Learn Ansible Step By Step: Free Beginner Course

Step By Step Learn Ansible is a free, beginner-level video course that takes you from YAML basics to writing real Ansible automation. It is for system administrators, DevOps beginners and developers who want to automate server setup and configuration, and it ends with a project that automates LXD container creation for Kubernetes.

The course has 19 videos and about 2.6 hours of content on YouTube, so you can finish it in a few evenings. It is Part I of a longer path, Step By Step Kubernetes Automation with Ansible, which is why the final project prepares containers for a Kubernetes setup. The complete list of lessons is on the Ansible course page.

Who this course is for

• Linux and system administrators tired of configuring servers by hand.
• DevOps beginners who need a first automation tool they can use straight away.
• Developers who want to understand the infrastructure their code runs on.
• Anyone heading towards Kubernetes who wants a solid automation base first.

The level is Beginner. The course starts with YAML itself, because every Ansible playbook is written in YAML, so you do not need any prior automation experience.

What you will learn

The 19 videos group into five themes.

1. YAML and Ansible architecture. “YAML Basics”, “Ansible Architecture Overview” and “Ansible Internals” explain the file format you will write in and how Ansible works under the hood. Understanding the architecture makes error messages and behaviour much easier to follow later.

2. Building your lab. “Concepts Virtual Environment Setup”, “Ultimate Guide to LAB Virtual Environment Setup for Ansible 2026”, “Master Ansible Installation” and “Complete Ansible Lab Overview” give you a safe practice environment. Having your own lab means you can break things and try again without touching real servers.

3. Core components and variables. “Ansible Core Components” (the longest lesson, about 16 minutes) and “Master Ansible Variables” cover the pieces every playbook uses. Variables are what let one playbook work across many machines.

4. Controlling playbooks. “Master Ansible LAB Tags”, “Master Ansible Keyword Registration”, “Ansible LAB When Statement Explained”, “Ansible Loops Explained” and “LAB Error Handling” show how to run only part of a playbook, capture results, run tasks conditionally, repeat tasks and deal with failures. This is the difference between a script that works once and automation you can trust.

5. Reuse and the project. “Ansible LAB Roles”, “Step by Step Ansible Templates Tutorial for Beginners 2026” and “Master Ansible Handlers” cover organising and reusing your work. The course ends with “Project: Automation Of LXD Container Creation For Kubernetes”, which puts the earlier lessons to work on a real task.

How the course is organised

• 19 videos, about 2.6 hours in total.
• A short course introduction, then theory and setup, then lab-based lessons on each Ansible feature.
• Most lessons are 4 to 16 minutes, so each one fits into a short session.
• The final project (about 16 minutes) automates LXD container creation for Kubernetes.

The videos run in a sensible order in the playlist, so you can follow it from start to finish.

How to study it step by step

1. Watch the course introduction to see where the course goes.
2. Learn YAML first. Write a few small YAML files of your own until indentation and lists feel natural.
3. Understand the architecture and internals, then build the lab environment exactly as shown. Do not skip the lab; every later lesson depends on it.
4. Install Ansible and confirm it runs against your lab machines.
5. Work through core components and variables, typing every example yourself rather than copying.
6. Practise control features one at a time: tags, registered results, when statements, loops and error handling. After each, change the example slightly and predict the result before you run it.
7. Refactor into roles, templates and handlers. Take one of your earlier playbooks and reorganise it using these features.
8. Build the LXD project last, and keep your project files; they are a useful base if you continue towards Kubernetes.

At two or three lessons a day, you can finish in about a week. The full course is also a YouTube playlist.

Next, try Terraform Master Classes – AWS IaaS Automation to provision infrastructure as code, or Git & GitHub Crash Course to keep your playbooks under version control.

Frequently asked questions

Is this Ansible course free?

Yes. All 19 videos are free to watch on YouTube, and you can follow them from the course page or the playlist.

How long does it take?

The videos total about 2.6 hours. With time to build the lab and repeat the examples, most beginners finish within a week or two.

Do I need to know YAML or Linux first?

You do not need YAML; the course teaches it in the second video. Some comfort with a command line will help, since you will set up a virtual lab environment and install Ansible yourself.

What project do I build?

The final project automates LXD container creation for Kubernetes. It uses the variables, control features, roles, templates and handlers taught earlier in the course.