Using Ansible Playbook to Change the Root Password on Multiple Linux Servers

Playbook is a mode of using Ansible that is more powerful and flexible than the command‑line interface; it is a simple configuration‑management and multi‑host deployment system described in YAML.

1. Server hostnames

Server 1: 192.168.20.40 (hostname docker02 ) Server 2: 192.168.20.39 (hostname slavedb )

2. Ansible inventory configuration

# /etc/ansible/hosts
[all]
k8s-master ansible_ssh_host=192.168.20.40
k8s-node3  ansible_ssh_host=192.168.20.39

3. Create the playbook (passwd.yml)

---
- hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: change passwd
      user:
        name: {{ item.user }}
        password: {{ item.password | password_hash('sha512') }}
        update_password: always
      with_items:
        - { user: 'root', password: '123456' }
      register: result
    - debug: var=result

4. Run the playbook

# ansible-playbook passwd.yml

The execution returns a result showing the user root with the hashed password (field password: NOT_LOGGING_PASSWORD ) and other attributes such as uid: 0 , shell: /bin/bash , etc.

5. Verify the password change

After the playbook finishes, SSH into the server (e.g., ssh [email protected] ) and confirm that the new password is effective. The log shows a successful connection and the last login information.

Images in the original article illustrate the inventory file, playbook content, execution output, and SSH login screen.