[twic]

But Ansible doesn't have masters! It has a machine where you run Ansible. But that can be any machine, as long as it has Ansible installed, the Ansible code checked out, and an authorised SSH key. If your usual machine goes down, just check out the code and run from a different machine. The idea that you need to use local playbooks to use Ansible masterlessly just seems mistaken to me.

Moreover, any scheme which involves running local configuration (whether in Ansible, Chef, or Puppet) involves either pushing configuration updates to machines, or having the machines poll for configuration updates, in which case it's no different to running remote configuration or having a master, respectively.

I don't get the point about open ports. Are you running machines without SSH? If you are, well done. But if, like most people, you're not, then you already have all the port you need open.

[wernerb]

I haven't mentioned an Ansible Master? I referred to the user running ansible as the controller.

Running local configuration and checking out local state can indeed be very different from having a master. Like I said, master features often include features such as search and service discovery. Checking out state from version control does not have those features therefore the user implements those features on his own with stateless cookbooks/pillars/modules/whatever. The remote checkout is not a SPOF and a master is.

You are right in regard to the open ports, it is uncommon, though I have seen it with workstations. I edited the post!