Puppet

1

# Puppet is system administration — Automated.

2

1

3

1

By saving you countless hours of frustration, monotony, and/or

4

1

reinventing the wheel, Puppet can change your life. Here are some

5

1

key points about Puppet:

6

1

7

1

## Puppet speaks the local language

8

1

9

1

Puppet lets you perform normal administrative tasks (such as adding

10

1

users, installing packages, and updating server configurations) on

11

1

any number of systems, even if those systems are running completely

12

1

different operating systems. Through the use of providers, Puppet

13

1

takes a generic instruction from you (such as ensuring MySQL is

14

1

installed) and performs the task the "right way" for each system.

15

1

16

1

## Administer One Server or 1,000

17

1

18

1

Whether you have a small, heterogeneous network of user

19

1

workstations or a cluster of rack-mounted number-crunchers, Puppet

20

1

can help reduce your overhead and get the everyday management of

21

1

your network under control so you can concentrate on the real

22

1

problems.

23

1

24

1

## The Robustness of Open Source

25

1

26

1

Our commitment to developing Puppet as an Open Source product means

27

1

you'll always have free access to the latest version of Puppet's

28

1

source code. And because Puppet's source code is available to

29

1

anyone, community developers are continually contributing to the

30

1

stability and functionality of Puppet.

31

1

32

1

## Powerful, Flexible, Extensible

33

1

34

1

New providers and new functionality are being added to Puppet all

35

1

the time, and since Puppet's providers are written entirely in

36

1

Ruby, many developers already have a head start in writing their

37

1

own custom extensions — and because it's Open Source, developers

38

1

from around the world can contribute their solutions back to the

39

1

project, making everyone's existing solutions better.

40

1

41

1

## Facter Sets the Stage

42

1

43

1

Puppet uses Facter, a system assay tool, to get the lay of the

44

1

land. Facter produces a profile of each host, and makes system

45

1

information available to Puppet as variables. This will let you

46

1

categorize your systems by network, hostname, operating system or

47

1

hardware type without having to constantly update config files,

48

1

augment LDAP entries, or edit eye-crossing XML description

49

1

documents.

50

1

51

1

## Repeatable Configurations

52

1

53

1

By using Puppet's unique, declarative language to describe your

54

1

systems' configuration, you can easily reproduce any configuration

55

1

on any number of additional systems, sometimes without even

56

1

changing a single line of your Puppet manifest.

57

1

58

1

# How Does Puppet Work?

59

1

60

1

If you want a brief introduction to the way Puppet puppet changes

61

1

System Administration, look at our [[Big Picture]] .

62

1

63

1

# Want to Know More?

64

1

65

1

If you want to go deeper than the [[Big Picture]] , the [[Puppet

66

1

Introduction]] will give you a more in-depth description of what

67

1

Puppet does and what makes it special.

68

1

69

1

# Ready to start?

70

1

71

1

Ready to dig down and get your hands dirty? Then you are ready to

72

1

proceed to the [[Getting Started]] section.

73

1

74

1

# Where do I go for help?

75

1

76

1

If you are stuck, lost, curious, or just want to feel like part of

77

1

the community, check out the [[Getting Help]] section.

About Puppet