CIS Compliance Report Genration | Ansible AAP or AWX

 Hello Guys,

Its an extended version of my previous project where an i need to also generate the report after applying the CIS compliance to RHEL 9 server. I also need to display the report so what i did is i have installed httpd server on top of report genration and display it in the html format on the same server

here is my sample playbook.

---

- name: Genrate openscaf report | Rhel 9

hosts: all

gather_facts: true

become: true

tasks:

- name: Install all required packages

ansible.builtin.dnf:

name: "{{ item }}"

state: present

loop:

- openscap-scanner

- scap-security-guide

- name: Get stats of the file

ansible.builtin.stat:

path: /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/content/ssg-rhel9-ds.xml

register: file_data

- name: Assert that the file exists

ansible.builtin.assert:

that:

- file_data.stat.exists

fail_msg: "The required file /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/content/ssg-rhel9-ds.xml does not exist."

success_msg: "File existence verified we have profile."

- name: Create directory for compliance report

ansible.builtin.file:

path: /var/log/compliance

state: directory

mode: '0755'

- name: scan and genrate report

ansible.builtin.shell: |

oscap xccdf eval \

--profile xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_cis_server_l1 \

--results /var/log/compliance/cis-l1-results.xml \

--report /var/log/compliance/cis-l1-report.html \

/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/content/ssg-rhel9-ds.xml

register: report

ignore_errors: true

- name: "install some issential package"

ansible.builtin.dnf:

name: "{{ item }}"

state: present

loop:

- httpd

- python3-pip

- name: Install bottle python package

ansible.builtin.pip:

name: json2html

- name: "start httpd service"

service:

name: httpd

state: started

enabled: true

- name: make sure port 80 is allowed in firewall

ansible.posix.firewalld:

service: http

permanent: true

state: enabled

immediate: true

- name: Move report to html root for validation

ansible.builtin.copy:

src: /var/log/compliance/cis-l1-report.html

dest: /var/www/html/cis-l1-report.html

mode: '0644'

remote_src: true

Automating CIS Benchmark Compliance on RHEL 9 Using Ansible | RedHat AAP or AWX

Security compliance is no longer optional—especially in regulated industries like BFSI. Organizations are expected to adhere to well-defined benchmarks such as the Center for Internet Security (CIS) standards to ensure hardened and secure systems.

In this blog, we’ll explore how to automate CIS Benchmark enforcement on RHEL 9 using Ansible, making compliance repeatable, auditable, and scalable.

---

Why CIS Benchmarking Matters

CIS benchmarks provide:

• Industry-recognized security standards
• Hardened configurations for OS and applications
• Reduced attack surface
• Compliance alignment (PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, etc.)

Manual implementation is complex and error-prone—automation solves that.

---

Playbook Overview

This playbook performs:

1. GRUB password hardening
2. User account preparation
3. CIS role execution (Level 1 Server profile)
4. Audit and compliance validation

---

Key Components Explained

1. Secure Bootloader Configuration (GRUB Hardening)

One of the critical CIS controls is protecting bootloader settings to prevent unauthorized changes.

This playbook:

• Uses expect to automate interactive password setup
• Sets a GRUB2 password securely
• Updates GRUB configuration

grub2-setpassword

🔐 Why it matters:
Prevents attackers from modifying boot parameters (e.g., entering single-user mode).

---

2. Secure Password Handling

The playbook uses:

no_log: true

This ensures:

• Passwords are not exposed in logs
• Sensitive data remains protected

⚠️ Best Practice:
Use Ansible Vault instead of plain text passwords.

---

3. User Management

The playbook:

• Gathers existing users
• Sets password for the automation user

password_hash('sha512')

🔐 This aligns with secure password storage practices.

---

4. CIS Role Execution

The core of the automation is the RHEL9-CIS role, which enforces multiple controls:

• File permissions
• SSH hardening
• Audit configuration
• Kernel parameters
• Logging and monitoring

Key configurations:

• setup_audit: true → Enables auditd setup
• run_audit: true → Runs compliance checks
• skip_reboot: false → Allows required reboots

---

5. Compliance Validation with Goss

The playbook integrates Goss for validation:

• Lightweight validation tool
• Ensures system state matches expectations
• Provides quick compliance feedback

---

Execution Flow

Install Dependencies → Set GRUB Password → Update Config
→ Gather Users → Apply CIS Role → Run Audit → Validate Compliance

---

Security Considerations

✅ Handled Well

• Sensitive data masked (no_log)
• Idempotent execution
• Automated audit validation

⚠️ Needs Improvement

• Avoid hardcoded passwords (primod123)
• Use Ansible Vault for secrets
• Validate impact before enabling reboot

---

Best Practices for Production

• Run in audit-only mode first:

  audit_only: true
  

• Test in staging before production rollout
• Maintain exception list for business-critical users
• Integrate with SIEM tools for reporting
• Schedule periodic compliance scans

---

Use Cases in Enterprise Environments

• BFSI compliance enforcement
• Cloud VM hardening (AWS, Azure, etc.)
• Regulatory audits
• Secure baseline creation

---

Benefits of This Approach

🚀 Automation at Scale

Apply CIS policies across hundreds of servers consistently.

🔁 Repeatability

Same configuration every time—no drift.

📊 Audit-Ready

Reports and validation built-in.

🔒 Improved Security Posture

Reduced vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

---

Potential Enhancements

• Integrate with **Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform workflows
• Add approval gates (ServiceNow/Jira)
• Enable Event-Driven Automation (EDA)
• Centralized reporting dashboards
• Role-based execution (Level 1 vs Level 2 CIS)

---

Conclusion

Automating CIS benchmark enforcement transforms security from a manual task into a continuous, reliable process. With Ansible, organizations can ensure systems remain compliant, secure, and audit-ready at all times.

This playbook is a strong foundation for building a compliance-as-code strategy, enabling proactive security management across your infrastructure.

This is a playbook which i have use to benchmark my server its score is around 91.00%

---

- name: CIS Benchmark mapping

hosts: all

become: true

vars:

# It is strongly recommended to store this in an Ansible Vault

grub_password: "YourSecurePasswordHere"

pre_tasks:

- name: Ensure the expect package is installed

ansible.builtin.package:

name: expect

state: present

- name: Set GRUB2 password for the root user

ansible.builtin.expect:

command: grub2-setpassword

responses:

'Enter password:': "{{ grub_password }}"

'Confirm password:': "{{ grub_password }}"

# Only run if the user configuration doesn't already exist

creates: /boot/grub2/user.cfg

register: grub_pw_set

no_log: true # Prevents the password from appearing in logs

- name: Update GRUB2 configuration

ansible.builtin.command:

cmd: grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

when: grub_pw_set.changed

- name: Gather available local users

ansible.builtin.getent:

database: passwd

register: user_facts

# - name: "Setup Password for ec2-user"

# ansible.builtin.user:

# name: ec2-user

# password: "{{ 'primod123' | password_hash('sha512') }}"

# when: "'ec2-user' in user_facts"

# - name: "Setting password"

# ansible.builtin.debug:

# msg: "Password for ec2-user has been set. Please change it after first login."

# when: "'ec2-user' in user_facts"

# - name: "Setup Password for azureuser"

# ansible.builtin.user:

# name: azureuser

# password: "{{ 'primod123' | password_hash('sha512') }}"

# when: "'azureuser' in user_facts"

# - name: "Setting password"

# ansible.builtin.debug:

# msg: "Password for azureuser has been set. Please change it after first login."

# when: "'azureuser' in user_facts"

- name: "Setup password for ansible_user"

ansible.builtin.user:

name: "{{ ansible_user }}"

password: "{{ 'primod123' | password_hash('sha512') }}"

#when: "'{{ ansible_user }}' in user_facts"

roles:

- name: "RHEL9-CIS"

vars:

setup_audit: true

run_audit: true

# audit_only: true

rhel9cis_allow_authselect_updates: false

rhel9cis_crypto_policy_ansiblemanaged: false

skip_reboot: false

rhel9cis_warning_banner: |

'This Policy is Applied on RHEL9-CIS Benchmark.

Unauthorized access to this system is prohibited.

All activities on this system are logged and monitored.

By accessing this system, you consent to such monitoring and logging.

By Anible Automation Platform Team

Automation Engineering Team

for any new changes please reach out to us.'

rhel9cis_sudoers_exclude_nopasswd_list:

- "{{ ansible_user }}"

goss_url: https://github.com/goss-org/goss/releases/download/v0.4.9/goss-linux-arm64

goss_version:

release: v0.4.9

checksum: "sha256:87dd36cfa1b8b50554e6e2ca29168272e26755b19ba5438341f7c66b36decc19"

tags:

- level1-server

Build a Report of Redhat AAP or AWX

 Hello Guys,

I am recently working for a client in which he has a ask that can i export the report what he can see in the AAP/AWX dashboard in html or PDF format for compliance so i started researching a bit on it and shared so report which are available on internet bit he did not like it.

He wanted a tailer made report showing job name start and finish time and how much time it took and final status also if i can show the logs of that execution that will be great.

So i use the API which are available with AAP or AWX to fetch the report of last 30 days with these field 

below is the job template report.yml

---
- name: Generate Last 1 Month Job Report
  hosts: aux_server 
##can be replace with any server name you want localhost will not work as it will destroy the report once the job is finish execution
  become: true
  gather_facts: true
  vars:
    controller_url: "https://<FQDN_AAP or AWX server>"
    tower_username: "admin"
    tower_password: "primod123"
    # Calculate date 30 days ago in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD)
    last_month: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'date -d \"30 days ago\" +%Y-%m-%d') }}"
    page_size: 200
    is_pdf: false
##Remove the word controller from api call if you are using awx
  tasks:
    - name: Fetch first page of jobs
      ansible.builtin.uri:
        url: "{{ controller_url }}/api/controller/v2/jobs/?finished__gte={{ last_month }}&order_by=-finished&page_size={{ page_size }}"
        method: GET
        user: "{{ tower_username }}"
        password: "{{ tower_password }}"
        force_basic_auth: yes
        validate_certs: false
      register: first_page

    - name: Calculate total pages
      ansible.builtin.set_fact:
        total_pages: "{{ (first_page.json.count / page_size) | round(0, 'ceil') | int }}"

    - name: Fetch remaining pages
      ansible.builtin.uri:
        url: "{{ controller_url }}/api/controller/v2/jobs/?finished__gte={{ last_month }}&order_by=-finished&page_size={{ page_size }}&page={{ item }}"
        method: GET
        user: "{{ tower_username }}"
        password: "{{ tower_password }}"
        force_basic_auth: yes
        validate_certs: false
      # Loop from page 2 to the end
      loop: "{{ range(2, total_pages | int + 1) | list }}"
      register: remaining_pages
      when: total_pages | int > 1

    - name: Consolidate all results
      ansible.builtin.set_fact:
        all_jobs: >-
          {{ 
            first_page.json.results + 
            (remaining_pages.results | default([]) | map(attribute='json.results') | flatten) 
          }}

    - name: Generate HTML Report
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: report_template.j2
        dest: "/usr/share/nginx/html/job_report_{{ ansible_date_time.date }}.html"
      vars:
        jobs: "{{ all_jobs }}"
        report_title: "Monthly Automation Summary"
        report_range: "Last 30 Days (Since {{ last_month }})"
    


 and jinja template : report_template.j2

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        body { font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 40px; color: #333; }
        .header { border-bottom: 2px solid #005596; padding-bottom: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }
        .logo {height: 40px; /* Fixed height for a cleaner look */
               width: auto;  /* Maintains aspect ratio */
               margin-right: 20px; }
        table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 20px; }
        th, td { padding: 12px; border: 1px solid #ddd; text-align: left; }
        th { background-color: #f8f9fa; font-weight: bold; }
        .status-successful { color: #28a745; font-weight: bold; }
        .status-failed { color: #dc3545; font-weight: bold; }
        .status-canceled { color: #f5f503fc; font-weight: bold; }
        .summary-box { background: #e9ecef; padding: 15px; border-radius: 5px; margin-bottom: 30px; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="header">
        <h1>{{ report_title }}</h1>
        <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/benc-uk/icon-collection/refs/heads/master/logos/ansible.svg" alt="Ansible" class="logo"> <p><strong>Report Genrated on and using ansible automation platform 2.6</strong></p>
        <p><strong>Period:</strong> {{ report_range }}</p>
        <p><strong>Generated On:</strong> {{ ansible_date_time.date }}</p>
    </div>

    <div class="summary-box">
        <strong>Total Jobs Executed:</strong> {{ jobs | length }}
    </div>

    <table>
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th>Job ID</th>
                <th>Template Name</th>
                <th>Status</th>
                 <th>Started At</th>
                <th>Finished At</th>
                <th>Duration</th>
    
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            {% for job in jobs %}
            <tr>
                <td>{{ job.id }}</td>
                <td>{{ job.name }}</td>
                <td class="status-{{ job.status }}">{{ job.status | capitalize }}</td>
                <td>{{ job.started | default(job.created) }}</td>
                <td>{{ job.finished }}</td>
                <td>{{'%M:%S' |ansible.builtin.strftime(job.elapsed)}}</td>
            </tr>{% endfor %}
        </tbody>
    </table>
</body>
</html>

sample output



Let me know you feedback in comments 

Executeing a command in Pod of Kubernetes or Openshift

 I am working on an application which is hosted in kubernetes and currently it does not support any kind of API. The only way to automate the workflow what we are trying to achieve is to login into one of the pod of that application and run a commds which will run the conciliation 

 So i have written a ansible playbook and to keep it simple i have installed kubernetes python library on the target machine using which i am accessing the kubernetes application  

pip install kubernetes

Once done i have wrote a ansible playbook the config are loaded from ~/.kube/config file on that server and below is the sample playbook. here am executing a sample play which is printing the nginx pod host name but it can be replace with the actual command we want to run

- name: Execute command inside a Kubernetes pod selected by label

hosts: all

gather_facts: no

collections:

- kubernetes.core

vars:

namespace: "default" ## add namespace here

label_selector: "app=nginx" # add lable selector here

container_name: "" # optional — leave empty to use default container

exec_command: "/usr/bin/hostname" # command to run inside the container

tasks:

- name: Get pods matching label selector

kubernetes.core.k8s_info:

api_version: v1

kind: Pod

namespace: "{{ namespace }}"

label_selectors:

- "{{ label_selector }}"

register: pod_list

- name: Fail if no pods found

fail:

msg: "No pods found with label {{ label_selector }} in {{ namespace }}"

when: pod_list.resources | length == 0

- name: Select the first pod

set_fact:

target_pod: "{{ pod_list.resources[0].metadata.name }}"

- debug:

msg: "Selected pod: {{ target_pod }}"

- name: Exec command inside pod

kubernetes.core.k8s_exec:

namespace: "{{ namespace }}"

pod: "{{ target_pod }}"

container: "{{ container_name | default(omit) }}"

command: "{{ exec_command }}"

register: exec_output

- debug:

var: exec_output.stdout

Sample output