Tag: Automation

What is Puppet?

Puppet is a cross-platform client-server based application used for configuration management. It handles the software and its configurations on multiple servers. There are two versions available. One is open-source, the other is a commercial version. It works on both Linux and Windows platforms. It uses a declarative approach to automate updates, installations, and other tasks. This feature allows the software to configure those systems using files called manifests. A manifest contains the instructions for a group or type of server(s) being controlled. 

Introduction

Ansible is an IT automation tool intended to facilitate the management of remote servers. Ansible requires Python (version 2.7 or 3.5 and higher) to run. Ansible is run from a centralized control node and can manage any server accessible over SSH. Remote servers that are managed by Ansible are called managed nodes.

Introduction

Ansible is a system of configuration management written in Python programming language which uses a declarative markup language to describe configurations. It’s used for automation of configuration and OS setup. Ansible is often used to manage Linux-nodes, but Windows is also supported. It supports work with devices with Python v2.4 and higher installed through SSH connection. In this article, we are going to review the DevOps tool called Ansible.    

In this tutorial, we will be reviewing what the fundamental similarities and distinctions are between Kubernetes and Docker Swarm. Kubernetes and Docker are two of the major players in container orchestration. Both Kubernetes and Docker Swarm continue to grow in popularity as they are increasingly used by those working with container deployment, orchestration, and management. Across all vertical markets, businesses continue to find new methods of utilization and practice with more uses constantly being discovered.

The arrival of containerized software has drastically changed the landscape of web hosting, and web application provides. The simplification and speed that comes with containers make deploying services like websites so efficient that the traditional model of dedicated servers running specific web-based software is almost obsolete. This being said, there will always be a place for virtual server projects and dedicated servers handling specific tasks like HIPAA compliant hosting services.

What is Docker?

Docker is a containerization software that is used for automating the deployment and management of applications within an isolated environment. This software allows us to "pack" and ship an application, along with all of its needed files, libraries, and dependencies, into a "docker container". That container can then be easily ported to any Linux system that contain cgroups support within the kernel, and provides a container management environment. Docker is one of several containerization implementations (not to be confused with virtualization) based on this cgroups mechanisms built into the Linux kernel.

What is SaltStack?

SaltStack is an open-source infrastructure management platform built on a dynamic communications bus. The main structure of SaltStack contains two main components for work: one Salt Master and several Salt Minions. Salt Master is the main control system used to send commands to Salt Minion and their configuration. Salt Minions (they are also called Nodes) are subsystems that work on managed servers and receive commands from the master, as well as their configuration. At least two servers are required for interaction settings. One for the Master and one for the node. All nodes are configured in the same way.

Today, DevOps teams try to utilize automation as much as possible. This is to cut down on the sheer number of repeatable processes to limit man-hours worked, throttle development efforts, and to reduce the possibility of errors. This is also a business necessity to reduce overhead costs, increase the speed of the CI/CD process and increase customer satisfaction. There are multiple individual areas that need to be automated to have a fully autonomous infrastructure. Luckily, there are various tools we can take advantage of to help us automate our infrastructure and make sure we have well-developed DevOps processes. In this article we will go over the several of the best DevOps tools for our infrastructure systems.

What is Docker?

Before we begin, let's describe what Docker is. Docker is a set of virtualization tools that allows us to create, test, and deploy containerized applications quickly and easily on a dedicated server. It has become very popular and used almost everywhere in our daily lives. Thanks to containerization, we can quickly launch applications on different private cloud host platforms utilizing small bundles which contain all the needed packages, libraries and configuration file to run an application. These docker packages communicate via established network channels.