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Learning Puppet for Windows Server
Learning Puppet for Windows Server

Learning Puppet for Windows Server: Organize your Windows environment using Puppet tools to unload administrative burdens in a short time!

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Learning Puppet for Windows Server

Chapter 2. Installing Puppet Agents

In the previous chapter, we completed the setup of our Puppet Master server. So far, this has been purely in Linux. From now on, we will mostly deal with Windows, Foreman GUI, and Puppet Master. In this chapter, we will learn how to:

  • Install the Puppet agent
  • Modify the installation file
  • Use third-party software to install the Puppet agent on multiple hosts
  • Use a domain controller to install Puppet on multiple agents

The first step is to install a Puppet agent on a host computer and make the necessary configurations, so that the host and server can have a connection.

Downloading and installing the Puppet agent

This is a very easy step. We just need to log in to one of our Windows servers or clients, and install the Puppet agent. You can download the latest installation file from https://downloads.puppetlabs.com/windows/. Always download the latest version that is compatible with your server. Make sure that the version number of your agent is not greater than your Puppet Master's version.

You can check your Puppet's version in Puppet Master using the following command:

$ puppet --version

Finally, download the correct version that is supported by your server/client, that is, 32 bits or 64 bits.

After the download, you need administrative rights to install the software. Just double-click and install the agent using the Next, Install, and, Finish buttons. You just need to enter the FQDN of the server correctly, as shown in the following screenshot:

Downloading and installing the Puppet agent

After the installation, we can check whether everything has proceeded fine. Normally, you do not need...

Installing the Puppet agent on multiple clients

After looking at how to install the Puppet agent on one Windows host, it may occur to you that installing the agent on each host manually will be really cumbersome, if you have hundreds or thousands of hosts. In this section, we will deal with the different options of installing the agent on multiple hosts.

Here are some options, as follows:

  • You can use third-party software
  • You can use the domain controller
  • You can use the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

Modifying the MSI file

As we are sticking to free tools to get things done, it is hard to find a software that is capable of modifying the MSI settings and sending the installation to multiple hosts. However, if you have a configured MSI file to use, it is reasonable to use a free or shareware software.

In this section, we will modify the Puppet agent installation MSI, so that it includes the FQDN server. After this, we can silently push the installation and it can run in the background...

Managing the node certificates

One of the important areas that we need to cover is the management of the host certificates. Puppet uses certificates for a secure connection between the Puppet Master and the hosts. Without signing the certificates, it is not possible to manage any host. For the management of the certificates, we have the following two options:

  • Using the Foreman UI
  • Using the Puppet Master server terminal with SSH

Displaying the certificates

Let's start with the Foreman UI, which we are already familiar with. In the previous section, Signing the certificate, we already added a host and signed its certificate. To refresh our memory, let's do it again.

Go to Infrastructure | Smart Proxies from the top menu. In the next screen, click on Certificates. As you can see in the following screenshot, we have four hosts at the moment. One of them has been already signed and the others are waiting to be signed:

Displaying the certificates

Now, let's check this from the terminal. The commands are as follows...

The host groups

The host groups are used for the management of different computer groups. For example, we can create a group for the servers and another group for the clients, or we can create different groups for each department such as finance, human resources, and information technology. If you have different needs for different hosts, then it makes sense to create groups and assign the relevant hosts to them.

For our example, we will keep it simple and create two host groups for the servers and the clients. After this, we will also create subgroups.

Managing the host groups

From the top menu, we select Configure | Host Groups. From the new screen, we select the New Host Group button. We need to fill the following:

  • Name: Name of the group.
  • Environment: We only have the production environment at the moment, and we are selecting it.
  • Puppet CA: This is the server for the Puppet certificate authority server. In our case, it is same as the Puppet Master.
  • Puppet Master: This is the Puppet server...

Summary

In this chapter, we first learned how to install Puppet agents on a single computer. Next, we learned how to modify an MSI package, so that we can use it for a silent install. After this, we used the MSI file to install the Puppet agents on multiple hosts using either third-party software or domain group policy.

After finishing the installations, we continued with the management of the host certificates. Finally, we learned how to manage the host groups.

In the next chapter, we will begin to write our first modules to manage the hosts.

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Description

Puppet is a configuration management tool. It allows you to automate all your IT configurations by giving you control of what you do to each “node” (Puppet agent), focusing also on when and how you do it. In context, Puppet is a cross-platform tool that is widely used for Unix-like and Microsoft Windows systems declaratively. However, it has been used more popularly for Unix-like systems. This book provides insights into using Puppet for Windows administration tasks such as server setup, application updates, and service management. This book kicks off with the fundamentals of Puppet by helping you with the installation of Puppet on a Windows server and progresses with the introduction of the Foreman interface for managing Puppet nodes. Next, you deal with the installation of Puppet agents on multiple clients and how to connect them to your Puppet server by grouping your nodes for easy management. You then become familiarized with the scripting of Puppet manifests along with an understanding of the module structure in Puppet. You further move on to the installation of Puppet Forge Modules and their usage in Windows along with advanced topics such as facts, functions and templates. Moreover, you also venture into the security aspects for Windows by gaining insights into various security settings that will make your server and clients more secure from hackers using different attack vectors. You will also use Puppet and Chocolatey to install and update software. You finally round off by learning how to check the details of reporting and status monitoring along with the automation of installing and updating software for multiple Windows clients arming you with ample artillery to tame Puppet for your future projects.

Who is this book for?

This book is for Windows administrators who are looking for ways to automate management tasks of Windows servers and clients. Prior experience in Windows administration and a basic knowledge of Linux and Puppet will help you create wonders using this book.

What you will learn

  • Install Puppet on a Windows server and Foreman interface to have a userfriendly Puppet working environment
  • Discover how to install Puppet agents to single or multiple computers and get your hosts connected to Puppetmaster in one shot
  • Understand all about creating modules, writing manifests, managing files, services and, users in Puppet
  • Learn how to install Puppet Forge modules to complete tasks such as registry management, ACL, and firewall.
  • Explore the usage of Puppet facts, functions and modules to have a deeper understanding of how Puppet functions
  • Manage installation and updates of third party software using Puppet with Chocolatey to completely forgo the manual update chores in your daily plan
  • Use Puppet for Windows security to have a more secure environment
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Publication date : Aug 24, 2015
Length: 234 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785281877
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Length: 234 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785281877
Vendor :
Puppet
Tools :

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
1. Installing Puppet Server and Foreman Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Installing Puppet Agents Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Your First Modules Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Puppet Forge Modules for Windows Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Puppet Facts, Functions, and Templates Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Using Puppet for Windows Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Reporting and Monitoring Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Installing Software and Updates Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.8
(4 Ratings)
5 star 25%
4 star 25%
3 star 50%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Fuat Ulugay Sep 10, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I am the writer of the book. From my point of view even the newcomers can have a good start with this book.The book shows how to do things and does not go too deep into theory. So there are most of step by step details with screenshots showing how to do things.You will start with installation and config of server and after that continue with bulk management of clients. The book starts with basics and continues with more advanced topics. It tries to solve many challenges we meet in Windows environment.I believe that it will be a great help for administrators who want to use Puppet for Windows environment.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
T.M. Dec 06, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
After explaining how to install the Puppet server and to deploy the agent, this book covers almost all the tasks of system administration : managing files, users, services and software packages. Many examples of more complex tasks using Ruby scripting are also provided. This book is clearly written and easy to read. I recommend it for system administrators to start using a devops solution.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
double Oct 11, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
Currently going through the book, enough detail to get you where you want to be, I like that you're not lectured with theory. However, there are spacing errors in almost all of the command line entries so pay close attention. I.e. "sudonano" should be "sudo nano", "classhelloworld" should be "class helloworld". I'm sure it was an issue with printing, one would think that would be checked before printing in volumes. Luckily I know enough about Linux command line to get through it.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Annonymous Dec 15, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
I think this a great book though I didnt get very far as I couldn't get foreman working which stopped me in my tracks.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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