Slash VM provisioning time on Red Hat Openshift Virtualization using Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Developers are accustomed to the cloud, where a virtual machine (VM) can be launched in seconds. But in many enterprises, especially in regulated industries, requesting and receiving a VM can take a staggering 60 to 90 days. This kind of delay can stifle innovation and slow down critical projects. But what if you could provide your developers with a more seamless, self-service experience that delivers a fully configured VM in under an hour, with automated lifecycle management? This isn't a far-off dream, it's a reality you can build with Red Hat's integrated toolset.

3 pillars of a modern IT service platform

To transform a slow and manual process into a rapid, automated one, you need 3 key building blocks: A user-friendly portal, a powerful hypervisor, and an intelligent automation engine.

1. The portal: Red Hat Developer Hub provides a single, streamlined user experience (based on Backstage) for requesting any resource, starting with VMs. It's an enterprise-grade, hardened platform with the support complex organizations require.
2. The hypervisor: Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization brings traditional VMs and modern containers together on a single Kubernetes-based platform. Built on KVM, it allows you to manage your entire estate, including legacy Windows and Linux VMs, to cloud-native applications from a unified control plane.
3. The automation engine: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is the orchestration engine that ties everything together. It automates every complex, behind-the-scenes task, eliminating manual handoffs that cause delays.

From provisioning to patching

Provisioning a VM is just the beginning. The real power of this solution lies in its ability to manage the entire lifecycle of your applications, helping to ensure they run efficiently, resiliently, and securely.

Stage 1: One-click provisioning

It starts with a simple request. From Red Hat Developer Hub, select a predefined job template, fill in a few parameters like the VM name and instance type, and click Launch. In the background, Ansible Automation Platform executes a workflow that provisions the VM in OpenShift Virtualization. Within minutes, your Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or Windows instance is up and running.

Stage 2: Proactive self-healing with Event-Driven Ansible

What happens when a workload comes under stress? In a traditional environment, an alert creates a ticket, which waits for a human to manually intervene. With Event-Driven Ansible (EDA), you create a self-healing system. When a monitoring tool like Prometheus detects, for example, a VM running low on resources, it sends an event to Event-Driven Ansible, which automatically triggers a playbook to resolve the issue. For critical operations, you can include a "human in the loop" to approve the scaling operation with a single click.

Stage 3: Simplified Day 2 operations with automated patching

A VM's life doesn't end after it's deployed and scaled. Ongoing maintenance is where operational costs add up. Patching—a critical but often manual and time-consuming task—is a perfect example.

The solution is to automate Day 2 operations just like Day 1 provisioning. From the same self-service portal, an operator can select a VM that needs updates and kick off a patching job. Ansible Automation Platform automatically syncs its inventory with OpenShift Virtualization, identifies the correct VM, and runs a playbook to apply the latest security-related packages. This automates a core sysadmin responsibility, freeing up teams to focus on higher-value work while ensuring security and compliance.

A better experience for everyone

This integrated solution doesn't just benefit developers. It transforms operations for the entire organization:

• For developers: A fast, more frictionless experience that gives them the resources they need, when they need them.
• For operators: A centralized, automated way to provision, manage, and maintain workloads, reducing manual toil and enforcing governance.
• For the business: Increased agility, reduced operational costs, and a more resilient, secure, and efficient IT environment.

The journey to a modern, automated data center starts with a single step. By integrating Red Hat Developer Hub, OpenShift Virtualization, and Ansible Automation Platform, you can provide a superior experience for your users and unlock new levels of efficiency for your business.