What is Ansible?

Ansible automates IT tasks using simple, human-readable YAML files called playbooks. It connects to servers via SSH (no agent needed) and executes tasks in order. Playbooks describe the desired state of systems.

Key concepts include inventory (target hosts), roles (reusable task sets), modules (pre-built actions), and Galaxy (community content). Ansible is idempotent — running the same playbook twice produces the same result.