How to Install Ansible on Kali Linux (Step-by-Step Guide)

Installing Ansible on Kali Linux is usually the first step when you want to automate repetitive tasks instead of running the same commands manually every time. Once you start managing more than one system, doing updates, installs, or configuration changes by hand quickly becomes inefficient.

This tutorial walks through a simple, practical way to install Ansible on Kali Linux using the default package manager. Kali is mostly known for security testing, but since it’s a full Linux distribution, it can easily be used as an Ansible control node as well.

If Kali Linux is running on a server, there’s no need for a complex setup. A basic Linux VPS package is enough to install Ansible and start working with automation tools.

Step 1: Update and Upgrade Your System

First of all, before Ansible is installed it is good practice to ensure that a system is updated. A terminal window needs to be opened, and the commands below run.

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Ansible on Kali Linux via APT Package Manager

With all the updates, you can now go ahead in installing Ansible with the APT package manager. Use this command given below in your terminal.

sudo apt install ansible

Step 3: Verify the Installation of the Ansible Application

You can validate that Ansible was well installed by executing the command displayed below followed by the version argument, ansible -V:

ansible --version

If the installation was successful then after running this command you will see Ansible’s version number on your terminal.

Step 4: Configure the Ansible Inventory File

Ansible contains an inventory file where you can designate the hosts and groups for Ansible to supervise. The primary inventory file may always be located at `/etc/ansible/hosts`. In this file, you can use your favorite text editor to implement customizations related to adding yourself a host and describing your inventory.

Step 5 : Test Ansible Connectivity

For checking the relations between the Ansible control panel and the managed hosts, the following command can be executed:

ansible all -m ping

You can also test Ansible locally with a simple command:

ansible localhost -m ping

In case the command is returned with a successful ping from all the hosts then it can be said that Ansible has been configured properly and is ready.

Troubleshooting

If the ping command fails, try localhost first. If that works, the issue is probably the inventory.

At this point, Ansible should be available on the system. If the version command runs and the ping test worked, there isn’t much else to check.

Kali Linux works fine as the control machine. Nothing extra was configured during installation, and the defaults are enough to get started.

What happens next really depends on what you want to automate. For now, a few basic commands are usually all that’s needed before moving on.