Ansible vs YAML

Overview

Ansible

Stacks19.5K

Followers15.6K

Votes1.3K

GitHub Stars66.9K

Forks24.1K

YAML

Stacks634

Followers285

Votes0

Ansible vs YAML: What are the differences?

Ansible and YAML are both widely used in the field of IT and software development. While they serve different purposes, there are key differences between the two.

YAML is a Markup Language, Ansible is an Automation Tool: YAML, short for "YAML Ain't Markup Language," is a human-readable data serialization language used to write configuration files in a structured format. On the other hand, Ansible is an open-source automation tool that uses YAML files as playbooks to define and execute tasks on remote systems.
YAML is General-Purpose, Ansible is Specific to IT Automation: YAML is a flexible and general-purpose language that can be used for various purposes beyond IT automation, such as configuration files or data serialization. In contrast, Ansible is specifically designed for IT automation, making it more specialized and focused on tasks related to orchestration, configuration management, and deployment.
YAML Focuses on Data Structure, Ansible Focuses on Execution: YAML primarily focuses on organizing and representing data structures in a human-readable format, making it easier for developers and administrators to understand and modify. On the other hand, Ansible focuses on the execution of tasks and defining the sequence in which they should be performed, allowing for automation and reproducibility of processes.
YAML is Language-Agnostic, Ansible is Python-Based: YAML can be used with any programming language as it is independent of any specific programming ecosystem. In contrast, Ansible is built on top of Python and utilizes its syntax and libraries, providing additional capabilities for tasks that require more advanced scripting or integration with existing Python code.
YAML is Configuration-Oriented, Ansible is Workflow-Oriented: YAML is used primarily for defining configuration settings, such as defining properties of software components or system resources. On the other hand, Ansible focuses on defining workflows and orchestrating the execution of tasks across multiple systems, allowing for more complex and coordinated automation processes.
YAML is Static, Ansible is Dynamic: YAML files are static and need to be modified manually each time a change is required. In contrast, Ansible allows for the dynamic execution of tasks based on variables, conditionals, and loops, making it more adaptable and flexible in handling different scenarios.

In Summary, Ansible is an automation tool specifically designed for IT automation, while YAML is a general-purpose language used for data serialization and configuration files. While YAML focuses on data structure and is language-agnostic, Ansible focuses on task execution, is Python-based, and allows for dynamic workflows.

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Advice on Ansible, YAML

Anonymous

Sep 17, 2019

Needs advice

I'm just getting started using Vagrant to help automate setting up local VMs to set up a Kubernetes cluster (development and experimentation only). (Yes, I do know about minikube)

I'm looking for a tool to help install software packages, setup users, etc..., on these VMs. I'm also fairly new to Ansible, Chef, and Puppet. What's a good one to start with to learn? I might decide to try all 3 at some point for my own curiosity.

The most important factors for me are simplicity, ease of use, shortest learning curve.

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Detailed Comparison

Ansible	YAML
Ansible is an IT automation tool. It can configure systems, deploy software, and orchestrate more advanced IT tasks such as continuous deployments or zero downtime rolling updates. Ansible’s goals are foremost those of simplicity and maximum ease of use.	A human-readable data-serialization language. It is commonly used for configuration files, but could be used in many applications where data is being stored or transmitted.
Ansible's natural automation language allows sysadmins, developers, and IT managers to complete automation projects in hours, not weeks.;Ansible uses SSH by default instead of requiring agents everywhere. Avoid extra open ports, improve security, eliminate "managing the management", and reclaim CPU cycles.;Ansible automates app deployment, configuration management, workflow orchestration, and even cloud provisioning all from one system.	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 66.9K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 24.1K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 19.5K	Stacks 634
Followers 15.6K	Followers 285
Votes 1.3K	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 284 Agentless 210 Great configuration 199 Simple 176 Powerful 155 Easy to learn Cons 8 Dangerous 5 Hard to install 3 Doesn't Run on Windows 3 Backward compatibility 3 Bloated	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Nexmo Stackdriver VMware vSphere Docker OpenStack Amazon EC2 Rackspace Cloud Servers Google Compute Engine New Relic PagerDuty	Java .NET Ruby Python OCaml

What are some alternatives to Ansible, YAML?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

Ansible vs YAML: What are the differences?

Ansible and YAML are both widely used in the field of IT and software development. While they serve different purposes, there are key differences between the two.

YAML is a Markup Language, Ansible is an Automation Tool: YAML, short for "YAML Ain't Markup Language," is a human-readable data serialization language used to write configuration files in a structured format. On the other hand, Ansible is an open-source automation tool that uses YAML files as playbooks to define and execute tasks on remote systems.
YAML is General-Purpose, Ansible is Specific to IT Automation: YAML is a flexible and general-purpose language that can be used for various purposes beyond IT automation, such as configuration files or data serialization. In contrast, Ansible is specifically designed for IT automation, making it more specialized and focused on tasks related to orchestration, configuration management, and deployment.
YAML Focuses on Data Structure, Ansible Focuses on Execution: YAML primarily focuses on organizing and representing data structures in a human-readable format, making it easier for developers and administrators to understand and modify. On the other hand, Ansible focuses on the execution of tasks and defining the sequence in which they should be performed, allowing for automation and reproducibility of processes.
YAML is Language-Agnostic, Ansible is Python-Based: YAML can be used with any programming language as it is independent of any specific programming ecosystem. In contrast, Ansible is built on top of Python and utilizes its syntax and libraries, providing additional capabilities for tasks that require more advanced scripting or integration with existing Python code.
YAML is Configuration-Oriented, Ansible is Workflow-Oriented: YAML is used primarily for defining configuration settings, such as defining properties of software components or system resources. On the other hand, Ansible focuses on defining workflows and orchestrating the execution of tasks across multiple systems, allowing for more complex and coordinated automation processes.
YAML is Static, Ansible is Dynamic: YAML files are static and need to be modified manually each time a change is required. In contrast, Ansible allows for the dynamic execution of tasks based on variables, conditionals, and loops, making it more adaptable and flexible in handling different scenarios.

Ansible vs YAML

Overview