Mastering Puppet for Large Infrastructures

Name: Mastering Puppet for Large Infrastructures
Rating: 4.2 (213 reviews)

Master Puppet and overcome issues faced in larger deployments with real-world examples

Created byPackt Publishing

Last updated 11/2017

English

What you'll learn

Initialize a code repository for your project and manage module dependencies
Configure Puppet server infrastructures by using different methodologies and components
Add features to achieve redundancy and optimize performance
Deploy specific storage components for servers to ensure fast and reliable data delivery
Implement orchestration using mcollective and Hiera for data management
Learn to trigger notifications and alerts for noteworthy Puppet events
Write efficient Puppet code tests and ensure proper code delivery to Puppet master servers
Utilize some best practices and tips on how to troubleshoot issues that might crop up

Course content

7 sections • 32 lectures • 4h 46m total length

The Course Overview2:36
This video provides an overview of the entire course.
Introducing Puppet and Terms Associated with Puppet17:53
Puppet is a configuration management tool; you use it to keep the configuration of your machines consistent. There are several terms used in a Puppet installation; we'll introduce those here.
Puppet Code, Puppet Servers, and Environments6:50
In this section, a detailed understanding of the different Puppet architectures will be provided, with emphasis on the difference between installation with Passenger and Puppet Server.
More about Puppet Servers and Environments7:15
We will learn how to initialize a code repository for our project and how to create appropriate branches for the same to be used in development, builds and tests later.
Git Control Repositories and r10K19:00
We will learn to use r10k to manage module dependencies in our project and see how they can be useful to automate deployments in the MPLI Productions Puppet infrastructure.

Creating a Puppet Server Machine from Scratch10:15
In this video, we will go through the typical installation of a PuppetServer machine in a standalone configuration. For convenience, we will refer to this machine as puppetca.
Expanding on Our Standalone Puppet CA Machine9:28
In this video, we are going to have one puppetca and two puppet master machines. The puppetca will act as a load balancer for our configuration.
Enterprise Configuration - Master of Master(MOM)7:32
In this video, we will modify our configuration to make the puppetca machine accessible directly.
Performance Tuning with Puppet Server5:47
In this video, we will learn how to tweak parameters in the Puppet configuration files to increase performance in Puppet client runs and in storing and retrieving Puppet metadata.

Understanding Storeconfigs and PuppetDB16:19
In this video, we will learn how to install and configure PuppetDB with a PostgreSQL database as the backend for better scalability in the MPLI Productions environment.
Exported Resources4:35
In this video, we will introduce the concept of exported resources and show some usage examples
PuppetDB's GUI4:42
In this video, we will learn how to utilize the default dashboard available with PuppetDB and how it can be used to visualize infrastructure data for MPLI Productions.
PuppetDB's API5:57
In this video, we will learn about the different API endpoints that PuppetDB provides and the type of information that we can utilize and manipulate from them.

Public Modules19:52
We will learn how to use already developed public modules and reuse them for tasks in MPLI productions.
Creating Our Own Custom Facts8:27
We will learn to create custom facts based on internal requirements for MPLI productions and use them to develop modules.
Running Our Own Custom Types9:21
We will learn how to go beyond the default types available with Puppet and write custom types for an MPLI Productions environment.
Using Heira12:28
We will understand what Hiera is and how to use it for data management for an MPLI Productions Puppet environment.
Using the 'ensure => absent'1:26
We will configure mcollective on the Puppet client nodes in MPLI Productions so that we can run remote commands and modules on the nodes using the same.

Setting Up Puppet for Reporting5:42
We will learn how to configure Puppet to enable reporting.
Foreman Reporter with Our Puppet Installation7:06
We will learn how to install, configure and manage the Foreman dashboard and integrate the Puppet masters for MPLI Productions with it.
PuppetDB to Store Reports3:30
We will learn how to configure various types of report processors for the dashboards and generate meaningful reports for the MPLI Productions infrastructure.
Using Report Processors to Monitor Systems4:13
We will learn how to identify and monitor Puppet events such as sync failures and raise alerts and notifications for them for MPLI Productions.

Testing and Troubleshooting8:19
We will learn how to install puppet-lint and use it to perform DSL syntax tests on the puppet code we have written for MPLI Productions.
Using rspec-puppet to Create Tests for Our Code10:46
In this video, we will learn to install rspec-puppet and write unit tests.
Beaker7:12
In this video, we will learn to install Beaker and write acceptance tests.
Test Kitchen13:59
We will learn to install Test Kitchen and bring all of the above mentioned tests together so that they can be run as a suite.
Jenkins12:02
We will learn to use the tests that we have written and build the Puppet code on Jenkins to be merged with the master branch of the repository.
APIs8:24
In this video, we will talk about the Puppet API and the Puppet CA API.
SSL Certificates10:15
In this video, we will discuss SSL certificates and X509 SSL certificates.
Metaparameters and Ordering9:35
In this video, we will discuss why does Puppet fail the first time then work fine the second or third time.
Using PRY to Inspect the Puppet Server5:58
In this video, we will use Pry to interrupt the Puppet server and inspect the running process.

Requirements

This video tutorial assumes intermediate-level knowledge of Puppet.

Description

Puppet is a configuration management system that automates all your IT configurations, giving you control of what you do to each node, when you do it, and how you do it.

This video course takes you from a basic knowledge of Puppet to an advanced level, where you'll master the latest and most advanced Puppet features. You will discover advanced techniques to deal with centralized and decentralized Puppet deployments and take control of your servers and desktops. This course will also present interesting examples illustrating how to automate Puppet deployment for configuration management and every aspect of your systems, including provisioning, deployment, and change management. By learning these skills, you will make Puppet reliant, scalable, and high-performing.

About The Author

Thomas Uphill is a long-time user of Puppet. He has presented Puppet tutorials at LOPSA-East, Cascada, and PuppetConf. He has also been a system administrator for over 20 years, working primarily with RedHat systems; he is currently a RedHat Certified Architect (RHCA). When not running the Puppet User Group of Seattle (PUGS), he volunteers for the LOPSA board and his local LOPSA chapter, SASAG.

Who this course is for:

This course targets system administrators and developers, particularly those working in production environments and looking for ways to use Puppet in enterprise environments.

Mastering Puppet for Large Infrastructures

What you'll learn

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Course content

Getting Started5 lectures • 54min

Architecting Puppet for Scalability, Redundancy, and Performance4 lectures • 33min

Using PuppetDB4 lectures • 32min

Extending Puppet Functionalities5 lectures • 52min

Puppet Reporting4 lectures • 21min

Testing and Troubleshooting9 lectures • 1hr 27min

Wrapping Up1 lecture • 10min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: