As IT infrastructure grows more complex, the need for consistent, repeatable, and scalable automation becomes critical. That’s where AWX, the open-source version of Automation Controller (part of the Ansible Automation Platform), comes into play. AWX offers a powerful web-based interface and REST API for managing Ansible playbooks, inventories, and job scheduling—all without touching the command line.
Whether you’re exploring AWX for the first time or already using it in production, getting started with AWX is the hardest part and asking the right questions can help you get more value out of your automation efforts. In this post, I will walk through 10 essential questions about AWX—covering setup, security, workflows, and integrations—to help you better understand how it fits into a modern DevOps toolkit.
Let’s dive in!
1. What is AWX and how does it differ from Ansible Controller / Ansible Tower?
AWX is the upstream open-source project from which Red Hat Ansible Controller is derived. Think of it like Fedora is to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. While Ansible Controller includes enterprise support and additional features like clustered deployments and full RBAC auditing, AWX provides nearly the same capabilities for free—ideal for development, testing, or small-scale production use.
Note: When researching AWX you will find lots of references to it being the upstream version of Ansible Tower, this was the name of the enterprise product before it was replaced with Ansible Automation Platform of which Ansible Controller is a part of and is what Ansible AWX is the upstream open source version of – hope that makes sense!
Ansible Tower was officially renamed and replaced by Ansible Automation Controller starting with Ansible Automation Platform 2.0, which was released in September 2021
In short, AWX gives you the core automation control plane, making it ideal for development, testing, or small production environments. But if you need enterprise support, governance, and scalable execution, Ansible Automation Platform offers the full package.
What does AWX provide?
- A web-based UI and REST API for managing playbooks
- Job scheduling, workflows, and role-based access control
- Inventory and credential management
- Integration with Git and dynamic inventories
- Real-time job monitoring and logging
What does AWX not provide?
- Automation Mesh (for scalable, distributed execution)
- Private Automation Hub (for hosting certified collections securely)
- Event-Driven Ansible (serverless event automation engine)
- Official Red Hat support and enterprise-grade SLAs
- Some advanced clustering and HA features only in AAP
2. Why should you use AWX instead of running Ansible from the command line?
While the CLI is great for ad-hoc tasks and local scripts, AWX brings structure and visibility to your automation. It offers a centralized UI, job scheduling, credential management, role-based access control, and job logging. These features are essential when working in teams or managing large-scale environments.
3. What are the system requirements and best practices for installing AWX?
AWX typically runs in containers and is deployed via Kubernetes
For production use:
- Use at least 2 vCPUs and 4–8 GB RAM.
- Store logs and data on persistent volumes.
- Set up a reverse proxy (e.g., NGINX) with HTTPS.
- Keep AWX updated regularly to patch vulnerabilities.
4. How do you configure dynamic inventories in AWX?
Dynamic inventories in AWX allow you to automatically sync with external sources like AWS, Azure, VMware, or even a custom script. You define inventory sources and credentials, and AWX fetches hosts and metadata periodically or on demand. This is especially useful in cloud environments where infrastructure is constantly changing.
5. How does AWX handle credential management and security?
AWX securely stores credentials (like SSH keys, API tokens, and passwords) in an encrypted backend. Credentials are reusable and can be scoped to specific projects, inventories, or job templates. Vault integration and two-factor authentication can be added for extra security. This prevents the need to embed secrets in playbooks or source control.
6. What are the key components of role-based access control (RBAC) in AWX?
RBAC in AWX allows you to define who can do what. Users and teams can be assigned roles like Admin, Execute, or Read-Only at various levels (organization, inventory, project, job template). This is crucial for ensuring secure, compliant workflows in multi-user environments.
7. How do workflows in AWX enhance automation beyond single playbooks?
AWX Workflows let you chain multiple job templates together and apply logic (e.g., run this job only if the last one succeeds). You can create complex, conditional automation pipelines without writing extra code. It’s ideal for orchestrating deployment, testing, and rollback sequences.
8. What’s the best way to trigger AWX jobs from external systems (e.g., via API or webhook)?
AWX provides a REST API and built-in webhook support. You can trigger jobs from GitHub or GitLab when code is pushed, or call the API from CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or even a service like Zapier. This makes AWX a powerful bridge between infrastructure and your DevOps toolchain.
9. How can you monitor job execution and troubleshoot failures in AWX?
Each job in AWX logs its output in real time, viewable from the UI. You can review return codes, stdout, errors, and host-level execution details. Failed tasks are clearly marked, and reruns are supported. AWX also integrates with logging systems like ELK or Splunk for more advanced monitoring.
10. What are some tips for optimizing performance and scalability in AWX deployments?
- Use the Kubernetes-based installer for high availability and fault tolerance.
- Separate task containers from the UI container.
- Use a dedicated PostgreSQL database with sufficient IOPS.
- Clean up unused jobs and logs to prevent database bloat.
- Monitor resource usage and scale pods/workers as needed.
AWX Basics
AWX is more than just a GUI for Ansible—it’s a fully featured automation controller that brings structure, security, and scale to your infrastructure workflows. Whether you’re automating a few servers or managing thousands, AWX can help you do it more efficiently and with confidence.
Getting started with AWX Questions
What questions do you have about AWX that I didn’t cover here? Drop them in the comments or reach out on social media—I’d love to hear from you!
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Are Ansible Tower and AWX the same?
Ansible Tower and AWX are not the same, Ansible Tower, specifically version 3.8, was officially retired and transitioned to the new Ansible Automation Platform 2.0, with support ending on September 29, 2023. Ansible AWX is now the open source upstream version of Ansible Controller, which forms part of the Ansible Automation Platform. Ansible Tower is no longer a supported product.
Is Ansible AWX free or paid?
AWX is free, it’s an open source project and is free to use for an unlimited number of devices. The real cost in running AWX comes from the support as you need to have skilled teams who understand how to operate AWX and fix issues if they occur. There is no official support for AWX, support is only community based.
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