Number 1: Preparing Ansible.cfg

ansible.cfg is used to customize the behavior of Ansible and define various settings and options for managing infrastructure and deploying applications. Inside you ansible_cluster. Create an ansible.cfg

[defaults]
inventory = inventory
private_key_file = ~/.ssh/id_rsa
become = true
become_user = root

Number 2: To Test the Connection with Nodes via SSH

[root@h001 ansible_cluster]# ansible all -m ping
192.168.200.161 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "ping": "pong"
}
192.168.200.160 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "ping": "pong"
}
192.168.200.162 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "ping": "pong"
}
192.168.200.163 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "discovered_interpreter_python": "/usr/libexec/platform-python"
    },
    "changed": false,
    "ping": "pong"
}

Number 3: Listing Hosts

[root@h001 ansible_cluster]# ansible all --list-hosts
  hosts (4):
    192.168.200.160
    192.168.200.161
    192.168.200.162
    192.168.200.163

Number 4: Gather Facts about Hosts

Lots of information regarding the hosts….. If you want to limit to a single hosts, use the parameter “–limit”

[root@h001 ansible_cluster]# ansible all -m gather_facts --limit 192.168.200.161
192.168.200.161 | SUCCESS => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "ansible_all_ipv4_addresses": [
            "192.168.200.161"
        ],
        "ansible_all_ipv6_addresses": [
            "fe80::5eed:8cff:fe80:aee3"
        ],
        "ansible_apparmor": {
            "status": "disabled"
        },
        "ansible_architecture": "x86_64",
        "ansible_bios_date": "02/02/2023",
        "ansible_bios_vendor": "HPE",
        "ansible_bios_version": "U46",
        "ansible_board_asset_tag": "NA",
        "ansible_board_name": "ProLiant DL360 Gen10 Plus",
...
...
...

Number 4a: Gather Facts about Hosts Distribution

[root@h001 ansible_cluster]# ansible all -m gather_facts --limit 192.168.200.161 |grep distribution
        "ansible_distribution": "Rocky",
        "ansible_distribution_file_parsed": true,
        "ansible_distribution_file_path": "/etc/redhat-release",
        "ansible_distribution_file_variety": "RedHat",
        "ansible_distribution_major_version": "8",
        "ansible_distribution_release": "Green Obsidian",
        "ansible_distribution_version": "8.7",

References:

1. Learn Linux TV Chapter 4
2. Ansible Quickstart
3. Ansible CLI cheatsheet