Demystifying Ansible Automation Platform: A definitive way to manage Ansible Automation Platform and Ansible Tower

Managing Ansible at scale involves more than writing playbooks: teams also need to configure the platform, organize access, maintain shared objects, and keep environments consistent. Sean Sullivan’s Demystifying Ansible Automation Platform takes on that wider operational picture, connecting the platform’s components with practical administration and configuration-as-code approaches.

From installation to a working platform

The book begins with the parts of Ansible Automation Platform and the choices involved in getting them running. Its early chapters cover installation on machines and OpenShift, backup and recovery, settings, and authentication. That groundwork helps readers understand how deployment decisions connect to the day-to-day management that follows.

Make configuration repeatable

A central thread is managing platform configuration with Ansible roles and modules, alongside the manual interface. The book then explores organizations, credential types and credentials, importing and exporting objects, and role-based access control. These topics help explain how platform components relate—and how administrators can approach consistent configuration across environments.

Explore the wider AAP toolkit

Further chapters address inventory, execution environments, Automation Hub, job templates and workflows, CI/CD, integrations with other services, Automation Mesh, and Automation Services Catalog. The scope gives readers a view of AAP as a connected operating environment rather than a collection of isolated features.

Who may find it useful?

This technical guide is intended for practitioners working with Ansible Automation Platform or Ansible Tower, including IT administrators and DevOps or automation engineers. Basic Ansible knowledge is a useful starting point. Because the first edition was published in 2022, readers working with later platform releases may need to check current product documentation when menus or implementation details differ.

For teams moving from ad hoc platform changes toward deliberate, code-managed administration, Sullivan’s book offers a structured tour of the tasks and components involved.