Ansible Development Workspaces: Enterprise-Ready Dev Environments on OpenShift Dev Spaces

Red Hat Ansible Development Workspaces provide enterprise-ready development environments running on OpenShift Dev Spaces, solving the common locked-down Windows workstation challenge and giving teams consistent, auditable Ansible development environments.

The Problem

In many enterprises, developers face: • Locked-down Windows workstations — no local Python, no SSH tools, no container runtime • Inconsistent environments — "works on my machine" across teams • No control or auditability — IT has no visibility into what developers install locally • Manual setup — hours spent configuring ansible-core, collections, linters, and test tools

See also: Ansible Development Tools MCP Server: Use Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, and Gemini for Ansible Development

The Solution

Ansible Development Workspaces provide: • Cloud-based VS Code environment via OpenShift Dev Spaces • Pre-integrated Ansible tooling — ansible-core, ansible-lint, molecule, ansible-navigator • Generative AI built-in — Ansible Lightspeed for content generation • Enterprise control and auditability — IT manages the workspace images and available tools • Simplified lifecycle — creation, testing, and deployment of Ansible content from one place

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           OpenShift Cluster                  │
│                                              │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │     OpenShift Dev Spaces            │    │
│  │                                     │    │
│  │  ┌──────────────────────────────┐   │    │
│  │  │   Ansible Workspace Pod      │   │    │
│  │  │                              │   │    │
│  │  │  ┌────────────────────────┐  │   │    │
│  │  │  │  VS Code (browser)    │  │   │    │
│  │  │  │  ├── Ansible extension│  │   │    │
│  │  │  │  ├── Lightspeed AI    │  │   │    │
│  │  │  │  ├── YAML support     │  │   │    │
│  │  │  │  └── Git integration  │  │   │    │
│  │  │  └────────────────────────┘  │   │    │
│  │  │                              │   │    │
│  │  │  Tools:                      │   │    │
│  │  │  • ansible-core              │   │    │
│  │  │  • ansible-lint              │   │    │
│  │  │  • molecule                  │   │    │
│  │  │  • ansible-navigator         │   │    │
│  │  │  • ansible-builder           │   │    │
│  │  │  • ansible-creator           │   │    │
│  │  └──────────────────────────────┘   │    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────┘    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

See also: Install Red Hat CodeReady Containers to run OpenShift 4 in macOS

What's Included

| Tool | Purpose | |---|---| | ansible-core | Automation engine | | ansible-lint | Best practices enforcement | | molecule | Role and collection testing | | ansible-navigator | Playbook execution with EE support | | ansible-builder | Build custom execution environments | | ansible-creator | Scaffold roles, collections, plugins | | Ansible VS Code extension | Syntax highlighting, completion, diagnostics | | Ansible Lightspeed | AI-powered content generation |

Benefits for Enterprise

For Developers

• Zero local setup — open a browser, start coding • Consistent tooling — every developer has the same environment • AI assistance — Lightspeed generates playbook content • Integrated testing — run molecule tests without local containers

For IT/Security

• Centralized control — manage workspace images centrally • Auditability — all development activity is logged • No local installs — nothing on the Windows workstation • Policy enforcement — approved tools and versions only

For Platform Engineers

• Standardized workflows — everyone follows the same patterns • Template workspaces — pre-configured for specific teams or projects • Version management — update tools across all workspaces simultaneously

See also: Install Red Hat OpenShift Local Kubernetes in macOS on MacBook Pro Intel x86_64 and M1 arm64

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• OpenShift 4.x cluster with Dev Spaces operator installed • AAP subscription for Lightspeed access • Git repository for Ansible content

Creating a Workspace

# devfile.yaml — Ansible workspace definition
schemaVersion: 2.2.0
metadata:
  name: ansible-workspace
  displayName: Ansible Development Workspace
components:
  - name: ansible-tools
    container:
      image: registry.redhat.io/ansible-automation-platform/ansible-dev-tools-rhel9:latest
      memoryLimit: 4Gi
      cpuLimit: 2000m
      mountSources: true
      env:
        - name: ANSIBLE_LIGHTSPEED_ENABLED
          value: "true"

FAQ

Do I need OpenShift to use Ansible Development Workspaces?

Yes. The workspaces run on OpenShift Dev Spaces, which requires an OpenShift cluster. For local development without OpenShift, use the Ansible VS Code extension with locally installed ansible-dev-tools.

Can I use this from a Windows machine?

Yes — that's the primary use case. Everything runs in the browser via OpenShift Dev Spaces. No local installation required on the Windows workstation.

Is this different from VS Code Remote - SSH?

Yes. VS Code Remote requires SSH access to a development server. Dev Spaces provides fully managed, ephemeral environments that are created and destroyed on demand, with no persistent server to manage.

Can I customize the workspace image?

Yes. Admins can create custom workspace images with additional tools, collections, or configurations. Use ansible-builder or standard container build processes.

Does it include container runtime for molecule tests?

The workspace includes the tools to run molecule tests. Container runtime availability depends on your OpenShift Dev Spaces configuration (rootless containers, sidecar containers, etc.).

Related Articles

• Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7: What's New • Ansible Dev Tools MCP Server • Ansible Visual EE Builder Guide • Red Hat Summit 2026 Highlights