using the *SSH* private key. The ``admin`` user's
password has also been set to ``admin``, and the user will be member of
``sudo`` group.
Introducing LDAP
----------------
Since some of the services actually depend on LDAP, we'll go ahead and set that
one up first. This includes both the LDAP *server* and *client* configuration.
1. Update the playbook for communications server to include the LDAP client and
server roles (``ldap_client`` and ``ldap_server``, respectively).
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/communications.yml`
::
---
- hosts: communications
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- ldap_server
2. Update the playbook for web server to include the LDAP client role
(``ldap_client``). You never know when it might come in handy :)
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
3. Time to configure the roles. For start, let us configure the LDAP server
role. Keep in mind that there is a lot of default variables set-up by the
role itself, making our config rather short.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
---
ldap_admin_password: admin
ldap_server_organization: "Example Inc."
4. Phew. That was... Well, actually, easy :) Technically, only the LDAP admin
password *must* be set, but it's nice to have better organisation specified
than the default one. Let's add the LDAP client configuration next. We will
start off with global LDAP client configuration. In case of LDAP client,
we've got to be a bit more explicit.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/all.yml`
::
# Observe how we set the base DN. By default the ldap_server role
# (defined up there) will use server's domain to form the base for LDAP.
ldap_client_config:
- comment: Set the base DN
option: BASE
value: dc=example,dc=com
- comment: Set the default URI
option: URI
value: ldap://comms.example.com/
- comment: Set the LDAP TLS truststore
option: TLS_CACERT
value: /etc/ssl/certs/truststore.pem
- comment: Enforce TLS
option: TLS_REQCERT
value: demand
5. Ok, so this looks nice and dandy... But, let's have a bit better
configuration on the communications server itself. Namely, on that one we
should be able to connect to socket with LDAP clients instead over TCP port.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
ldap_client_config:
- comment: Set the base DN
option: BASE
value: dc=example,dc=com
- comment: Set the default URI
option: URI
value: ldapi:///
- comment: Set the default bind DN, useful for administration.
option: BINDDN
value: cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com
- comment: Set the LDAP TLS truststore
option: TLS_CACERT
value: /etc/ssl/certs/truststore.pem
- comment: Enforce TLS
option: TLS_REQCERT
value: demand
6. Ok, time to re-run the playbooks again... Wait a minute, something is missing
here... Oh, right, forgot to mention one thing - Majic Ansible Roles use TLS
throughout wherever possible. In other words, you *must* have TLS private
keys and certificates issued by some CA for all servers in order to be able
to use most of the roles (actually, you need them issued per *service*). This
includes ``ldap_server`` too. So, let's make a slight detour to create a CA
of our own, plus the necessary server certificate for the LDAP service...
.. note::
Another useful feature the roles implement is a check to see if
certificates will expire within the next 30 days. This check is performed
via cronjob at midnight, and results will end-up being delivered to the
``root`` user on local server. Later on, once you have configured the mail
server, you should be able to set-up the necessary aliases to have the
mails delivered to non-local accounts too.
1. Let's first install a couple of more tools on the Ansible server, since we
will be using ``certtool`` for our improvised CA needs (run this as
``root``)::
apt-get install -y gnutls-bin
2. Create directory where the private keys and certificates will be stored
at (you can switch back to the ``ansible`` user now)::
mkdir ~/mysite/tls/
3. It is time to create a couple of templates for the ``certtool`` so it
would know what extensions and content to have in the certificates:
:file:`~/mysite/tls/ca.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = "SE"
cn = "Example Inc. Test Site CA"
expiration_days = 1825
ca
cert_signing_key
crl_signing_key
:file:`~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_ldap.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. LDAP Server"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "comms.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
4. Almost there... Now let's generate the keys and certificates::
certtool --sec-param high --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/ca.key
certtool --template ~/mysite/tls/ca.cfg --generate-self-signed --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_ldap.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_ldap.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_ldap.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_ldap.pem
5. And just one more small tweak - we need to provide a truststore PEM file
containing all CA certificates in the chain. In this particular case we
have a super-simple hierarchy (root CA is also issuing the end entity
certificates), so simply make a copy of the ``ca.pem``. The
``truststore.pem`` file is picked-up automatically by many other roles::
cp ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem ~/mysite/tls/truststore.pem
7. With private keys and certificates in place, we are almost ready to re-run
the playbooks! Now, just a *small* tweak to the general configuration to set
where the TLS private keys and certificates can be found at, and all should
be fine.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/all.yml`
::
tls_private_key_dir: "~/mysite/tls/"
tls_certificate_dir: "~/mysite/tls/"
ca_certificates:
"truststore": "{{ lookup('file', '~/mysite/tls/truststore.pem') }}"
8. And now as finishing touch, simply run the playbooks again::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
Adding mail server
------------------
The next thing in line is to implement the mail server capability. *Majic
Ansible Roles* come with two distinct mail server-related roles. One for
setting-up a mail server host (with authenticated IMAP, SMTP, mail storage etc),
and one for setting-up a local SMTP mail forwarder (for having the rest of your
servers relay their mails to the mail server host).
.. note::
Should you ever need to deploy the forwarder role on a laptop or machine
behind NAT, make sure to look at ``smtp_from_relay_allowed`` parameter. In
case you need to connect to the SMTP relay via non-standard port (for example
to work-around ISP blocks), have a look at ``smtp_relay_host_port``
parameter.
The mail server role looks-up available mail domains, users, and aliases in the
LDAP directory. This has already been set-up on the server
``comms.example.com``, but some changes will be required.
1. Update the playbook for communications server to include the mail server
role.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/communications.yml`
::
---
- hosts: communications
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- ldap_server
- mail_server
2. Let's configure the role next.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
# Set the LDAP URL to connect through. Keep in mind TLS is required.
mail_ldap_url: ldap://comms.example.com/
# Here we need to point to the base DN of LDAP server. A bunch of entries
# will need to exist under it for service to function correctly, though.
mail_ldap_base_dn: dc=example,dc=com
# Separate LDAP entries are used for Postfix/Dovecot
# authentication. Therefore we have two passwords here.
mail_ldap_postfix_password: postfix
mail_ldap_dovecot_password: dovecot
# Setting uid/gid is optional, but you might have a policy on how to
# assign UIDs and GIDs, so it is convenient to be able to change this.
mail_user_uid: 5000
mail_user_gid: 5000
3. There are two distinct mail services that need to access the LDAP directory -
*Postfix* (serving as an SMTP server), and *Dovecot* (serving as an IMAP
server). These two need their own dedicated LDAP entries on the LDAP server in
order to log-in. Luckily, it is easy to create such entries through the options
provided by the LDAP server role. In addition to this, the Postfix and Dovecot
services will check if users are members of ``mail`` group in LDAP directory
before accepting them as valid mail users. Once again, the LDAP server role
comes with a simple option for creating groups.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
# Don't forget, the passwords here must match with passwords specified
# under options mail_ldap_postfix_password/mail_ldap_dovecot_password.
ldap_server_consumers:
- name: postfix
password: postfix
- name: dovecot
password: dovecot
ldap_server_groups:
- name: mail
4. Ok, so now our SMTP and IMAP service can log-in into the LDAP server to
look-up the mail server information. We have also defined the mail group for
limitting which users get mail service. However, we don't have any
user/domain information yet. So let's change that, using the ``ldap_entries``
option from LDAP server role.
.. warning::
Long-term, you probably want to manage these entries manually or through
other means than the ``ldap_entries`` option. The reason for this is
because this type of data in LDAP directory can be considered more of an
operational/application data than configuration data that frequently
changes (especially the user passwords/info). Backups of LDAP directory on
regular basis are important. We will get to that at a later point.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
ldap_entries:
# Create first a couple of user entries. Don't forget to set the
# "mail" attribute for them.
- dn: uid=johndoe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
attributes:
objectClass:
- inetOrgPerson
uid: johndoe
cn: John Doe
sn: Doe
userPassword: johndoe
mail: john.doe@example.com
- dn: uid=janedoe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
attributes:
objectClass:
- inetOrgPerson
uid: janedoe
cn: Jane Doe
sn: Doe
userPassword: janedoe
mail: jane.doe@example.com
# Now, let's add the two users to the mail group. Observe that we use
# the "state: append" option. This is a bit of a cheat since the
# ldap_entries option passes the provided entries directly to the
# m_ldap_entry module (this is a custom module, not to be confused with
# the official ldap_entry module). "state: append" will make sure we
# don't overwrite the group, and instead add the attributes to it (in
# this case we add the two users from above).
- dn: cn=mail,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com
state: append
attributes:
uniqueMember:
- uid=johndoe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
- uid=janedoe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
# Let's register our domain in LDAP directory.
- dn: dc=example.com,ou=domains,ou=mail,ou=services,dc=example,dc=com
attributes:
objectClass: dNSDomain
dc: "example.com"
# Finally, for the lolz, let's also add the standard postmaster alias
# for our domain. This one will also receive any undeliverable bounced
# mails.
- dn: cn=postmaster@example.com,ou=aliases,ou=mail,ou=services,dc=example,dc=com
attributes:
objectClass: nisMailAlias
cn: postmaster@example.com
rfc822MailMember: john.doe@example.com
5. Once again, before we apply the configuration, we must make sure the
necessary TLS private keys and certificates are available. In this particular
case, we need to set-up separate key/certificate pair for both the SMTP and
IMAP service:
1. Create new templates for ``certtool``:
:file:`~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_smtp.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. SMTP Server"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "comms.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
:file:`~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_imap.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. IMAP Server"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "comms.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
2. Create the keys and certificates for SMTP/IMAP services based on the templates::
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_smtp.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_smtp.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_smtp.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_smtp.pem
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_imap.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_imap.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_imap.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_imap.pem
6. Configuration and TLS keys have ben set-up, so it is time to apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
7. If no errors have been reported, at this point you should have two mail
accounts - ``john.doe@example.com``, with password ``johndoe``, and
``jane.doe@example.com``, with password ``janedoe``. In this particular
set-up, the mail addresses are used as usernames. If you want to test it out,
simply install ``swaks`` on your Ansible machine, and run something along the
lines of
::
swaks --to john.doe@example.com --server comms.example.com
swaks --to jane.doe@example.com --server comms.example.com
Of course, free feel to also test out the mail server using any mail client of
your choice. When doing so, use port 587 for SMTP. Port 25 is reserved for
unauthenticated server-to-server mail deliveries.
If you face issues with ISPs or hotels blocking the two ports listed above,
you can also use alternative ports 26 (redirected to port 587) and 27
(redirected to port 25).
TLS has also been hardened on port 587 to allow only TLSv1.2 and PFS ciphers
(you can override TLS versions/ciphers via role configuration).
Setting-up mail relaying from web and backup servers
----------------------------------------------------
With the mail server set-up, the next thing to do would be to set-up the SMTP
server on web and backup servers to relay mails via the communications
server. This way we can make sure that mail that gets sent via local SMTP to
external addresses on those two servers goes through our anti-virus scanner.
1. Update the list of roles for web and backup server to include the mail
forwarder role.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- mail_forwarder
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/backup.yml`
::
---
- hosts: backup
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- mail_forwarder
2. The next thing is to set-up the configuration for the new role. We can define
this globally for all servers
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/all.yml`
::
# First, let's make sure any mails directed to localhost root account get
# forwarded to one of our mail users as well.
local_mail_aliases:
root: root john.doe@example.com
# Now signal the local SMTP to relay any non-local mails via our
# communications server. Don't forget to specify your own IP address (or
# FQDN) here. Without this option, the SMTP would send out the mails
# directly.
smtp_relay_host: comms.example.com
3. Although we have told our web and backup servers to use the communications
server as relay for non-local mail, the communications server is not aware of
this. This would result in the communications server refusing all relay
attempts (if not, it would be an open relay, which is bad).
So, let's fix this a bit - we have a configuration option for the mail server
for exactly this purpose.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
# We want to allow relaying of mails from our web and backup servers
# here.Beware the IP spoofing, though! Don't forget to change the bellow
# IP for your server ;)
smtp_allow_relay_from:
- 10.32.64.20
- 10.32.64.23
4. Let's apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
5. After this you may want to test out sending mail via web or backup server's
local SMTP to the root user (to see if the aliasing works), and to some
external mail address to check if forwarding works correctly too. Run some
something similar to the following on your web server::
swaks --to root@localhost --server localhost
swaks --to YOUR_MAIL --server localhost
If all went well, you should be able to see a new mail in John Doe's mailbox,
as well as your own mailbox.
Adding XMPP server
------------------
Now that the users can communicate via mail server, we might as well add support
for some instant messaging. For this purpose, we will use the ``xmpp_server``
role.
1. Update the playbook for communications server to include the XMPP server
role.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/communications.yml`
::
---
- hosts: communications
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- ldap_server
- mail_server
- xmpp_server
2. Configure the role.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
# Set one of the users to also be an XMPP administrator.
xmpp_administrators:
- john.doe@example.com
# Unfortunately, XMPP can't look-up domains via LDAP, so we need to be
# explicit here.
xmpp_domains:
- example.com
# Simply point the XMPP server to base DN of LDAP server, and let it use
# specific directory structure it expects.
xmpp_ldap_base_dn: dc=example,dc=com
# Password for logging-in into the LDAP directory.
xmpp_ldap_password: prosody
# Where the LDAP server is located at. Full-blown LDAP URIs are _not_
# supported!
xmpp_ldap_server: comms.example.com
3. Now, like in case of the mail server role, we need to set-up authentication
for the XMPP service. In this particular case a single consumer is present -
Prosody itself. We should also create the group for granting the users right
to use the service.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
# Just make sure the new entry is added for the prosody user - you can
# leave the postfix/dovecot intact in your file if you use different
# passwords. Keep in mind password for prosody user must match with
# password specified under xmpp_ldap_password.
ldap_server_consumers:
- name: postfix
password: postfix
- name: dovecot
password: dovecot
- name: prosody
password: prosody
# And simply append a new group here...
ldap_server_groups:
- name: mail
- name: xmpp
4. Ok, configuration of the role is almost complete. You may have noticed that
we still haven't added any users to the new LDAP group called "xmpp". So let
us correct this in similar way as we did for the mail server. Since we have
the user entries already, no need to recreate them here. We will just update
the group membership instead.
.. warning::
Same warning applies here as for mail server role for managing the
user/group entries! Scroll up and re-read it if you missed it!
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/communications.yml`
::
# Don't replace the entire ldap_entries, just append the new group
# modification.
ldap_entries:
# Add the two users to the xmpp group. Observe that we use
# the "state: append" option. This is a bit of a cheat since the
# ldap_entries option passes the provided entries directly to the
# m_ldap_entry module (this is a custom module, not to be confused
# with the official ldap_entry module). "state: append" will make sure
# we don't overwrite the group, and instead add the attributes to it
# (in this case we add the two users).
- dn: cn=xmpp,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com
state: append
attributes:
uniqueMember:
- uid=johndoe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
- uid=janedoe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
5. Do you know what comes next? Yes! Create some more TLS private keys
and certificates, this time for our XMPP server ;)
1. Create new template for ``certtool``:
:file:`~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_xmpp.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. XMPP Server"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "comms.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
2. Create the keys and certificates for XMPP service based on the template::
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_xmpp.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_xmpp.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_xmpp.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/comms.example.com_xmpp.pem
6. Apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
7. If no errors have been reported, at this point you should have two users
capable of using the XMPP service - one with username
``john.doe@example.com`` and one with username ``jane.doe@example.com``. Same
passwords are used as for when you were creating the two users for mail
server. For testing you can turn to your favourite XMPP client (I don't know
of any quick CLI-based tools to test the XMPP server functionality,
unfortunately, but you could try using `mcabber <https://mcabber.com/>`_).
Taking a step back - preparing for web server
---------------------------------------------
Up until now the usage instructions have dealt almost exclusively with the
communications server. That is, we haven't done anything beyond the basic set-up
of the other servers.
Let us first define what we want to deploy on the web server. Here is the plan:
1. First off, we will set-up the web server. This will be necessary no matter
what web application we decide to deploy later on.
2. Next, we will set-up a database server. Why? Well, most web applications
need to use some sort of database to store all the data, so we might as well
try to take that one out of the way.
3. With this basic deployment for a web server in place, we can move on to
setting-up a couple of web applications. For the purpose of the usage
instructions, we will deploy the following two:
1. `The Bug Genie <http://thebuggenie.org/>`_ - an issue tracker. To keep
things simple, we will not integrate it with our LDAP server (although
this is supported and possible). Being written in PHP, this will
demonstrate the role for PHP web application deployment.
2. `Django Wiki <https://github.com/django-wiki/django-wiki>`_ - a wiki
application written in Django. This will serve as a demo of how the WSGI
role works.
It should be noted that the web application deployment roles are a bit more
complex - namely they are not meant to be used directly, but instead as a
dependency for a custom role. They do come with decent amount of batteries
included, and also play nice with the web server role.
As mentioned before, all roles will enforce TLS by default. The web server roles
will additionaly implement HSTS policy by sending connecting clients
``Strict-Transport-Security`` header with value set to ``max-age=31536000;
includeSubDomains`` (if you disable enforcement of TLS, the header will not be
sent).
With all the above noted, let us finally move on to the next step.
Setting-up the web server
-------------------------
Finally we are moving on to the web server deployment, and we shell start
with... Well, erm, web server deployment! To be more precise, we will set-up
Nginx.
1. Update the playbook for web server to include the web server role.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- mail_forwarder
- web_server
2. You know the drill, role configuration comes up next. Actually... The web
server role parameters are all optional, and they default to some ok-ish
values. But let us spicen up things a bit nevertheless. No configuration has
been deployed before for the web server, so we will be creating a new file.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/web.yml`
::
---
web_default_title: "Welcome to default page!"
web_default_message: "Nothing to see here, move along..."
3. The only thing left now is to create the TLS private key/certificate pair
that should be used for default virtual host.
1. Create new template for ``certtool``:
:file:`~/mysite/tls/www.example.com_https.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. Web Server"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "www.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
2. Create the keys and certificates for default web server virtual host based
on the template::
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/www.example.com_https.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/www.example.com_https.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/www.example.com_https.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/www.example.com_https.pem
4. Apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
5. If no errors have been reported, at this point you should have a default web
page available and visible at https://www.example.com/ . By default plaintext
connections are disabled, and trying to visit http://www.example.com/ should
simply redirect you to the HTTPS address. Feel free to try it out with some
browser. Keep in mind you will get a warning about the untrusted certificate!
Adding the database server
--------------------------
Since both of the web applications we want to deploy need a database, we will
proceed to set-up the database server role on the web server itself. *Majic
Ansible Roles* in particular come with a role that will deploy MariaDB database
server.
1. Update the playbook for web server to include the database server role.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- mail_forwarder
- web_server
- database_server
2. Now let's configure the role. This is rather simplistic, since we only need
to set the database server root (admin) password.
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/web.yml`
::
db_root_password: root
3. No TLS support has been implemented for this role (yet), so simply apply the
changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
4. If no errors have been reported, you should have a database server up and
running on the web server. You should be able to log-in using password
``root`` by running the following command on the web server itself::
mysql -uroot -p
Of course, no database has been created for either of the web applications,
but we will get to that one later (there is a dedicated ``database`` role
which can be combined with web app roles for this purpose).
Deploying a PHP web application (The Bug Genie)
-----------------------------------------------
We have some basic infrastructure up and running now on our web server, so we
shall move on to setting-up a PHP web application on it. As mentioned before, we
will take *The Bug Genie* as an example.
For this we will create a local role in our site to take care of it. This role
will in turn utilise two roles coming from *Majic Ansible Roles* that will make
our life (a little) easier.
To make the example a bit simpler, no parameters will be introducd for this role
(not even the password for database, we'll hard-code everything).
Before we start, here is a couple of useful pointers regarding the
``php_website`` role we'll be using for the PHP part:
* The role is designed to execute every application via dedicated user and
group. The user/group name is automatically derived from the FQDN of website,
for example ``web-tbg_example_com``.
* While running the application, application user's umask is set to ``0007``
(letting the administrator user be able to manage any files created while the
application is running).
* An administrative user is created as well, and this user should be used when
running maintenance and installation commands. Similar to application user,
the name is also derived from the FQDN of website, for example
``admin-tbg_example_com``. Administrative user does not have a dedicated
group, and instead belongs to same group as the application user.
* PHP applications are executed via FastCGI, using the ``php5-fpm`` package.
* If you ever need to set some additional PHP FPM settings, this can easily be
done via the ``additional_fpm_config`` role parameter. This particular example
does not set any, though.
* Mails deliverd to local admin/application users are forwarded to ``root``
account instead (this can be configured via ``website_mail_recipients`` role
parameter.
* If you ever find yourself mixing-up test and production websites, have a look
at ``environment_indicator`` role parameter. It lets you insert small strip at
bottom of each HTML page automatically.
* Static content (non-PHP) is served directly by *Nginx*.
* Each web application gets distinct sub-directory under ``/var/www``, named
after the FQDN. All sub-directories created under there are created with
``2750`` permissions, with ownership set to admin user, and group set to the
application's group. In other words, all directories will have ``SGID`` bit
set-up, allowing you to create files/directories that will have their group
automatically set to the group of the parent directory.
* Files are served (both by *Nginx* and *php5-fpm*) from sub-directory called
``htdocs`` (located in website directory). For example
``/var/www/tbg.example.com/htdocs/``. Normally, this can be a symlink to some
other sub-directory within the website directory (useful for having multiple
versions for easier downgrades etc).
* Combination of admin user membership in application group, ``SGID``
permission, and the way ownership of sub-directories is set-up usually means
that the administrator will be capable of managing application files, and
application can be granted write permissions to a *minimum* of necessary
files.
.. warning::
Just keep in mind that some file-management commands, like ``mv``, do *not*
respect the ``SGID`` bit. In fact, I would recommend using ``cp`` when you
deploy new files to the directory instead (don't simply move them from your
home).
1. Start-off with creating the necessary directories for the new role::
mkdir -p ~/mysite/roles/tbg/{tasks,meta,files}/
2. Let's set-up role dependencies, reusing some common roles to make our life
easier.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/tbg/meta/main.yml`
::
---
dependencies:
# Ok, so this role helps us set-up Nginx virtual host for serving our
# app.
- role: php_website
# Our virtual host will for PHP website will respond to this name.
fqdn: tbg.example.com
# Some additional packages are required in order to deploy and use TBG.
packages:
- php5-gd
- php5-curl
- git
- php5-mysql
- expect
# Set-up URL rewriting. This is based on public/.htaccess file from
# TBG.
php_rewrite_urls:
- ^(.*)$ /index.php?url=$1
# We don't necessarily need this, but in case you have a policy on
# uid/gid usage, this is useful. Take note that below value is used
# for both the dedicated uid and gid for application user.
uid: 2000
admin_uid: 3000
# And this role sets up a new dedicated database for our web
# application.
- role: database
# This is both the database name, _and_ name of the database user
# that will be granted full privileges on the database.
db_name: tbg
# This will be the password of our user 'tbg' for accessing the
# database. Take note the user can only login from localhost.
db_password: tbg
3. Now for my favourite part again - creating private keys and certificates!
Why? Because the ``php_website`` role requires a private key/certificate
pair to be deployed. So... Moving on:
1. Create new template for ``certtool``:
:file:`~/mysite/tls/tbg.example.com_https.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. Issue Tracker"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "tbg.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
2. Create the keys and certificates for the application::
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/tbg.example.com_https.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/tbg.example.com_https.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/tbg.example.com_https.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/tbg.example.com_https.pem
4. Time to get our hands a bit more dirty... Up until now we didn't have to write
custom tasks, but at this point we need to.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/tbg/tasks/main.yml`
::
---
- name: Define TBG version
set_fact: tbg_version=4.1.0
- name: Download the TBG archive
get_url: url=https://github.com/thebuggenie/thebuggenie/archive/v{{ tbg_version }}.tar.gz
dest="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}.tar.gz"
sha256sum=0fd0a680ba281adc97d5d2c720e63b995225c99716a36eca6a198b8a5ebf8057
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
- name: Download Composer
get_url: url=https://getcomposer.org/download/1.0.0-alpha10/composer.phar
dest="/usr/local/bin/composer"
sha256sum=9f2c7d0364bc743bcde9cfe1fe84749e5ac38c46d47cf42966ce499135fd4628
owner=root group=root mode=755
- name: Unpack TBG
unarchive: src="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}.tar.gz"
dest="/var/www/tbg.example.com/" copy=no
creates="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}"
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
- name: Create TBG cache directory
file: path="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/cache" state=directory mode=2770
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
- name: Set-up the necessary write permissions for TBG directories
file: path="{{ item }}" mode=g+w
with_items:
- /var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/
- /var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/public/
- /var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/core/config/
- name: Create symbolic link to TBG application
file: src="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/public"
path="/var/www/tbg.example.com/htdocs"
state=link
owner="admin-tbg_example_com" group="web-tbg_example_com" mode=2750
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
- name: Install TBG dependencies
composer: command=install working_dir="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}"
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
- name: Deploy database configuration file for TBG
copy: src="b2db.yml" dest="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/core/config/b2db.yml"
mode=640 owner=admin-tbg_example_com group=web-tbg_example_com
- name: Install pexpect package
apt: name=python-pexpect state=installed
- name: Deploy expect script for installing TBG
copy: src="tbg_expect_install" dest="/var/www/tbg.example.com/tbg_expect_install" mode=750
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
- name: Run TBG installer via expect script
command: /var/www/tbg.example.com/tbg_expect_install
chdir="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}"
creates="/var/www/tbg.example.com/thebuggenie-{{ tbg_version }}/installed"
become: yes
become_user: admin-tbg_example_com
5. Set-up the files that are deployed by our role.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/tbg/files/b2db.yml`
::
b2db:
username: "tbg"
password: "tbg"
dsn: "mysql:host=localhost;dbname=tbg"
tableprefix: ''
cacheclass: '\thebuggenie\core\framework\Cache'
:file:`~/mysite/roles/tbg/files/tbg_expect_install`
::
#!/usr/bin/env python
import pexpect
# Spawn the process.
install_process = pexpect.spawnu('./tbg_cli', args = ["install",
"--accept_license=yes",
"--url_subdir=/",
"--use_existing_db_info=yes",
"--enable_all_modules=no",
"--setup_htaccess=yes"])
# If we get EOF, we probably already installed application, and ran
# into error at the end since no patterns matched.
try:
# First confirmation.
install_process.expect(u'Press ENTER to continue with the installation: ', timeout=5)
install_process.sendline(u'')
# Second confirmation.
install_process.expect(u'Press ENTER to continue: ', timeout=5)
install_process.sendline(u'')
# Wait for application to finish.
install_process.expect(pexpect.EOF)
except pexpect.EOF as e:
pass
# Close application.
install_process.close()
# Print text output.
print(install_process.before)
# Return same exit code like child process.
exit(install_process.exitstatus)
6. And... Let's add the new role to our web server.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- mail_forwarder
- web_server
- database_server
- tbg
7. Apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
8. At this point *The Bug Genie* has been installed, and you should be able to
open the URL https://tbg.example.com/ (if you open http://tbg.example.com/ ,
you will be redirected to the HTTPS URL) and log-in into *The Bug Genie*
with username ``administrator`` and password ``admin``.
Deploying a WSGI application (Django Wiki)
------------------------------------------
Next thing up will be to deploy a WSGI Python application.
Similar to the PHP application deployment, we will use a couple of roles to make
it easier to deploy it in a standardised manner, and we will not have any kind
of parameters for configuring the role to keep things simple.
Most of the notes on how a ``php_website`` role is deployed also stand for the
``wsgi_website`` role, but we will reiterate and clarify them a bit just to be
on the safe side:
* The role is designed to execute every application via dedicated user and
group. The user/group name is automatically derived from the FQDN of website,
for example ``web-wiki_example_com``.
* While running the application, application user's umask is set to ``0007``
(letting the administrator user be able to manage any files created while the
application is running).
* An administrative user is created as well, and this user should be used when
running maintenance and installation commands. Similar to application user,
the name is also derived from the FQDN of website, for example
``admin-wiki_example_com``. Administrative user does not have a dedicated
group, and instead belongs to same group as the application user. As
convenience, whenever you switch to this user the Python virtual environment
will be automatically activated for you.
* WSGI applications are executed via *Gunicorn*. The WSGI server listens on a
Unix socket, making the socket accessible by *Nginx*.
* If you ever need to set some environment variables, this can easily be done
via the ``environment_variables`` role parameter. This particular example does
not set any, though.
* You can also specify headers to be passed on via Nginx ``proxy_set_header``
directive to Gunicorn running the application.
* Mails deliverd to local admin/application users are forwarded to ``root``
account instead (this can be configured via ``website_mail_recipients`` role
parameter.
* If you ever find yourself mixing-up test and production websites, have a look
at ``environment_indicator`` role parameter. It lets you insert small strip at
bottom of each HTML page automatically.
* Static content is served directly by *Nginx*.
* Each web application gets distinct sub-directory under ``/var/www``, named
after the FQDN. All sub-directories created under there are created with
``2750`` permissions, with ownership set to admin user, and group set to the
application's group. In other words, all directories will have ``SGID`` bit
set-up, allowing you to create files/directories that will have their group
automatically set to the group of the parent directory.
* Each WSGI website gets a dedicated virtual environment, stored in the
sub-directory ``virtualenv`` of the website directory, for example
``/var/www/wiki.example.com/virtualenv``.
* Static files are served from sub-directory ``htdocs`` in the website
directory, for example ``/var/www/wiki.example.com/htdocs/``.
* The base directory where your website/application code should be at is
expected to be in sub-directory ``code`` in the website directory, for example
``/var/www/wiki.example.com/code/``.
* Combination of admin user membership in application group, ``SGID``
permission, and the way ownership of sub-directories is set-up usually means
that the administrator will be capable of managing application files, and
application can be granted write permissions to a *minimum* of necessary
files.
.. warning::
Just keep in mind that some file-management commands, like ``mv``, do *not*
respect the ``SGID`` bit. In fact, I would recommend using ``cp`` when you
deploy new files to the directory instead (don't simply move them from your
home).
1. Set-up the necessary directories first::
mkdir -p ~/mysite/roles/wiki/{tasks,meta,files,handlers}/
2. Set-up some role dependencies, reusing the common role infrastructure.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/wiki/meta/main.yml`
::
---
dependencies:
- role: wsgi_website
fqdn: wiki.example.com
# In many cases you need to have some development packages available
# in order to build Python packages installed via pip
packages:
- build-essential
- python-dev
- libjpeg-dev
- libzip-dev
- libtiff-dev
- libfreetype6-dev
- liblcms2-dev
- libwebp-dev
- libopenjpeg-dev
- libmariadb-client-lgpl-dev
- libmariadb-client-lgpl-dev-compat
# Here we specify that anything accessing our website with "/static/"
# URL should be treated as request to a static file, to be served
# directly by Nginx instead of the WSGI server.
static_locations:
- /static/
# Again, not mandatory, but it is good to have some sort of policy
# for assigning UIDs.
uid: 2001
admin_uid: 3001
# These are additional packages that should be installed in the
# virtual environment.
virtualenv_packages:
- pillow
- django==1.8.13
- wiki
- MySQL-python
# This is the name of the WSGI application to
# serve. wiki_example_com.wsgi will be the Python "module" that is
# accesed, while application is the object instantiated within it (the
# application itself). The module is referenced relative to the code
# directory (in our case /var/www/wiki.example.com/code/).
wsgi_application: wiki_example_com.wsgi:application
- role: database
db_name: wiki
db_password: wiki
3. Let's create a dedicated private key/certificate pair for the wiki website:
1. Create new template for ``certtool``:
:file:`~/mysite/tls/wiki.example.com_https.cfg`
::
organization = "Example Inc."
country = SE
cn = "Exampe Inc. Wiki"
expiration_days = 365
dns_name = "wiki.example.com"
tls_www_server
signing_key
encryption_key
2. Create the keys and certificates for the application::
certtool --sec-param normal --generate-privkey --outfile ~/mysite/tls/wiki.example.com_https.key
certtool --generate-certificate --load-ca-privkey ~/mysite/tls/ca.key --load-ca-certificate ~/mysite/tls/ca.pem --template ~/mysite/tls/wiki.example.com_https.cfg --load-privkey ~/mysite/tls/wiki.example.com_https.key --outfile ~/mysite/tls/wiki.example.com_https.pem
4. At this point we have exhausted what we can do with the built-in roles. Time
to add some custom tasks.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/wiki/tasks/main.yml`
::
---
- name: Create Django project directory
file: dest="/var/www/wiki.example.com/code" state=directory
owner=admin-wiki_example_com group=web-wiki_example_com
mode=2750
- name: Start Django project for the Wiki website
command: /var/www/wiki.example.com/virtualenv/bin/exec django-admin.py startproject wiki_example_com /var/www/wiki.example.com/code
chdir=/var/www/wiki.example.com
creates=/var/www/wiki.example.com/code/wiki_example_com
become: yes
become_user: admin-wiki_example_com
- name: Deploy settings for wiki website
copy: src="{{ item }}" dest="/var/www/wiki.example.com/code/wiki_example_com/{{ item }}"
mode=640 owner=admin group=web-wiki_example_com
with_items:
- settings.py
- urls.py
notify:
- Restart wiki
- name: Deploy project database and deploy static files
django_manage: command="{{ item }}"
app_path="/var/www/wiki.example.com/code/"
virtualenv="/var/www/wiki.example.com/virtualenv/"
become: yes
become_user: admin-wiki_example_com
with_items:
- syncdb
- migrate
- collectstatic
- name: Deploy the superadmin creation script
copy: src="create_superadmin.py" dest="/var/www/wiki.example.com/code/create_superadmin.py"
owner=admin-wiki_example_com group=web-wiki_example_com mode=750
- name: Create initial superuser
command: /var/www/wiki.example.com/virtualenv/bin/exec ./create_superadmin.py
chdir=/var/www/wiki.example.com/code/
become: yes
become_user: admin-wiki_example_com
register: wiki_superuser
changed_when: wiki_superuser.stdout == "Created superuser."
:file:`~/mysite/roles/wiki/handlers/main.yml`
::
---
- name: Restart wiki
service:
name: wiki.example.com
state: restarted
5. There is a couple of files that we are deploying through the above
tasks. Let's create them as well.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/wiki/files/settings.py`
::
"""
Django settings for wiki_example_com project.
For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/topics/settings/
For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/ref/settings/
"""
# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/howto/deployment/checklist/
# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = 'l^q+t$7h$ebls)v34+w9m9v4$n+^(9guxqntu&#cc4m&lfd-6_'
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = False
TEMPLATE_DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["wiki.example.com", "localhost"]
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'django.contrib.sites',
'django.contrib.humanize',
'django_nyt',
'mptt',
'sekizai',
'sorl.thumbnail',
'wiki',
'wiki.plugins.attachments',
'wiki.plugins.notifications',
'wiki.plugins.images',
'wiki.plugins.macros',
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'wiki_example_com.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'wiki_example_com.wsgi.application'
# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
'NAME': 'wiki',
'USER': 'wiki',
'PASSWORD': 'wiki',
'HOST': '127.0.0.1',
'PORT': '3306',
}
}
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'Europe/Stockholm'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/howto/static-files/
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = '/var/www/wiki.example.com/htdocs/static'
from django.conf import settings
TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = settings.TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS + (
"django.core.context_processors.debug",
"django.core.context_processors.request",
"sekizai.context_processors.sekizai",
)
SITE_ID=1
:file:`~/mysite/roles/wiki/files/urls.py`
::
from django.conf.urls import patterns, include, url
from wiki.urls import get_pattern as get_wiki_pattern
from django_nyt.urls import get_pattern as get_nyt_pattern
from django.contrib import admin
admin.autodiscover()
urlpatterns = patterns('',
# Examples:
# url(r'^$', 'wiki_example_com.views.home', name='home'),
# url(r'^blog/', include('blog.urls')),
url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
)
urlpatterns += patterns('',
(r'^notifications/', get_nyt_pattern()),
(r'', get_wiki_pattern())
)
:file:`~/mysite/roles/wiki/files/create_superadmin.py`
::
#!/usr/bin/env python
import os
from django import setup
os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE']='wiki_example_com.settings'
setup()
from django.conf import settings
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
User.objects.all()
if len(User.objects.filter(username="admin")) == 0:
User.objects.create_superuser('admin', 'john.doe@example.com', 'admin')
print("Created superuser.")
6. Time to add the new role to our web server.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/web.yml`
::
---
- hosts: web
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- ldap_client
- mail_forwarder
- web_server
- database_server
- tbg
- wiki
7. Apply the changes:
.. warning::
Due to `Debian Bug 766996
<https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=766996>`_ Majic Ansible
Roles try to detect if you install ``libmariadb-client-lgpl-dev-compat``
package, and create symbolic link from ``/usr/local/bin/mysql_config`` to
``/usr/bin/mariadb_config`` automatically. Otherwise the MySQL-python
package will fail to build due to missing ``mysql_config`` binary.
::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
8. At this point Django Wiki has been installed, and you should be able to open
the URL https://wiki.example.com/ (if you open http://wiki.example.com/ , you
will be redirected to the HTTPS URL) and log-in into *Django Wiki* with
username ``admin`` and password ``admin``.
Backups, backups, backups!
--------------------------
As it is well known, everyone has backups of their important data. Right?
Riiiiight?
There are three Ansible roles that implement backup functionality -
``backup_server``, ``backup_client``, and ``backup``. Backup is based around the
use of `Duplicity <http://duplicity.nongnu.org/>`_ and its convenience wrapper,
`Duply <http://duply.net>`_. Due to this selection, it should be noted that the
backup clients are the ones making connection to the backup server (not the
other way around).
Backups are encrypted and signed using GnuPG before being stored on the backup
server. Private key used for encryption and signing is therefore stored on the
client side. This key should not be encrypted in order to allow for unattended
backups.
Although not necessary, it is highly recommended to have separation between
different backup clients and the keys used for encryption and
signing. I.e. stick to a separate encryption/signing key for each backup
client. It should be noted that it is also possible to specify additional
*public* keys to encrypt with. This lets you have a backup decryptable with some
other, "master" key.
The backups are transferred to the backup server via SFTP - the
``backup_server`` role sets-up a dedicated OpenSSH server instance that limits
the connecting clients to a SFTP chroot.
All backups are stored within directory ``/srv/backups`` (on the backup
server). Within this directory, every client server has a dedicated
sub-directory, and within this sub-directory another sub-directory called
``duplicity``, where the actual *Duplicity* backups are stored. So, for example,
the directory where backups for ``www.example.com`` are stored at would be
``/srv/backups/www.example.com/duplicity``.
When backups are configured, they are set-up to be running every morning at
02:00. Before the backup run it is possible to run a preparation task, and a lot
of roles do this in order to create database dumps etc.
Setting-up the backup server
----------------------------
With the overview of backups out of the way, it is time to set-up the backup
server itself first. This is a farily simple task to perform, so let's get
straight to it:
1. Update the playbook for backup server to include the backup server role.
:file:`~/mysite/playbooks/backup.yml`
::
---
- hosts: backup
remote_user: ansible
become: yes
roles:
- common
- mail_forwarder
- backup_server
2. There is just one mandatory parameter for the role - OpenSSH server keys to
be used for backup-dedicated instance:
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/backup.yml`
::
---
backup_host_ssh_private_keys:
dsa: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_dsa_key') }}"
rsa: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_rsa_key') }}"
ed25519: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_ed25519_key') }}"
ecdsa: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_ecdsa_key') }}"
3. Since we have decided to specify the keys above through file lookup, the
above-listed keys now need to be generated::
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/bak_dsa_key -N '' -t dsa
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/bak_rsa_key -N '' -t rsa
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/bak_ed25519_key -N '' -t ed25519
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/bak_ecdsa_key -N '' -t ecdsa
Adding backup clients
---------------------
Well, that was all nice and dandy, but it does look like something is
missing... Ah, we haven't really configured any backup clients, right?
Surprisingly enough, specifying backup clients is optional, but that won't get
you far.
Luckily for you, all relevant *Majic Ansible Roles* are *backup-aware*. In other
words, all the roles have been implemented with support for doing back-ups - it
is just that by default this functionality is disabled (since you might be
relying on some other schema to back things up - LVM snapshots or what-not).
All that is needed is to enable the backups for each role, and provide some
extra variables required by the ``backup_client`` role.
For this a set of GnuPG private keys are necessary. These need to be provided as
ASCII-armoured GnuPG-exported files. For simplicity sake, this example documents
use of GnuPG keyring in conjunction with Ansible's ``pipe`` lookup.
So, back to the business:
1. Update the backup server configuration - each client needs to be explicitly
registered:
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/backup.yml`
::
backup_clients:
- server: comms.example.com
public_key: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/comms.example.com.pub') }}"
ip: 10.32.64.19
- server: www.example.com
public_key: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/www.example.com.pub') }}"
ip: 10.32.64.20
# Ah, this is a bit interesting - we can back-up the backup server
# itself! Don't worry, though, this is mainly so the logs and home
# directories are preserved, so it won't take too much space ;)
- server: bak.example.com
public_key: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak.example.com.pub') }}"
ip: 127.0.0.1
2. And now to configure backup clients for all servers:
:file:`~/mysite/group_vars/all.yml`
::
enable_backup: yes
backup_encryption_key: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'gpg2 --homedir ~/mysite/gnupg/ --armour --export-secret-keys ' + ansible_fqdn ) }}"
backup_server: bak.example.com
backup_server_host_ssh_public_keys:
- "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_dsa_key.pub') }}"
- "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_rsa_key.pub') }}"
- "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_ed25519_key.pub') }}"
- "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/bak_ecdsa_key.pub') }}"
backup_ssh_key: "{{ lookup('file', inventory_dir + '/ssh/' + ansible_fqdn) }}"
3. So, looking at the configuration up there, there is a couple of file lookups
for getting the variable values, as well as one pipe lookup for fetching the
encryption keys. For start, let's create the SSH private keys used for client
log-ins to backup server::
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/comms.example.com -N ''
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/www.example.com -N ''
ssh-keygen -f ~/mysite/ssh/bak.example.com -N ''
4. Next off, a GnuPG keyring needs to be populated with private keys that will
be used for backup encryption and signing. In total, we need three keys, one
for each server. The keys should not be encrypted, and they should be named
after the respective server's FQDN. For simplicity sake, here is a nice
copy-pastable batch version for doing so:
.. note:: Key generation requires a lot of entropy. If you are running this
command on a VM, you may want to ``apt-get install haveged`` to
speed this up. Please do read up on haveged if deploying to a real
system, though! Don't trust it blindly!
::
chmod 700 ~/mysite/gnupg
cat << EOF | gpg2 --homedir ~/mysite/gnupg --batch --gen-key
Key-Type:RSA
Key-Length:1024
Name-Real:comms.example.com
Expire-Date:0
%commit
Key-Type:RSA
Key-Length:1024
Name-Real:www.example.com
Expire-Date:0
%commit
Key-Type:RSA
Key-Length:1024
Name-Real:bak.example.com
Expire-Date:0
%commit
EOF
5. And... Apply::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
6. At this point the backup roles have been set-up everywhere, and the backups
will be running every day at 02:00 in the morning. Of course, you may want to
test out a backup yourself immediatelly by running the following command on
servers::
duply main backup
.. note:: For more information on available commands and how to work with
backup tool, please have look at `Official Duply Pages
<http://duply.net/>`_.
Adding backup support to custom roles
-------------------------------------
As mentioned before, all of the supplied roles coming with *Majic Ansible Roles*
include backup support. What gets backed-up depends on the role implementation
(see role reference for details). What about backup support for custom roles?
This is something that has to be done by hand. However, it is quite simple to do
so.
Backup integration will be demonstrated with the previously implemented
``tbg`` role.
*The Bug Genie* stores most of its data in database, but thanks to the
``database`` role its backup is already handled for us. As a side-note, just
before every backup run the database is dumped and stored in location
``/srv/backup/tbg.sql``. That file is subsequently backed-up via *Duply* run.
What is not backed-up for us, though, are the files uploaded to *The Bug
Genie*. So let's fix that one.
1. Add the ``backup`` role to list of dependencies. Take note that while the
``backup_client`` role deals with basic set-up of backup client and its
configuration, the ``backup`` role is used to define what should be
backed-up. It is important to define unique filename for the backup patterns
file. Take into account that you can use pretty much any globbing pattern
supported by Duplicity.
.. warning::
Make sure the addition is properly aligned in the yaml file to previous
role dependency definitions.
:file:`~/mysite/roles/tbg/meta/main.yml`
::
- role: backup
when: enable_backup
backup_patterns_filename: "tbg"
backup_patterns:
- "/var/www/tbg.example.com/files"
2. Apply the changes::
workon mysite && ansible-playbook playbooks/site.yml
3. Now rerun the backup on server ``www.example.com`` (as root). If you haven't
uploaded any files, you may want to do so before testing to make sure
something is backed-up.
::
duply main backup
4. Verify that the files have been backed-up:
::
duply main list
.. note:: If you wanted to run a script prior to backup run, you would simply
deploy a shell script with desired content to
``/etc/duply/main/pre.d/``. Just make sure the permissions for it are
ok (it has to be executable by the root user).
Dealing with failures
---------------------
While the roles have been designed to be fairly robust, it should be taken into
account that certain handlers are used to bring the system into consistent
state. These handlers are mostly the ones dealing with service restarts, but
there are also a couple of handlers that take care of transforming certain data
into the required formats, import of files etc.
This means that failure to successfully execute such handlers could result in
inconsistent state on the server. Think of service configuration files being
updated, yet the service itself is not restarted and therefore continues to run
with the old configuration.
Handler execution failure can depend on a couple of things, including the loss
of SSH connectivity to managed machine, or some kind of unusual time-out during
handler execution.
To help handle this situation, Majic Ansible Roles all come with a special way
to invoke the handlers explicitly. Each role will include handlers as tasks,
provided that a special variable (``handlers``) is passed in to playbook run. To
make the run shorter, the handlers in such a run are also tagged with
``handlers``. This doubling of environment variable + tagging stems from current
limitations of Ansible (it is not possible to specify that certain task should
be run only if a tag is specified, therefore an additional variable has to be
used).
Handlers alone can be invoked specifically with command similar to::
ansible-playbook -t handlers -e handlers=true playbooks/site.yml
The ``handlers`` variable is treated as boolean, and by default it is not set.
Checking for available package upgrades
---------------------------------------
One of the more annoying chores when you maintain your own infrastructure is
making sure everything is up-to-date. And this has to be done - both in order to
ensure for problem-free experience for users (yourself included), and for making
sure there are no security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a (random)
adversary.
*Majic Ansible Roles* try to keep you covered on this front as well. As part of
regular deployment, the ``common`` role will deploy and configure ``apticron`` -
a nifty little script that runs on hourly basis and checks if any of your
system-provided packages are outdated.
If ``apticron`` detects an outdated package, it will output this information to
standard output, which will result in the cron daemon sending out an e-mail to
the local root account. These mails can be further directed towards other mail
accounts via aliases (easily achieveable if you use either the
``mail_forwarder`` or ``mail_server`` roles).
No packages will be upgraded automatically - ensuring you can make sure upgrades
occur correctly and do not cause major outage without anyone being present to
fix them.
Another useful package you may want to look into is ``needrestart`` - which runs
as a hook during the upgrade process to detect any processes that seem to be
running with outdated libraries, allowing you to restart them as well. This
package is *not* installed by the ``common`` role out-of-the-box, but you can
easily do so by updating the ``common_packages`` setting.
In addition to system packages, the ``common`` role makes it easy to check if
any of the pip requirements files are outdated as well. It should be noted,
though, that this check does *not* verify the Python virtual environments
themselves.
This is primarily useful when you use `pip-tools
<https://github.com/jazzband/pip-tools>`_ for maintaining the requirements
files. In fact, I would both encourage you to utilise ``pip-tools`` for both
this purpose and for keeping the virtual environment in sync and up-to-date.
Roles that want to take advantage of this would:
- Create a sub-directory under ``/etc/pip_check_requirements_upgrades/``.
``/etc/pip_check_requirements_upgrades/FQDN``.
- Deploy ``.in`` and ``.txt`` files within the sub-directory (see ``pip-tools``
docs for explanation of how the ``.in`` files work).
- Ensure the created sub-directory and files have ownership set to
``root:pipreqcheck``.
.. note::
If you are using the ``wsgi_website`` role as dependency, simply set-up the
``wsgi_requirements`` parameter, and then deploy the ``.in`` and ``.txt``
file into directory ``/etc/pip_check_requirements_upgrades/FQDN`` (this
directory is automatically created when ``wsgi_requirements`` is specified).
Where to go next?
-----------------
Well, those were some rather lengthy usage instructions, but hopefuly they are
useful. Things you might want to check-out next:
* :ref:`rolereference`
* :ref:`testsite`
* Finally, if it tickles your interest, have a look at role implementations
themselves.
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