Why is Ansible needed? What prerequisites are required on the target machine?

Ansible is a tool for automating configuration management, application deployment, and task orchestration across multiple servers. It allows describing infrastructure and operations using simple YAML scripts (playbooks), which simplifies repeatability and scalability of processes.

Prerequisites on the target machine:

• An SSH server (for SSH connection).
• Python (usually Python 2.7 or 3.x) installed on the target machine, as Ansible uses it to execute modules.
• A user with permissions to execute necessary commands (often root or via sudo).

Ansible does not require installing agents on target machines, which simplifies its use and reduces overhead for maintenance.