Automating Linux Server Reboot with Ansible

Linux Server Reboot with Ansible

Maintaining Linux servers often requires reboots after updates or configuration changes. Manually checking each server can be time-consuming. In this guide, I’ll show you how to use Ansible to automatically check if a server needs a reboot and perform it if necessary.

This keeps my systems clean and saves me from logging into multiple servers.

My Use Case with Linux/Raspberry Pi

I manage multiple Raspberry Pi servers in my home lab, and I wanted a way to automatically reboot them whenever required. Instead of logging into each server manually, I created an Ansible playbook that handles this task.

Hosts Definition

I defined my servers in a hosts.ini file under the Ansible inventory directory:

[pi_servers]
pi4 ansible_host=192.168.20.110 ansible_user=my_user_on_server

Here, [pi_servers] is the group name, pi4 is the host alias, and ansible_user specifies the SSH user for connection.

Ansible Playbook Example

The playbook reboot-if-needed.yml checks if the server requires a reboot and executes it if needed:

 nano /opt/ansible/playbooks/reboot-if-needed.yml

---
- name: Reboot servers if needed
  hosts: pi_servers
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Check if reboot is required
      ansible.builtin.stat:
        path: /var/run/reboot-required
      register: reboot_required

    - name: Reboot the system if needed
      ansible.builtin.reboot:
        reboot_timeout: 300
      when: reboot_required.stat.exists

Running the Playbook

You can execute the playbook with the following command:

cd /opt/ansible/playbooks/

ansible-playbook -i ../inventory/hosts.ini reboot-if-needed.yml --ask-become-pass

Here, --ask-become-pass will prompt for the sudo password if required.

Expected Result

If the server requires a reboot, you’ll see output similar to:

TASK [Reboot the system if needed] *******************************************************************
changed: [pi4]

If no reboot is required, the task will be skipped:

TASK [Reboot the system if needed] *******************************************************************
skipping: [pi4]

What Could Be Automated Next?

This use case is very simple, but it shows the power of Ansible. Other useful automations could be:

automatic package updates
service restarts if they fail
disk space monitoring
regular backups

Conclusion

A small script plus Ansible can automate server maintenance in a reliable way. Even a basic task like “reboot if needed” becomes effortless when applied to multiple servers.

The real value comes when you keep extending your playbooks with more automation for everyday operations.