Ansible vs Terraform: Choosing the Right Tool for Infrastructure Automation
Introduction In the rapidly evolving world of DevOps, automating infrastructure is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Tools like Ansible and Terraform are at the forefront of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), offering developers and system administrators powerful ways to define, provision, and manage infrastructure. However, these tools serve different purposes and excel in different areas. If you're wondering whether to choose Ansible or Terraform for your next project, this guide will provide clarity by comparing their architecture, use cases, strengths, and limitations. An Overview of Ansible and Terraform What is Ansible? Ansible is an open-source automation tool developed by Red Hat. It is primarily used for configuration management, application deployment, and task automation. Key Features: Agentless (uses SSH/WinRM) YAML-based Playbooks Push-based model Idempotent tasks Extensive module ecosystem What is Terraform? Terraform, created by HashiCorp, is an open-source tool for ...