Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.10.22
What are the two kinds of machines in an Ansible architecture, and what can serve as a control node?
Control nodes, where Ansible is installed and run from, and managed hosts, which Ansible configures. A control node can be an admin's laptop, a shared admin server, or a server running Ansible Tower/automation controller.
* Ansible is installed only on the control node; for network devices the module runs there instead of on the device. *
| Control node | Managed host | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Runs Ansible, holds the project files (playbooks, inventory) | Gets configured by Ansible |
| Needs Ansible installed? | Yes | No |
| Examples | Admin laptop, shared admin system, Ansible Tower / automation controller server | Linux and Windows servers, network devices |
Managed hosts are listed in the inventory, which also sorts them into groups (e.g. webservers, dbservers) so that one play can target many hosts at once. The inventory can be a static text file or generated dynamically from external sources.
Go deeper:
Getting started with Ansible (official docs) — control node, inventory and managed nodes, with the official diagram.- Ansible (software) (Wikipedia) — architecture overview.