cmacrae.consul

Consul

[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/cmacrae/ansible-consul.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/cmacrae/ansible-consul) A straightforward Ansible role for deploying and setting up [Consul](https://consul.io).

Features

Configure Consul with YAML

You can set up Consul using YAML, which will be converted to JSON. Here’s an example of a configuration:

consul_master_token: myToken
consul_server: true
consul_configs:
  main:
    acl_datacenter: pantheon
    acl_master_token: "{{ consul_master_token | to_uuid }}"
    bootstrap: true
    bind_addr: 0.0.0.0
    client_addr: 0.0.0.0
    datacenter: pantheon
    data_dir: "{{ consul_data_dir }}"
    log_level: INFO
    node_name: master
    server: "{{ consul_server }}"
    ui: true

This role doesn't come with preset configurations. Instead of writing your Consul settings in JSON, you can write them in YAML which is easier to manage. The example shows how you can use Ansible's features to create dynamic values in your configuration.

Multiple Configuration Files

In the example above, the consul_configs variable has a main dictionary. You can create multiple dictionaries for different configurations. These will be saved under separate files in the conf.d directory.

Keep It Simple (KISS)

While it may not seem like a feature, simplicity is valuable. Configuring Consul is easy, and this Ansible role reflects that. The main tasks file is just over 70 lines long, and the main configuration template is only 1 line. This keeps the role flexible and easy to integrate with other setups.

Packer Support

This role allows setting consul_packer_provision to true (it defaults to false). When set to true, the Consul service won't start during the Ansible run. This is helpful when you're preparing machine images with Packer, where certain values might be placeholders.

Requirements

This role has been tested on Ubuntu 16.04, but it should work on any Linux distribution that uses systemd and has the unzip package.

Default Role Variables

consul_group_name: consul
consul_group_gid: 3000
consul_user_name: consul
consul_user_uid: 3000
consul_user_home: /opt/consul
consul_config_dir: "{{ consul_user_home }}/conf.d"
consul_data_dir: "{{ consul_user_home }}/data"
consul_version: 0.8.4
consul_server: false
consul_uri: "https://releases.hashicorp.com/consul/{{ consul_version }}/consul_{{ consul_version }}_linux_amd64.zip"
consul_config_src: main.json.j2
consul_service_file:
  src: consul.service.j2
  dest: /etc/systemd/system/consul.service

consul_config:
  datacenter: dc-1
  data_dir: "{{ consul_data_dir }}"
  log_level: INFO
  node_name: node-1
  server: "{{ consul_server }}"

Example Playbook

- hosts: consul_servers
  vars:
    consul_master_token: myToken
    consul_server: true
    consul_config:
      acl_datacenter: pantheon
      acl_master_token: "{{ consul_master_token | to_uuid }}"
      bootstrap: true
      bind_addr: 0.0.0.0
      client_addr: 0.0.0.0
      datacenter: pantheon
      data_dir: "{{ consul_data_dir }}"
      log_level: INFO
      node_name: master
      server: "{{ consul_server }}"
      ui: true

  roles:
      - cmacrae.consul