Absolutely! Ansible Tower (now called Controller in AAP) has a robust, well-documented REST API. You can use it to automate everything you do via the web UI—launch jobs, manage inventories, users, credentials, and more.
Below is a practical, step-by-step guide (with examples!) to help you get started.

How to Work with Ansible Tower REST API (with Example)

1. Understanding the Ansible Tower API

• Type: RESTful, JSON-based API.
• Docs: Interactive Swagger/OpenAPI docs usually at:
  https://<tower-server>/api/
  (log in and try it!)
• Authentication:
  • Basic Auth (username/password or Personal Access Token)
  • OAuth2 (for advanced use cases)

2. API Authentication

• Basic Auth:
  Every request uses HTTP basic authentication.
  Example: user:password or Personal Access Token as username (no password needed).
• Getting a Token:
  In Tower UI:
  User → Tokens → Create Token
  (Recommended: use tokens for automation!)

3. Making a Simple API Request

Let’s say your Tower UI is at https://13.233.139.133/.

List all Job Templates (curl):

curl -k -u 'admin:yourpassword' https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/job_templates/
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

• -k: Allow insecure (self-signed) SSL
• -u: Basic auth, 'user:password'
• The response is JSON

Using a Personal Access Token (PAT):

curl -k -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_token>" https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/job_templates/
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

4. Example: Launch a Job Template via API

Suppose you have a job template with ID 7.

API URL:
POST /api/v2/job_templates/7/launch/

Example (with token):

curl -k -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_token>" \
     -X POST https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/job_templates/7/launch/
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

• The response includes the job ID (e.g., "id": 81).

5. Check Job Status

Suppose your launched job returned "id": 81.

curl -k -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_token>" \
     https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/jobs/81/
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

• Look for "status": "successful" (other states: “pending”, “running”, “failed”).

6. See Job Output (Standard Out)

curl -k -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_token>" \
     https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/jobs/81/stdout/?format=txt
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

• Add ?format=txt or ?format=html as needed.

7. Example: Create an Inventory via API

curl -k -H "Authorization: Bearer <your_token>" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"name":"TestInventory","organization":1}' \
     -X POST https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/inventories/
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

• Replace organization: 1 with your organization’s ID (list orgs via /api/v2/organizations/).

8. Useful Endpoints

9. Example Python Script (requests library)

Here’s a simple Python snippet to list all job templates:

import requests

api_url = "https://13.233.139.133/api/v2/job_templates/"
token = "<your_token>"  # Or use user/pass in auth param

headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {token}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.get(api_url, headers=headers, verify=False)
for jt in response.json()['results']:
    print(f"ID: {jt['id']}, Name: {jt['name']}")
Code language: PHP (php)

(use verify=False for self-signed SSL)

10. Finding More API Endpoints and Docs

• Visit: https://<tower-server>/api/ in your browser
• Try out requests in Swagger UI

Summary Table

Tips and Best Practices

• Use Personal Access Tokens for CI/CD or scripts (not passwords).
• Always use HTTPS for security.
• Use the /api/ browser docs for full details and live “try it now” features.
• Automate with Python (requests), Bash (curl), or your favorite language.
• Respect rate limits and error messages—read the "detail" field in API responses for helpful info.
• For bulk/complex changes, look at tower-cli (deprecated, now awx-cli) or the newer awx CLI tool.

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.