How to install and configure Ansible on an Ubuntu Azure VM using a service principal

This guide outlines the process of setting up Ansible on an Ubuntu virtual machine in Azure, authenticating with a service principal, and verifying the installation with a simple task.

1. Prerequisites: Ensure you have an Azure subscription, create a service principal, and note its appId, displayName, password, and tenant.
2. Create resource group and VM: Use Azure CLI or PowerShell to make a resource group, then deploy an Ubuntu 22.04 VM, opening port 22 for SSH.
3. Connect via SSH: Retrieve the VM’s public IP and connect with ssh azureuser@<vm_ip>.
4. Install Ansible: Run sudo apt update, sudo apt install software-properties-common, add the Ansible PPA, and install Ansible. Optionally install the azure.azcollection and its requirements.
5. Configure credentials: Either create ~/.azure/credentials with the service principal values or export them as environment variables (AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_ID, AZURE_SECRET, AZURE_TENANT).
6. Verify installation: Execute an ad‑hoc command like ansible localhost -m azure.azcollection.azure_rm_resourcegroup -a \"name=testrg location=eastus\" or run a minimal playbook that creates a resource group.
7. Rollback (if needed): Delete the test resource group using the corresponding playbook with state: absent or via Azure CLI/PowerShell.

Each step can be checked by reviewing command output; failures should be addressed before proceeding to the next step.