Configuration Management

Warning This guide is targeted at Chef 11. The Chef 12 platform introduces some significant configuration differences. You can find a guide on how to set up a Chef 12 server, workstation, and node here.

Introduction> Introduction # Ansible is a powerful configuration management system used to set up and manage infrastructure and applications in varied environments. While Ansible provides easy-to-read syntax, flexible workflows, and powerful tooling, it can be challenging to manage large numbers of hosts when they vary by deployment environment and functionality.

Introduction> Introduction # Chef is a configuration management system designed to allow you to automate and control vast numbers of computers in an automated, reliable, and scalable manner. In previous tutorials, we have looked at some common Chef terminology and discussed how to install a Chef server, workstation, and nodes (with Chef 12 or Chef 11).

Introduction> Introduction # As a broader subject, configuration management (CM) refers to the process of systematically handling changes to a system in a way that it maintains integrity over time. Even though this process was not originated in the IT industry, the term is broadly used to refer to server configuration management.

The author selected the Internet Archive to receive a donation as part of the Write for DOnations program. Introduction> Introduction # The Elastic Stack — formerly known as the ELK Stack — is a collection of open-source software produced by Elastic which allows you to search, analyze, and visualize logs generated from any source in any format, a practice known as centralized logging.

Introduction> Introduction # Let’s automate things. Everything. Let’s also figure out a way to do this using a single tool. One that is easy to program, easy to use. And why not do all this with nothing but SSH installed on the remote machine – all commands scripted at a single location for executing locally or on any number of various servers.

Status: Deprecated> Status: Deprecated # This article covers a version of Ubuntu that is no longer supported. If you are currently operate a server running Ubuntu 12.04, we highly recommend upgrading or migrating to a supported version of Ubuntu:

Introduction> Introduction # For an introduction to Git and how to install, please refer to the introduction tutorial. This article will teach you how to use Git when you want to deploy your application.

Introduction> Introduction # After setting up Puppet in an agent/master configuration, you may need some help writing Puppet manifests and modules. In order to use Puppet effectively, you must understand how manifests and modules are constructed.

Introduction> Introduction # Configuration management systems are designed to streamline the process of controlling large numbers of servers, for administrators and operations teams. They allow you to control many different systems in an automated way from one central location.

Introduction> Introduction # Foreman is an open source tool that can help with the management of servers, by providing an easy way to interact with Puppet (or Chef) to automate tasks and application deployment.

Introduction> Introduction # Apache is one of the most popular web servers currently used on the Internet. It is easy to set up and configure on Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Debian, as it comes in the package repositories and includes a default configuration that works out of the box.

Introduction> Introduction # Terraform is a tool for building and managing infrastructure in an organized way. You can use it to manage DigitalOcean Droplets, Load Balancers, and even DNS entries, in addition to a large variety of services offered by other providers.

Introduction> Introduction # In a traditional mutable server infrastructure, servers are continually updated and modified in place. Engineers and administrators working with this kind of infrastructure can SSH into their servers, upgrade or downgrade packages manually, tweak configuration files on a server-by-server basis, and deploy new code directly onto existing servers.

Introduction> Introduction # As you build out your infrastructure, managing your many servers, services, users, and applications can become unwieldy very quickly. Configuration management systems can be used to help you manage this confusion.

Introduction> Introduction # Ansible Vault is a feature that allows users to encrypt values and data structures within Ansible projects. This provides the ability to secure any sensitive data that is necessary to successfully run Ansible plays but should not be publicly visible, like passwords or private keys.

Introduction> Introduction # Configuration management systems are designed to make controlling large numbers of servers easy for administrators and operations teams. They allow you to control many different systems in an automated way from one central location.

Note: A newer version of this tutorial, which uses Puppet Server instead of Puppet with Passenger, can be found here: How To Install Puppet 4 in a Master-Agent Setup on Ubuntu 14.

Introduction> Introduction # Once your application is up and running in a cloud server environment, you may be wondering how you can improve your server environment to make the leap from “it works” to a full-fledged production environment.

Status: Deprecated> Status: Deprecated # This article covers a version of Ubuntu that is no longer supported. If you are currently operate a server running Ubuntu 12.04, we highly recommend upgrading or migrating to a supported version of Ubuntu: