Bring order to the system jungle with Foreman
Conclusions
When I first became aware of Foreman as a UI for Puppet, I was pleasantly surprised that it could do so much. Foreman is the basis of Red Hat Satellite 6 and is also used in large installations such as eBay, which confirms my positive impression [2]. Some workflows need a bit of getting used to the first time you use them, but the actual work is no trouble once you understand them.
You will almost always receive prompt and competent response to problems in the IRC channel #theforeman on irc.freenode.net. Plugins for SaltStack and Chef make it possible for users of other orchestration solutions to use Foreman as well.
The project's lively community also contributes gems such as the Discovery plugin, which boots a mini-system on bare metal servers via PXE boot to populate the Foreman inventory. After the boot, you then know the MAC addresses and hardware conditions and can plan the new rack in the server room without ever having to set foot in the datacenter.
Reading the documentation is recommended, however, because manual configuration is sometimes required (e.g., on the DHCP server to create vendor spaces for Juniper or Sun). Studying the logfiles is often necessary, such as when you see an error message like Does not work returned by the web UI. As a whole, Foreman is a praiseworthy tool that can simplify everyday life tremendously at the datacenter.
Infos
- Foreman: http://www.theforeman.org
- Presentation at Puppetconf: http://www.slideshare.net/PuppetLabs/puppet-availability-and-performance-at-100k-nodes-puppetconf-2014
« Previous 1 2 3 4
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.