Introduction
Confidential computing protects data in use — while it's being processed — using hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). As sensitive AI and analytics workloads move to shared cloud infrastructure, Gartner highlights confidential computing as a 2026 strategic trend. Ansible automates the provisioning, configuration, and attestation of TEE environments across Intel SGX, AMD SEV, Intel TDX, and ARM CCA platforms.
TEE Technologies
| Technology | Vendor | Scope | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel SGX | Intel | Application enclave | Specific secrets processing |
| Intel TDX | Intel | Full VM | Confidential VMs |
| AMD SEV-SNP | AMD | Full VM | Confidential VMs |
| ARM CCA | ARM | Realm | Mobile/edge confidential |
| NVIDIA H100 CC | NVIDIA | GPU TEE | Confidential AI inference |
Intel SGX Setup
---
- name: Configure Intel SGX
hosts: sgx_hosts
become: true
tasks:
- name: Check SGX support
ansible.builtin.command: cpuid | grep -i sgx
register: sgx_check
changed_when: false
failed_when: "'SGX' not in sgx_check.stdout"
- name: Install SGX driver and SDK
ansible.builtin.package:
name:
- libsgx-enclave-common
- libsgx-dcap-ql
- libsgx-urts
- sgx-aesm-service
state: present
- name: Start AESM service
ansible.builtin.service:
name: aesmd
state: started
enabled: true
- name: Configure SGX enclave memory
ansible.builtin.sysctl:
name: vm.mmap_min_addr
value: "0"
state: present
reload: true
- name: Set SGX device permissions
ansible.builtin.file:
path: "{{ item }}"
mode: "0666"
loop:
- /dev/sgx_enclave
- /dev/sgx_provision
when: ansible_devices.sgx_enclave is defined
- name: Verify SGX is operational
ansible.builtin.command: sgx-detect
register: sgx_status
changed_when: false
- name: Display SGX status
ansible.builtin.debug:
msg: "{{ sgx_status.stdout_lines }}"
AMD SEV-SNP Setup
- name: Configure AMD SEV-SNP
hosts: sev_hosts
become: true
tasks:
- name: Check SEV support
ansible.builtin.command: dmesg | grep -i sev
register: sev_check
changed_when: false
- name: Enable SEV in kernel
ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
path: /etc/default/grub
regexp: '^GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT='
line: 'GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash mem_encrypt=on kvm_amd.sev=1"'
notify:
- Update GRUB
- Reboot
- name: Install SEV tools
ansible.builtin.package:
name:
- sev-tool
- libvirt-daemon-system
state: present
- name: Configure libvirt for SEV
ansible.builtin.blockinfile:
path: /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf
block: |
cgroup_device_acl = [
"/dev/sev",
"/dev/null", "/dev/full", "/dev/zero",
"/dev/random", "/dev/urandom"
]
notify: Restart libvirtd
- name: Set SEV device permissions
ansible.builtin.file:
path: /dev/sev
owner: root
group: kvm
mode: "0660"
- name: Verify SEV platform status
ansible.builtin.command: sevctl show flags
register: sev_status
changed_when: false
handlers:
- name: Update GRUB
ansible.builtin.command: update-grub
- name: Reboot
ansible.builtin.reboot:
reboot_timeout: 600
- name: Restart libvirtd
ansible.builtin.service:
name: libvirtd
state: restarted
Confidential VM Deployment
- name: Deploy confidential VM with SEV-SNP
hosts: hypervisors
become: true
tasks:
- name: Create confidential VM
community.libvirt.virt:
command: define
xml: "{{ lookup('template', 'confidential-vm.xml.j2') }}"
- name: Start confidential VM
community.libvirt.virt:
name: "{{ vm_name }}"
state: running
- name: Verify attestation
ansible.builtin.shell: |
virsh qemu-monitor-command {{ vm_name }} --hmp 'info sev'
register: sev_info
changed_when: false
- name: Validate VM is encrypted
ansible.builtin.assert:
that:
- "'sev-snp' in sev_info.stdout"
fail_msg: "VM {{ vm_name }} is NOT running with SEV-SNP!"
VM template:
<!-- templates/confidential-vm.xml.j2 -->
<domain type='kvm'>
<name>{{ vm_name }}</name>
<memory>{{ vm_memory_mb * 1024 }}</memory>
<vcpu>{{ vm_cpus }}</vcpu>
<os>
<type arch='x86_64'>hvm</type>
</os>
<launchSecurity type='sev'>
<policy>0x0001</policy>
<cbitpos>51</cbitpos>
<reducedPhysBits>1</reducedPhysBits>
</launchSecurity>
</domain>
Confidential AI Inference (NVIDIA H100)
- name: Configure NVIDIA confidential computing
hosts: gpu_servers
become: true
tasks:
- name: Enable confidential computing mode
ansible.builtin.command: >
nvidia-smi conf-compute -scs ENABLED -i 0
register: cc_result
changed_when: "'Enabled' in cc_result.stdout"
- name: Verify CC mode
ansible.builtin.command: nvidia-smi conf-compute -gcs -i 0
register: cc_status
changed_when: false
- name: Deploy confidential inference container
community.docker.docker_container:
name: confidential-inference
image: "{{ inference_image }}"
state: started
device_requests:
- driver: nvidia
count: 1
capabilities: [[gpu, compute]]
env:
NVIDIA_CC_MODE: "on"
MODEL_PATH: /models/encrypted-model
volumes:
- /opt/encrypted-models:/models/encrypted-model:ro
Attestation Verification
- name: Remote attestation workflow
hosts: tee_hosts
tasks:
- name: Generate attestation report
ansible.builtin.command: >
{{ attestation_tool }} generate-report
--nonce {{ lookup('password', '/dev/null length=32 chars=hexdigits') }}
register: attestation_report
no_log: true
- name: Verify attestation with service
ansible.builtin.uri:
url: "{{ attestation_service_url }}/verify"
method: POST
body_format: json
body:
report: "{{ attestation_report.stdout }}"
expected_measurements: "{{ expected_pcr_values }}"
headers:
Authorization: "Bearer {{ vault_attestation_token }}"
register: verification
no_log: true
- name: Assert attestation passed
ansible.builtin.assert:
that:
- verification.json.verified == true
fail_msg: "Attestation FAILED for {{ inventory_hostname }}!"
Fleet Compliance Audit
- name: Confidential computing compliance audit
hosts: all
become: true
tasks:
- name: Check TEE capability
ansible.builtin.set_fact:
tee_capable: >-
{{ ansible_processor | select('search', 'SGX|SEV') | list | length > 0 }}
- name: Check TEE enabled
ansible.builtin.shell: |
if [ -e /dev/sgx_enclave ]; then echo "sgx"; fi
if [ -e /dev/sev ]; then echo "sev"; fi
register: tee_enabled
changed_when: false
- name: Generate compliance report
ansible.builtin.set_fact:
cc_compliance:
host: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
tee_capable: "{{ tee_capable }}"
tee_active: "{{ tee_enabled.stdout_lines }}"
sensitive_workloads: "{{ sensitive_services | default([]) }}"
- name: Aggregate reports
ansible.builtin.template:
src: cc-compliance.j2
dest: /tmp/cc-compliance-report.json
delegate_to: localhost
run_once: true
Related Articles
- Ansible AI Security
- Ansible Post-Quantum Cryptography
- Ansible sysctl Module
- Ansible Compliance as Code
Conclusion
Confidential computing in 2026 protects data during processing — the last gap after encryption at rest and in transit. Ansible automates the full lifecycle: provisioning TEE hardware (SGX, SEV-SNP, TDX), configuring confidential VMs, enabling NVIDIA H100 confidential compute mode for AI workloads, running remote attestation, and auditing fleet compliance. As AI workloads move to shared infrastructure, confidential computing isn't optional — and Ansible makes it deployable at scale.