Manual Configuration

Pros:

• Hands-on management
• Customize each computer


• Others?

Manual Configuration

Cons:

• Labor intensive
• Inconsistent configuration
• Updates are applied per-machine


• Others?

Make

• Tool for automatically building software
• Allows definition of different build environments and outputs
• Helps users manage large software projects

Defined Configuration

• Reduce the configuration to a list
• Make each item a high-level idea
• System-agnostic
• A sysadmin could follow the list

Defined Configuration

• Reduce the configuration to a list
• Make each item a high-level idea
• System-agnostic
• A sysadmin could follow the list
• Or, a piece of software could, too

Configuration Management

• Create a Defined Configuration
• Use automated tools to apply configuration
• Think of a system configuration as "software"
• 40% of IT downtime due to sysadmin errors

Configuration Management

Tools:

• CFEngine
• Chef
• Bcfg2
• Puppet

CFEngine

• Started in 1993
• Created by post-doc researcher Mark Burgess in Norway
• Used to automate management of workstations
• He realized there was very little work done in that area

CFEngine

• Burgess continued research for the next 20 years
• Ideas such as "Computer Immunology" and "Promise Theory"
• Many other competing products today

Puppet

• System components defined as "resources"
• "Manifest" files define a "state"
• Puppet enforces that state on each machine
• Puppet can also report "facts" about each machine's configuration

Installing Puppet

• Download Puppet Enterprise
• https://puppetlabs.com/download-puppet-enterprise-all
• http://puppetlabs.com/misc/pe-files/agent-downloads
• You'll need to use Ubuntu 14.04 or another supported Linux distribution
• Windows 8 is supported (agent only)

Installing Puppet

• For Lab 2, you only need to install Puppet Agent
• Create a manifest file to enforce a defined state for each machine
• You may create 2 seperate files for each OS

Learning Puppet

• https://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/introduction.html

• http://docs.puppetlabs.com/guides/installation.html

• https://docs.puppetlabs.com/puppet/latest/reference/

• More are listed on the Lab 2 sheet

Learning Puppet

• Download their learning VM to test it for yourself
• Use VMWare snapshots to help with testing

Assignments

• Lab 2 - Configuration Management - Due Monday, Feb 23rd by 12:30 PM
• Automate configuration using Puppet
• Turn in:
  • CIS Transient Storage
  • via Storage Media in class Monday Feb 23rd