CI/CD with Ansible and Terraform — Lesson 1: Designing the Terraform–Ansible Delivery Boundary

Technical Scope

• Infrastructure provisioning versus configuration management
• Repository structure for Terraform and Ansible assets
• Environment variables, inventories, and dependency handoffs
• Definition of done for provisioned and configured infrastructure

Instructor Demonstration

Map a web-platform deployment into Terraform resources, generated inventory data, Ansible roles, and pipeline stages.

Applied Workshop

Create a delivery responsibility matrix and repository layout for development, test, and production.

1. Translate the scenario into configuration, access, state, pipeline, or module decisions.
2. Implement the change in a controlled workspace or repository.
3. Capture the plan, logs, outputs, policy results, and post-change checks.
4. Explain one safer or more maintainable alternative and its trade-off.

Validation Standard

Every resource, configuration action, credential, artifact, and approval has a clear owner and handoff.

• The intended target, identity, environment, and state boundary are confirmed.
• The plan or execution evidence contains no unexplained destructive action.
• Security, reliability, maintainability, and operational ownership are reviewed.
• The final result can be reproduced from version-controlled inputs.

Failure Analysis

Resolve circular dependencies, missing outputs, inventory mismatch, and unclear pipeline ownership.

Learners isolate the smallest verified cause, correct it, rerun the relevant validation step, and record the preventive action in the course improvement log.