User and Role Management via Ansible and Prism Central

Introduction

Role-based access control (RBAC) in Nutanix is critical to secure infrastructure operations. Prism Central allows you to define users, roles, and permissions across the enterprise. This post shows you how to automate RBAC with Ansible, ensuring secure, consistent access for admins, operators, and service accounts.

My Personal Repository on GitHub

Nutanix Repository on GitHub

Diagram: RBAC Playbook Flow

Use Case

• Create and manage internal users
• Assign specific roles (e.g., Viewer, Cluster Admin)
• Reconcile access during onboarding or audit

YAML User Spec: users.yml

nutanix_users:
  - username: "backupadmin"
    email: "backup@example.com"
    full_name: "Backup Admin"
    password: "S3cur3!"
    roles:
      - name: "Viewer"

  - username: "devops"
    email: "devops@example.com"
    full_name: "DevOps Lead"
    password: "D3v0ps!"
    roles:
      - name: "Cluster Admin"

Playbook: manage_users.yml

- name: Manage Nutanix Prism Central users
  hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: false
  collections:
    - nutanix.ncp
  vars_files:
    - nutanix_credentials.yml
    - users.yml
  tasks:

    - name: Create or update user roles
      loop: "{{ nutanix_users }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: user
      nutanix.ncp.users:
        state: present
        username: "{{ user.username }}"
        password: "{{ user.password }}"
        email: "{{ user.email }}"
        full_name: "{{ user.full_name }}"
        roles: "{{ user.roles }}"

Secure Passwords

Use ansible-vault to store passwords safely:

ansible-vault encrypt users.yml

Run the Playbook

ansible-playbook manage_users.yml --ask-vault-pass -i inventory.yml

Optional Enhancements

• Include group membership for AD/LDAP users
• Delete inactive users with state: absent
• Combine with user audit scripts for compliance

Summary

Ansible allows you to scale RBAC policies across Nutanix clusters with minimal manual effort. From user onboarding to service account management, the automation ensures you never miss an assignment or misconfigure access.

External Documentation:

• nutanix.ncp.users Module
• Nutanix Identity & Access Management Guide