Ansible Automation Platform (AAP): What It Is & Complete Guide (2026)

Ansible Automation Platform (AAP): What It Is & Complete Guide (2026)

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) is the enterprise version of Ansible, providing a web UI, RBAC, centralized automation management, event-driven automation, and support. This guide explains what AAP is, its components, and how it differs from open-source Ansible.

See also: Ansible Certification Guide: EX374 and EX467 Exam Prep (2026)

What is Ansible Automation Platform?

Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) is Red Hat's supported product built on top of Ansible. It adds: • Web UI for running and managing automation • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for team collaboration • Automation Controller (formerly Ansible Tower) for job scheduling • Private Automation Hub for content management • Event-Driven Ansible for reactive automation • Automation Mesh for distributed execution • Red Hat support and certified content

AAP Components

Automation Controller (formerly Tower)

The central management interface: • Web UI and REST API for running playbooks • Job templates with parameterized execution • Scheduling and workflow orchestration • Role-based access control • Credential management (vault, cloud, SCM) • Audit trail and job history • Notifications (Slack, email, webhook)

Private Automation Hub

Your internal Galaxy server: • Host certified and validated Ansible collections • Curate approved content for your organization • Mirror Galaxy Hub content for air-gapped environments • Execution environment (container image) registry • Namespace management and content signing

Event-Driven Ansible (EDA)

Reactive automation that responds to events: • Listen for events from monitoring, ITSM, cloud • Trigger automation based on rules • Self-healing infrastructure • Integration with ServiceNow, PagerDuty, Kafka, webhooks

# Example EDA rulebook
---
- name: Auto-remediate disk space
  hosts: all
  sources:
    - ansible.eda.alertmanager:
        host: 0.0.0.0
        port: 5000
  rules:
    - name: Disk space alert
      condition: event.alert.labels.alertname == "DiskSpaceLow"
      action:
        run_playbook:
          name: remediate-disk-space.yml

Automation Mesh

Distributed execution across locations: • Execute automation close to managed infrastructure • Hop nodes relay through firewalls • Execution nodes run playbooks locally • Hybrid cloud and multi-site support

See also: Ansible Resource Management: The New Standardized Taxonomy for Collections

AAP vs Open-Source Ansible vs AWX

| Feature | Ansible (Open Source) | AWX | AAP | |---------|----------------------|-----|-----| | CLI Automation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Web UI | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | RBAC | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | Job Scheduling | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | Event-Driven | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Automation Mesh | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Private Hub | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Certified Content | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Red Hat Support | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Cost | Free | Free | Subscription |

AWX is the open-source upstream project for Automation Controller. It provides the web UI and API but without enterprise features like Mesh, EDA, Hub, or support.

Getting Started with AAP

Installation Options

RPM on RHEL — Traditional installation on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Containerized — Deploy on Kubernetes/OpenShift Managed Service — Red Hat hosted (Ansible on AWS Marketplace)

Minimum Requirements

| Component | CPU | RAM | Storage | |-----------|-----|-----|---------| | Controller | 4 cores | 16 GB | 40 GB | | Hub | 2 cores | 8 GB | 60 GB | | EDA Controller | 2 cores | 8 GB | 40 GB | | Database (PostgreSQL) | 4 cores | 16 GB | 100 GB |

Basic Installation

# Download installer from access.redhat.com
tar xf ansible-automation-platform-setup-*.tar.gz
cd ansible-automation-platform-setup-*/
# Edit inventory
vi inventory
# Run installer
./setup.sh

See also: How to install Ansible in RHEL 10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Execution Environments

AAP uses container images (Execution Environments) instead of Python virtualenvs:

# Install ansible-builder
pip install ansible-builder
# Create execution-environment.yml
cat > execution-environment.yml << 'EOF'
version: 3
dependencies:
  galaxy:
    collections:
      - amazon.aws
      - community.general
  python:
    - boto3
    - requests
  system:
    - git
images:
  base_image:
    name: registry.redhat.io/ansible-automation-platform/ee-minimal-rhel9:latest
EOF
# Build the execution environment
ansible-builder build -t my-custom-ee:1.0

Job Templates

Job templates define how to run a playbook:

Name: Deploy Web Application
Job Type: Run
Inventory: Production Servers
Project: Application Deployment
Playbook: deploy-webapp.yml
Credentials: SSH Key, Vault Password
Extra Variables: {"version": "2.5.0", "env": "production"}
Limit: webservers
Verbosity: 0 (Normal)

Workflow Templates

Chain multiple job templates with conditional logic:

[Update Code] → [Run Tests] → success → [Deploy Staging]
                             → failure → [Notify Team]
[Deploy Staging] → [Integration Tests] → success → [Deploy Production]
                                        → failure → [Rollback Staging]

REST API

# List job templates
curl -s -u admin:password https://controller.example.com/api/v2/job_templates/ | jq '.results[].name'
# Launch a job
curl -s -u admin:password -X POST \
  https://controller.example.com/api/v2/job_templates/7/launch/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"extra_vars": {"version": "2.5.0"}}'
# Check job status
curl -s -u admin:password https://controller.example.com/api/v2/jobs/42/ | jq '.status'

Red Hat Certifications

| Certification | Code | Focus | |--------------|------|-------| | Red Hat Certified Engineer | EX294 | Ansible automation | | Advanced Automation | EX467 | AAP administration | | Event-Driven Automation | EX374 | EDA specialist |

FAQ

What is Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?

AAP is Red Hat's enterprise automation product built on Ansible. It includes Automation Controller (web UI/API), Private Automation Hub, Event-Driven Ansible, and Automation Mesh, plus Red Hat support and certified Ansible content.

Is Ansible Automation Platform free?

No. AAP requires a Red Hat subscription. However, open-source Ansible (CLI) and AWX (web UI) are free alternatives. Red Hat offers a 60-day trial for evaluation.

What is the difference between Ansible Tower and Automation Controller?

Ansible Tower was renamed to Automation Controller in AAP 2.0. It's the same component — the web UI and REST API for managing Ansible automation — with continued development and new features under the new name.

When should I use AAP vs open-source Ansible?

Use AAP when you need: RBAC and multi-team access, web UI for non-CLI users, audit trails for compliance, centralized credential management, event-driven automation, or Red Hat support. Use open-source Ansible for individual use, small teams, or when budget is limited.

What is Event-Driven Ansible (EDA)?

EDA is an AAP component that enables reactive automation. It listens for events from monitoring systems, cloud providers, and IT services, then automatically triggers Ansible playbooks based on rules you define. Ideal for self-healing infrastructure and incident response.

Conclusion

Ansible Automation Platform extends open-source Ansible with enterprise features for teams, security, and scale. Start with Automation Controller for centralized management, add Private Hub for content governance, and implement Event-Driven Ansible for reactive automation.

Related Articles

• AWX Complete Guide • Ansible vs Terraform • Getting Started with Ansible • Ansible Tower/Controller REST API Guide