What's New in Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 — Complete Overview
By Luca Berton · Published 2024-01-01 · Category: installation
Comprehensive overview of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 features including the automation dashboard, Lightspeed intelligent assistant, and self-service portal.
Introduction
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) 2.6 is now generally available, delivering significant new capabilities for enterprise automation. This release focuses on three key areas: measuring automation value, AI-powered assistance, and scaling automation across the enterprise.
Key Features in AAP 2.6
Automation Dashboard
The new automation dashboard provides real-time insights into your automation initiatives. Monitor job success rates, time savings, and ROI with customizable reports that can be shared with stakeholders.
Key capabilities include: • ROI tracking — Demonstrate the value of automation with concrete metrics • Data-driven decisions — Real-time actionable insights into automation usage • Resource optimization — Full visibility into direct and indirect nodes • Secure reporting — On-premise utility with PDF/CSV export
Ansible Lightspeed Intelligent Assistant
AAP 2.6 integrates generative AI directly into the platform UI. The Lightspeed intelligent assistant provides: • On-demand answers to platform questions • Links to validated resources for accelerated learning • Flexible model connectivity with Red Hat AI • Faster troubleshooting and onboarding
Self-Service Automation Portal
The new self-service portal empowers IT ops teams to deliver automation to broader audiences: • Wider adoption — Extend automation reach while maintaining control • Admin control — Share automation with full governance • Simplified delivery — Guided, point-and-click interface for non-Ansible users
Additional Enhancements • Event-Driven Ansible — External secret management, editable project URLs, enhanced Kafka support • Refreshed UI — Cleaner, more responsive design with improved accessibility • AI-assisted inventory generation (developer preview) • New integrations — Arista, Cisco Meraki, Nautobot, HashiCorp, and more
Upgrade Path
Both AAP 2.4 and 2.5 customers have direct upgrade paths to 2.6. Important: RPM-based installations are deprecated after this release. Starting with AAP 2.7, only containerized installations will be supported.
Conclusion
AAP 2.6 represents a significant step forward in enterprise automation, combining AI capabilities, self-service delivery, and value measurement in a single platform release. Organizations should plan their upgrade path now, especially considering the RPM deprecation timeline.
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Category: installation