Submitted by “This is a step by step tutorial on how to install the server component of Puppet (puppetmaster) on one machine, and the Puppet client (puppetd) on another. We then perform a simple test to make sure Puppet is working properly. If you’re not familiar with Puppet, it’s a configuration automation tool that allows you to centralize management of the various *nix flavors running on your network. Puppet supports central management of the important aspects of your systems, such as: files, packages, users, services, cron, mounts, etc.”
Than the article is because the first thing I thought of is how puppet compares to cfengine which is addressed here:
https://reductivelabs.com/trac/puppet/wiki/CfengineVsPuppet
The one difference I can see is that puppet does not run on Windows, which for some (I am one of those people) is a serious limitation.
I think their plans are ambitious, especially comparing themselves to commercial products like OpsWare (a product we looked at to capture configuration information across our networks). Whether puppet works as well as Reductive Labs says it does, I don’t know but seeing a FAQ listing concerning sementation faults does not inspire a great deal of confidence.
Sooo, you refuse to use this tool to manage *nix boxes because it does not run on Windows?
Makes sense to me. There are very few real world environments which are pure *nix. Being able to have one tool handling all your servers is at least in theory nicer and easier than having to use two.
That being said cfengine is far from perfect and if puppet is a significant improvement it could be worth using anyway.
Yes. I do not see how puppet can compare themselves to OpsWare considering OpsWare is truly multi-platform and has a GUI and puppet doesn’t.
But the operating systems are different enough that I don’t see a point in trying to support them using the same product.
I understand that people like to judge GPL software based on support for MS formats, but for a product that is designed for supporting *nix systems do you think you could cut it a little slack?
I work in three environments based on security classification and purpose. Most of the machines I manage are Solaris boxes, so either puppet or cfengine will work. However, the people I work for want an increasing Windows presence (for SharePoint) so that means the tool we select has to be multi-platform.
I just don’t see puppet as being mature enough to compare with cfengine or OpsWare (despite their claims to the opposite). We have also evaluated OpsWare and Tivoli for configuration management (majority of the machines are Windows) for our needs. OpsWare does not do workstations (a prime requirement for us).
It doesn’t make any difference whether the tools is GPL’ed or not, and it also doesn’t matter whether it runs on *nix or not. If the tool does not support all of the operating systems you use in an environment, it is useless.
And obviously Reductive Labs has been asked the question enough times for this response in their FAQ:
http://reductivelabs.com/trac/puppet/wiki/FrequentlyAskedQuestions#…
I am a Unix administrator, but I also work in a multi-platform world, so I pick the tools that work multi-platform. And puppet is not going to be one of those tools.
However, the people I work for want an increasing Windows presence (for SharePoint)
OMG. I shudder whenever I hear that name.
That’s my thought as well. The decision to use SharePoint is based mostly on cost, the other choice was WebSphere. The people who manage it don’t do “The Linux” or “The AIX” (their words, not mine).
However, the people I work for want an increasing Windows presence (for SharePoint)
OMG. I shudder whenever I hear that name
I just really don’t get the cash cow of Sharepoint. You can download Apache/PHP/MySQL for free, run them on Windows or Linux, and then install one of the nice FREE PHP content managers. My teen-age kids do that for their websites. It just not that hard. Why do people pour out so much cash for Sharepoint? It must be a mono-culture thing.
When all you know is “point and click” and it has to run in a GUI in order for you to administer it, that’s how you get stuck using Windows for everything.
All my kids know is point-n-click. They are Windows-only users, and yet thay can manage PHP CMS websites (PostNuke, PHP-Nuke). These CMS programs have a GUI for configuring everything.
They have also been exposed to it, the vast majority of Windows administrators I know haven’t.
Good point!
“OpsWare is truly multi-platform”
Really. That must be why I can’t run it on my OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD boxes.
So much for being “truly” multiplatform.
OK, so it doesn’t work with BSD (neither does Tivoli), but OpsWare supports Solaris, AIX, HP-UX and Linux and that’s multi-platform to me (and the vast majority of administrators):
http://www.opsware.com/Downloads/OSAS6_1DS.pdf