Skip to content

Troubleshooting Automation

Common issues encountered when running the homelab-maintenance infrastructure playbooks.

Common Errors

  • SSH Connectivity: If a playbook fails to connect, verify that the ansible_user in inventory.ini has valid SSH key access to the target host.
  • Vault Decryption Errors: If plays/ fail due to secrets, ensure your ansible-vault password is provided or stored in your local configuration. Secrets are strictly managed in group_vars/all/vault.yaml.
  • Hardware Firmware Mismatches: If plays/network_hardware.yaml fails, ensure the target device is reachable and the firmware version defined in your variables matches the repository's expected release.
  • Storage API Timeouts: If plays/synology_nas.yaml fails, check the Synology DSM status page to ensure the API service is responsive and the credentials in your vault are up to date.
  • Permission Denied: Ensure your execution user configured in inventory.ini has proper sudo privileges on the target hosts.

Debugging Workflow

If a play fails, you can isolate the issue by running the specific file with increased verbosity:

# Debugging a specific play with verbose output
ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini plays/media_server.yaml -vvv