How to retrieve and use a tar.gz.asc from github in an Ansible playbook? With a given gpg key?

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06-10-2024

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Unpacking Encrypted Archives from GitHub in Ansible: A Practical Guide

Problem: You have a critical software package hosted on GitHub that's compressed with tar.gz and encrypted with gpg using a public key. You need to download, decrypt, and extract this archive within your Ansible playbook.

Solution: This article guides you through retrieving and utilizing a tar.gz.asc archive from GitHub within your Ansible playbook, decrypting it with a provided GPG key.

Scenario: Securely Deploying a Software Package

Imagine you're deploying a new application using Ansible. The source code is stored securely on GitHub as an encrypted archive, app-v1.0.tar.gz.asc. You have the corresponding GPG key to decrypt it.

Let's break down the steps involved:

1. Fetching the Archive:

- hosts: all
  become: true
  tasks:
  - name: Download encrypted archive
    get_url:
      url: https://github.com/username/repository/releases/download/v1.0/app-v1.0.tar.gz.asc
      dest: /tmp/app-v1.0.tar.gz.asc
      mode: 0644

This task downloads the encrypted archive from GitHub and saves it to /tmp.

2. Importing the GPG Key:

  - name: Import GPG key
    copy:
      content: "{{ lookup('file', '/path/to/gpg/key.asc') }}"
      dest: /etc/gnupg/key.asc
      mode: 0644
    become: true

This task imports your GPG key from a local file into the system's GPG keyring.

3. Decrypting the Archive:

  - name: Decrypt archive
    command: "gpg --output /tmp/app-v1.0.tar.gz --decrypt /tmp/app-v1.0.tar.gz.asc"
    become: true

This command uses gpg to decrypt the archive and save the unencrypted tar.gz file to /tmp.

4. Extracting the Archive:

  - name: Extract the archive
    unarchive:
      src: /tmp/app-v1.0.tar.gz
      dest: /path/to/extracted/directory
      mode: 0644

Finally, this task extracts the unencrypted archive to the specified destination.

Key Considerations and Enhancements:

• Key Management: Store your GPG key securely. You can consider using Ansible Vault to encrypt sensitive data within your playbooks, including the key file.
• Error Handling: Incorporate error handling mechanisms to gracefully manage potential issues during download, decryption, or extraction.
• Version Control: Store the gpg key and potentially the tar.gz.asc file in a version control system like Git for easier tracking and management.
• Alternative Methods: While this solution uses gpg for decryption, you can explore other tools like openssl or sops based on your specific requirements.

Further Resources:

• Ansible Documentation: https://docs.ansible.com/
• GPG Documentation: https://www.gnupg.org/
• GitHub Releases: https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team/github/administering-a-repository/creating-releases

This article provides a comprehensive approach for managing encrypted archives within Ansible. By following these steps, you can securely deploy applications, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of your software. Remember to tailor these instructions to your specific environment and security policies for maximum effectiveness.