Infrastructure | Simple Config Drift

Ansible owns one HTML file. Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Setup installs a tiny ACME storefront on aws_rhel9 and writes the approved baseline. Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Update Configuration re-renders the same Jinja2 template with survey knobs so the live page changes. Re-run Setup to restore the baseline. No Kafka, EDA, or auditd — this is the teaching step before Event-Driven Config Drift Remediation.

Prerequisites

• Deploy Cloud Stack in AWS so aws_rhel9 is in inventory
• APD ǀ Single demo setup — category infrastructure
• LINUX ǀ Register RHEL with RHSM — dnf needs a subscription to install httpd
• SSH access via APD Machine Credential

Survey prompts

Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Setup

Prompt	Variable	Type	Default
Server Name or Pattern	_hosts	text	aws_rhel9

Baseline storefront vars are pinned on the job template as extra vars (company, theme, product, price, and so on). Click Launch.

Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Update Configuration

Prompt	Variable	Type	Default
Server Name or Pattern	_hosts	text	aws_rhel9
Company name	acme_app_company	text	ACME Corp
Tagline	acme_app_tagline	text	Widgets you can trust
Environment	acme_app_environment	multiplechoice	Production
Theme	acme_app_theme	multiplechoice	redhat
Promo banner	acme_app_banner	textarea	Welcome to the ACME storefront
Featured product	acme_app_product	text	Super Widget
Price	acme_app_price	text	$19.99
Product blurb	acme_app_product_blurb	textarea	Our flagship widget. Built to last.
SKU	acme_app_sku	text	ACME-1001
Footer	acme_app_footer	text	Managed by Ansible Automation Platform

Environment choices: Production, Staging, Development. Theme choices: redhat, navy, forest. Both change CSS classes on the page.

Job templates

Template	Playbook	Description
Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Setup	infrastructure/acme-app/playbooks/setup.yml	Installs httpd, copies CSS, renders the approved baseline
Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Update Configuration	infrastructure/acme-app/playbooks/configure.yml	Re-renders index.html.j2 with survey vars

Why it matters

• Desired state is a template plus variables — the same pattern as production config files
• Changing the survey is a controlled drift of the approved baseline; re-running Setup restores it
• The HTML is deliberately tiny so the conversation stays on Ansible, not on the app

Presenter walkthrough

1. Launch Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Setup with the default host aws_rhel9.
2. Open the URL from the job output (http://<aws_rhel9 public IP>/) — ACME Corp, Production, Super Widget at $19.99.
3. Launch Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Update Configuration. Change environment to Staging, theme to navy, and the product name or price.
4. Refresh the browser — same template, new values.
5. Re-run Infrastructure ǀ Configuration management - ACME App - Setup — the approved baseline is back.

Talking points

• One Jinja template, two job templates: install once, then manage the file
• CSS holds the look; the playbook only interpolates vars
• Next step for a production-shaped pipeline: Event-Driven Config Drift Remediation (auditd → Filebeat → Kafka → EDA → AAP)

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