🧰 Configure WSL2 as an Ansible Control Node Runbook

🎯 Purpose

Provision WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04) on a Windows workstation and configure it as an Ansible control node capable of managing Linux and Windows hosts.

🧩 Prerequisites

• Windows 11 workstation
• Administrator access
• Virtualization enabled
• Pi‑hole or equivalent DNS (optional but recommended)
• Existing Ansible control node (for remote configuration steps)

🏗️ Install WSL2

Steps

• Open PowerShell as Administrator

• Install Ubuntu 24.04:

  wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04
  

• When prompted:
  • Set default user to ansible
  • Set password

❗IMPORTANT The ansible user is required for automated configuration.

• Reboot if prompted

Optional — Change Default User Later

ubuntu config --default-user <username>
wsl --shutdown
wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04

🚀 Launch WSL2

Steps

• Open Windows Terminal

• Start Ubuntu:

  wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04
  

🔄 Update Linux Packages

Steps

Run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

🔐 Configure Passwordless Sudo

Steps

• Create sudoers file:

  sudo vi /etc/sudoers.d/99_ansible
  

• Add:

  %ansible ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
  

• Save and exit

🏷️ Set WSL Hostname

Steps

• Edit config:

  sudo vi /etc/wsl.conf
  

• Add:

  [network]
  hostname = dev-0
  generateHosts = false
  

• From Windows PowerShell:

  wsl --shutdown
  

• Restart WSL

🔐 Enable External SSH Access

Get WSL IP Address

wsl ip -4 -o addr show eth0 | awk '{print $4}' | cut -d/ -f1

Configure Port Forwarding

Replace wsl_ip_address:

netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=22 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=22 connectaddress=wsl_ip_address

❗IMPORTANT SSH should now be reachable using the Windows host IP.

🌐 Add Host to DNS (Pi‑hole)

Steps

• Open Pi‑hole → Settings → Local DNS Records
• Add:
  • Domain: WSL hostname (e.g., dev-0)
  • IP: Windows host IP
• Save record

Verify

nslookup dev-0

⚙️ Update Ansible Inventory

Add to global_ip_addresses

Edit roles/global/vars/main.yml:

global_ip_addresses:
  dev-0: 192.168.2.120

Add to Inventory Group

Edit inventory/ansible/inventory.ini:

[wsl]
dev-0

🛠️ Configure WSL Host Using Ansible

❗IMPORTANT Confirm SSH access to the WSL host using the Windows host IP.

Bootstrap Python 3

ansible-playbook -k -i inventory/ansible/inventory.ini playbooks/python/bootstrap_python3.yml -u ansible -l dev-0

Join Active Directory Domain

ansible-playbook -k -i inventory/ansible/inventory.ini playbooks/ad/join_domain.yml -u ansible -l dev-0

⚠️ WARNING This playbook reboots WSL.
After reboot:

• Start WSL manually
• Reconfigure Windows port forwarding

Prep Ansible Node

ansible-playbook -k -i inventory/ansible/inventory.ini playbooks/ansible/prep_ansible_node.yml -u ansible -l dev-0

Deploy Ansible

ansible-playbook -k -i inventory/ansible/inventory.ini playbooks/ansible/deploy_ansible.yml -u ansible -l dev-0

🔍 Verify Ansible Installation

Steps

• Activate Python environment:

  source /opt/python3.12/bin/activate
  

• Check version:

  ansible --version
  

Expected Output (Example)

ansible [core 2.19.5]
ansible python module location = /opt/python_3.12/lib/python3.12/site-packages/ansible
python version = 3.12.3
...

📁 Working With Repositories

Option A — Use Windows Repo

cd /mnt/c/Users/<username>/GitHub/<repo>

Option B — Clone Into WSL (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/<your-repo> ~/projects/<repo>

Benefits

• Faster filesystem performance
• Avoids CRLF issues
• Cleaner environment separation

🖥️ VS Code Integration (WSL)

Steps

• Install WSL extension in VS Code
• Open repo
• Open Remote Explorer → WSL Targets
• Select Ubuntu-24.04
• Click Open Folder

VS Code now uses:

• WSL Python interpreter
• WSL Ansible extension
• WSL linting and execution