AWX Self-Hosted Lab Setup Guide

This repository contains everything you need to set up a self-hosted AWX instance for learning and development purposes.

📖 Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Documentation
• Architecture
• Prerequisites
• Use Cases
• Troubleshooting
• Additional Resources

🚀 Quick Start

1. Verify your system meets the prerequisites
2. Follow the installation steps
3. Access AWX at http://localhost:30080 (default credentials in setup.md)

📚 Documentation

Local Documentation

• Setup Guide - Complete installation and configuration steps
• Shutdown/Startup Procedures - Managing your AWX environment
• Troubleshooting Guide - Common issues and their solutions
• AWX Configuration - AWX deployment configuration

Architecture

graph TD
    A[Docker Desktop] -->|Runs| B[WSL Ubuntu]
    B -->|Hosts| C[k3s Kubernetes]
    C -->|Runs| D[AWX Operator]
    D -->|Manages| E[AWX Instance]
    E -->|Includes| F[Web Interface]
    E -->|Includes| G[Task Runner]
    E -->|Includes| H[PostgreSQL]
    I[User Browser] -->|Accesses| F

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💻 Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

• Minimum 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)
• 2 CPU cores (4 cores recommended)
• 20GB free disk space

Software Requirements

• Windows 11 with WSL2
• Docker Desktop
• kubectl
• Git

Detailed requirements are listed in setup.md.

🎯 Use Cases

1. Basic Automation Lab

# Example Playbook: hello-awx.yml
---
- name: Hello AWX
  hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - name: Print hello
      debug:
        msg: "Hello from AWX!"

2. Infrastructure Management

• Server provisioning
• Configuration management
• Application deployment
• Patch management

3. Security Automation

• Compliance checks
• Security scanning
• Access management
• Backup automation

🔧 Getting Started Examples

1. First Project Setup

   • Create an Organization
   • Add your first Project (Git-based)
   • Create an Inventory
   • Add a Job Template

2. Ansible Vault Integration

   # Create an encrypted variable
   ansible-vault create vars/secrets.yml
   
   # Use in AWX
   - Add credential
   - Link to Job Template

3. Git Integration Example

   # Sample repository structure
   my-awx-project/
   ├── inventories/
   │   └── development/
   │       └── hosts.yml
   ├── playbooks/
   │   └── site.yml
   └── requirements.yml

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions are documented in issues.md. Key areas:

• Installation Issues
• Runtime Issues
• Database Issues

📚 Additional Resources

Official Documentation

• AWX Project Documentation
• AWX Operator Guide
• Ansible Documentation
• K3s Documentation

Community Resources

• AWX Project GitHub
• Ansible Galaxy
• AWX User Group

Learning Paths

1. Beginner Path

   • Complete basic setup
   • Run hello-world playbook
   • Create first inventory
   • Execute built-in modules

2. Intermediate Path

   • Set up Git-based projects
   • Use encrypted credentials
   • Create custom inventories
   • Implement job templates

3. Advanced Path

   • Custom credential types
   • Workflow templates
   • LDAP/AD integration
   • Custom notifications

🔄 Maintenance

Regular Tasks

1. Shutdown procedures
2. Startup procedures
3. Resource optimization

Backup Considerations

• Database backups
• Configuration backups
• Project content backups

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Documentation last updated: April 30, 2025
AWX Version: 2.9.0
K3s Version: v1.32.3+k3s1