CyberLife Coach tools guide

About the Ansible Playbook Generator

A friendly bridge between learning Ansible and writing your own production ready automation.

What Ansible does in plain language

Ansible is an automation engine. It connects to your systems and applies a series of small, predictable changes. Those changes are described in a playbook, which is simply a YAML file that lists tasks. Each task uses a module such as a package installer or a user manager.

Instead of logging into ten servers and repeating the same commands, you describe the desired state once in a playbook. Ansible then works through your inventory and brings each host into that state.

Why a generator can help

Many people learn faster when they can see a clean example and then adjust it. That is the idea behind this generator. It does not try to cover every Ansible feature. Instead, it focuses on a few common patterns that appear in training labs and real world baselines.

Simple play header with hosts, become, and gather facts.
Optional admin user with sudo rights for Linux or an administrators group on Windows.
Package installation using the right module for Linux or Windows.
Service management to keep key services running and enabled at boot.
A small optional SSH hardening block for Linux servers.

Learning by reading the YAML After the generator builds a playbook, slow down and read it line by line. Notice how indentation and module names work. That habit turns the generator into a study partner rather than a black box.

How to use the generator

The generator page is split into a configuration form on the left and a read only YAML panel on the right. You control what appears in the playbook through a handful of choices.

Fill in the play name, a hosts pattern, and a short description if you want.
Choose the target platform such as Linux server, Linux workstation, or Windows host.
Decide if you want to create an admin user. If you do, set the username, shell, and sudo or administrator group option.
Paste a public SSH key if you want the playbook to configure key based logins on Linux.
List packages and services that should be present and running.
Select the quick security options if you want a basic firewall or SSH hardening step.
Use the example pattern chips to pre fill the form for a Linux baseline or a simple web server.

When you press generate, the right side panel shows the full YAML. You can copy it to your clipboard or download it as playbook.yml. From there you can edit it in your favourite editor and run it with ansible-playbook in your own lab or environment.

Where security fits in

This generator is not a complete hardening framework. It would not claim to fully implement security guides such as CIS benchmarks or vendor baselines. It does, however, point you in a helpful direction.

Creating a dedicated admin account instead of logging in as root or a built in administrator.
Using SSH key authentication instead of passwords on Linux where appropriate.
Adding a basic SSH configuration block that disables root logins and common attack paths.
Ensuring a firewall component is present so that you can later define a proper policy.

As you grow more comfortable with Ansible you can take these ideas and extend them into full roles that match your own policies and reference frameworks.

Privacy and local only design

The generator follows the same privacy principles as the rest of CyberLife Coach. It is a static page that runs entirely in your browser. There is no server side processing for your inputs.

Hostnames, group names, and descriptions remain on your device.
Generated playbooks are not uploaded or logged.
You choose when and where to save the YAML file.

This makes the tool safe for classroom environments, home labs, and early planning for more sensitive deployments.

Next step

If you have not visited the generator yet, open it in a new tab, try one of the example patterns, and then experiment. Change a setting and see what that does to the YAML. Over time you will need the generator less, because you will start to write the same patterns by hand.

Open the tool here: Ansible Playbook Generator

Important notice This guide and the associated generator are provided for education and light productivity only. They do not connect to your hosts, do not execute Ansible, and do not change your systems. Always review any generated playbooks, align them with your own standards and change control processes, and test carefully in non production environments first.