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

TechnologyVendorScopeUse Case
Intel SGXIntelApplication enclaveSpecific secrets processing
Intel TDXIntelFull VMConfidential VMs
AMD SEV-SNPAMDFull VMConfidential VMs
ARM CCAARMRealmMobile/edge confidential
NVIDIA H100 CCNVIDIAGPU TEEConfidential 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

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.