Ansible Role: Install and Customize ISPConfig 3 on Ubuntu Bionic

The inoxio.ispconfig3 role helps you set up ISPConfig on your Ubuntu 18.04 system. This guide follows the tutorial from howtoforge.com and explains how to customize the installation. It also includes instructions on using Molecule for testing your setup.

Requirements

• Ubuntu 18.04 machine

Dependencies

• oefenweb.apt

Role Variables

You’ll need to set some variables related to Mail, PHPMyAdmin, and Roundcube for admin passwords. Also, Mail requires an email to send messages.

ISPConfig is the main part of this role, with many configuration options. Most settings correspond to the autoinstall.php file from ISPConfig. Remember, the mysql_root_password is necessary for setting up the MariaDB module.

Essential Playbook Variables

These variables must be defined in the playbook (passwords will be auto-generated if omitted):

• Mail Settings:

  • mail_admin_email: Email for Mailman updates.
  • mail_admin_password: (Optional) Password for Mailman admin. Auto-generated if left blank.
  • mail_base_domain: Base domain for Mailman.

• phpMyAdmin and Roundcube Settings:

  • phpmyadmin_hostname: Base domain for phpMyAdmin.
  • roundcube_admin_password: (Optional) Password for Roundcube admin. Auto-generated if left blank.

• ISPConfig Settings:

  • Various settings related to ISPConfig setup. Check the ISPConfig example for all variables.

Default Variables:

• These settings provide defaults you can override:
  • language: System language.
  • ispconfig_install_mode: Default is standard.
  • MySQL settings: ispconfig_mysql_hostname, ispconfig_mysql_root_user, etc.

Quota

The quota_mounts list contains directories for quota management. An empty list means quota won't be enabled. If your server kernel doesn't support quotas, leave it empty.

Multiple PHP Versions

You can define multiple PHP versions to install in the vars/main.yml.

Example Playbook

Here’s how your playbook might look:

- role: inoxio.ispconfig3
  mail_admin_email: [email protected]
  mail_base_domain: your-company.com
  ispconfig_hostname: ispconfig.your-company.com
  roundcube_hostname: mail.your-company.de

Refer to this link for ISPConfig settings.

Running Tests with Molecule

To test your Ansible roles using Molecule, follow these steps:

1. Install Virtualenv: Run sudo apt install virtualenv.
2. Create Virtualenv: Inside your project folder, run virtualenv --no-site-packages .venv.
3. Activate Virtualenv: Use source .venv/bin/activate whenever you start a new console session.
4. Install Molecule: Run pip3 install molecule ansible. Also, install the necessary driver with pip install python-vagrant.

To run tests, just go to your virtual environment and execute:

molecule test

This will set up your testing environment and run various tests.

Creating a New Role

To create a new role with Vagrant:

molecule init role -r new-role -d vagrant

Upgrading Molecule

To keep Molecule up to date, run:

pip install --upgrade molecule

Example Molecule Configuration

Here's a basic structure for Molecule.yml:

---
dependency:
  name: galaxy
driver:
  name: vagrant
  provider:
    name: virtualbox
lint:
  name: yamllint
platforms:
  - name: instance
    box: ubuntu/bionic64
    memory: 4096
provisioner:
  name: ansible
scenario:
  name: default
  test_sequence:
    - destroy
    - syntax
    - create
    - prepare
    - converge
    - idempotence
    - verify
    - destroy
verifier:
  name: testinfra

Conclusion on Molecule

Using Vagrant instead of Docker for testing worked better for this role, as it handled services and configurations more smoothly. Follow the tips to effectively integrate Molecule into your role development process.