Ansible CLI GitHub Action — Run Ansible Commands in Your CI/CD Pipeline

EF-TECH is proud to announce ansible-cli-github-action, a lightweight GitHub Action that brings the full power of Ansible CLI into your GitHub Actions workflows. Whether you need to run playbooks, manage Galaxy roles, or execute ad-hoc commands, this action has you covered.

What Is It?

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The action is based on the python:3.11-slim Docker image and comes pre-configured with:

• Ansible and all related CLI tools (ansible, ansible-playbook, ansible-galaxy, ansible-inventory, etc.)
• pywinrm with CredSSP support — ready to manage Windows hosts over WinRM out of the box
• A full shell environment — you can also run standard Linux commands at any step

No extra setup, no Python virtual environments, no dependency installation. Just point, configure, and run.

Usage

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The action has a single input — command — which accepts any Ansible or shell command you want to execute.

- uses: eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action@master
  with:
    command: "ansible-playbook site.yml -i inventory.yml"

Real-World Examples

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1. Windows Connectivity Check via WinRM

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Manage Windows servers without SSH. The pywinrm[credssp] package is pre-installed.

Inventory (inventory.ini):

[windows]
windows-server-01.example.com

[windows:vars]
ansible_connection=winrm
ansible_winrm_transport=ntlm
ansible_user=Administrator
ansible_password={{ windows_admin_password }}
ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation=ignore

Workflow (.github/workflows/windows-check.yml):

name: Windows Connectivity Check

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 6 * * *"
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  winrm-ping:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run WinRM ping playbook
        uses: eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action@master
        with:
          command: >
            ansible-playbook win-ping.yml
            -i inventory.ini
            -e windows_admin_password=${{ secrets.WINDOWS_ADMIN_PASSWORD }}

2. Linux Connectivity Check via SSH

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Connect to any Linux target over standard SSH.

Inventory (inventory.yml):

all:
  hosts:
    web-01.example.com:
    web-02.example.com:
  vars:
    ansible_connection: ssh
    ansible_user: ubuntu
    ansible_ssh_private_key_file: /tmp/ssh_key

Workflow with ad-hoc command:

name: Linux Connectivity Check

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  ssh-ping:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install SSH key
        run: |
          mkdir -p /tmp
          echo "${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}" > /tmp/ssh_key
          chmod 600 /tmp/ssh_key

      - name: Run playbook
        uses: eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action@master
        with:
          command: >
            ansible-playbook ping.yml
            -i inventory.yml

      - name: Ad-hoc ping test
        uses: eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action@master
        with:
          command: ansible all -i inventory.yml -m ping

3. Internal Network Access via Self-Hosted Runner

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For targets inside private networks, use a self-hosted runner. Since the action is Docker-based, the runner only needs Docker — not Ansible or Python.

jobs:
  health-check:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, production]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run health check playbook
        uses: eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action@master
        with:
          command: >
            ansible-playbook health-check.yml
            -i inventory.yml

Why We Built This

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At EF-TECH, we manage infrastructure across Windows and Linux environments for our clients. We needed a simple, repeatable way to run Ansible commands inside GitHub Actions without:

• Installing Ansible and its dependencies on every runner
• Managing Python virtual environments in CI
• Debugging environment inconsistencies between runs

The result is a Docker image that encapsulates everything Ansible needs — and a GitHub Action that wraps it in a single uses: directive.

Testing

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The image includes a smoke test suite you can run locally:

tests/smoke_build.sh \
  && tests/smoke_ansible.sh \
  && tests/smoke_python.sh \
  && tests/smoke_shell.sh \
  && tests/smoke_playbook.sh

These tests verify:

• Docker image build
• Ansible CLI version checks (ansible, ansible-playbook, ansible-inventory)
• Python dependency imports (winrm, ansible)
• Shell command passthrough and exit code propagation
• Playbook syntax checking and localhost execution

Get Started

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The action is open-source under the MIT license and is available on GitHub:

🔗 https://github.com/eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action

To use it in your project:

1. Add a workflow file in .github/workflows/
2. Check out your repository with actions/checkout@v4
3. Add a step using eftechcombr/ansible-cli-github-action@master
4. Set the command input to your desired Ansible command

Useful Links

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• GitHub Repository
• Ansible Documentation
• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Ansible Windows WinRM Guide

At EF-TECH, we specialize in cloud computing, IT infrastructure automation, and DevOps practices. We offer expert support for Ansible, GitHub Actions, and infrastructure-as-code solutions. Contact us to learn how we can help your team.