Integration with Ansible

This guide walks you through forwarding Ansible logs from an Ubuntu machine to OpenObserve using Fluent Bit.

Overview

Ansible doesn’t send logs to external systems by default. This integration configures a local playbook to write logs to a file, and uses Fluent Bit to tail that file and send logs to OpenObserve over HTTP.

Steps to Integrate

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu machine (local, virtual machine, or cloud VM)
• User with sudo privileges
• Basic familiarity with Ansible and Fluent Bit
• OpenObserve account (Cloud or Self-Hosted)
• Ansible Installed

Step 1: Configure Ansible log File

1. Configure log output path in ansible.cfg:

   [defaults]
   log_path = /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt
   

Step 2: Create a Local Ansible Task (Optional)

1. Create a sample playbook:

   vi local_task.yml
   

2. Add the following contents:

   ---
   - name: Ansible Local Task Demo
     hosts: localhost
     connection: local
     tasks:
       - name: Create a sample file
         ansible.builtin.file:
           path: /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt
           state: touch
   
       - name: Write a message to the sample file
         ansible.builtin.copy:
           content: "This is a demo log entry from Ansible."
           dest: /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt
   

3. Run the playbook:

   ansible-playbook local_task.yml
   

After running, check /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt to confirm logs are generated.

Step 3: Install Fluent Bit on Ubuntu

1. Install Fluent Bit using the official script:

   curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fluent/fluent-bit/master/install.sh | sh
   

   For manual install or using package managers, refer to Fluent Bit Docs

2. Verify installation:

   fluent-bit --version
   

Step 4: Configure Fluent Bit for Ansible Logs

1. Edit Fluent Bit config file:

   sudo vi /etc/fluent-bit/fluent-bit.conf
   

2. Add the following configuration:

   [SERVICE]
       Flush         5
       Daemon        Off
       Log_Level     info
   
   [INPUT]
       Name          tail
       Path          /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt
       Tag           ansible.demo
       Refresh_Interval 5
   
   [OUTPUT]
       Name http
       Match *
       URI /api/<O2_ORG_NAME>/<O2_STREAM_NAME>/_json
       Host <O2_HOST>
       Port 443
       tls On
       Format json
       Json_date_key    _timestamp
       Json_date_format iso8601
       HTTP_User <O2_USER>
       HTTP_Passwd <O2_PASSWORD>
       compress gzip
   

Note - Replace <O2_ORG_NAME>, <O2_STREAM_NAME>, <O2_HOST>, <O2_USER>, and <O2_PASSWORD> with your OpenObserve values. - Example URI: /api/default/ansible/_json for the default org and ansible stream.

Step 5: Start Fluent Bit

1. Start the Fluent Bit service:

   sudo systemctl start fluent-bit
   sudo systemctl enable fluent-bit
   

2. Check service status:

   sudo systemctl status fluent-bit
   

   Ensure there are no startup errors. Logs will now be tailed and sent to OpenObserve.

Step 6: Verify Logs in OpenObserve

1. In your Openobserve instance, Go to Logs → select your log stream → Set time range → Click Run Query

   

Troubleshooting

No logs in OpenObserve?

• Ensure Fluent Bit is running: sudo systemctl status fluent-bit
• Double-check the HTTP config and authentication
• Use Fluent Bit in debug mode:
  

  sudo fluent-bit -c /etc/fluent-bit/fluent-bit.conf -vv
  

Ansible log file not updating?

• Confirm log_path is correctly set in ansible.cfg
• Use verbose flags (-v, -vv, -vvv) to produce more logs
• Confirm Ansible has permission to write to /tmp

Fluent Bit not picking up logs?

• Make sure the path /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt exists

• Tail the file manually to confirm updates:

  tail -f /tmp/ansible_log_demo.txt
  

• Adjust Refresh_Interval or restart Fluent Bit if needed