Getting started¶

Prepare your system¶

Start by installing ansible and then install the role itself using ansible-galaxy:

pip install ansible
ansible-galaxy install git+https://git.openstack.org/openstack/ansible-hardening

The role will be installed into /etc/ansible/roles/ansible-hardening.

Initial configuration¶

Some of the security configurations need initial configuration or they may require you to opt-in for a change to be applied. Start by reviewing the list of STIG controls that require initial configuration or require opt-in.

An example of a STIG requiring initial configuration is V-38446, which requires an email address for a person who can receive email sent to root.

Many of the STIG configurations are in an opt-in status because they can be helpful for some systems and harmful to others. A good example of this is :ref`V-38481 <stig-V-38481>`, which requires that automatic package updates are configured on a host. In some environments, this isn’t a problem, but this could cause disruptions in environments with low tolerance for changes.

Using as a standalone role¶

Adding the ansible-hardening role to existing playbooks is straightforward. Here is an example of an existing role for deploying web servers with the security hardening role added:

---

- name: Deploy web servers
  hosts: webservers
  become: yes
  roles:
    - common
    - webserver
    - ansible-hardening

Using with OpenStack-Ansible¶

The ansible-hardening role is automatically enabled and applied in the Newton release of OpenStack-Ansible. In the Liberty and Mitaka releases, the role is easily enabled by adjusting the following Ansible variable:

apply_security_hardening: true

For more information, refer to the OpenStack-Ansible documentation on configuring security hardening.