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AWX on CentOS 8

Log in to your CentOS 8 server, open a terminal window, and issue the following commands:

sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install git gcc gcc-c++ ansible nodejs gettext device-mapper-persistent-data lvm2 bzip2 python3-pip -y

How to install Docker and Docker Compose

(Podman coming soon.)

We now need to install both Docker and Docker Compose. The first thing to do is add the necessary repository with the command:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo=https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

Once the repository is added, install the latest version of Docker with the command:

sudo dnf install docker-ce-3:18.09.1-3.el7 -y

Start and enable the Docker engine with the commands:

sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Add your user to the docker group with the command:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and log back in.

Install docker-compose via pip3 with the command:

sudo pip3 install docker-compose

Finally, set python to use Python 3 with the command:

alternatives --set python /usr/bin/python3

How to install AWX

Now we can finally install AWX. Clone the latest release with the command:

git clone https://github.com/ansible/awx.git

Next, generate a secret encryption key with the command:

openssl rand -base64 30

Copy the key that is generated to your clipboard.

Change into the newly downloaded AWX directory with the command:

cd awx/installer

Open the AWX inventory file with the command:

nano inventory

In that file, you'll need to (at a minimum), edit the following configuration options. First, locate the line:

secret_key=

In that line, paste the secret key you generated earlier. 

Next, look for the line:

admin_password=password

Change the password to a strong, unique password.

Finally, look for the line that starts with:

#awx_alternate_dns_servers=

Change that line to:

awx_alternate_dns_servers="8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4"

You can then go through the rest of the inventory file and edit as needed. But, the above changes should result in a successful installation.

Create a directory for Postgres with the command:

sudo mkdir /var/lib/pgdocker

Install AWX with the command:

sudo ansible-playbook -i inventory install.yml

This should take about five to10 minutes to complete.

SELinux and firewall

Before we can access the AWX site, we need to disable SELinux. Issue the command:

sudo nano /etc/sysconfig/selinux

Change the line:

SELINUX=enforcing

To:

SELINUX=disabled

Save and close the file. Restart your system so the changes will take effect. 

The last step is to modify the firewall. This is done with the following commands:

sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-masquerade --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
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