Learning Puppet for Windows Server

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

About This Book

• Learn to install and implement a Puppet server for Windows administration
• Script Puppet manifests, functions, templates and facts for Windows
• A step-by-step guide that helps you to make your Windows environment more secure with Puppet

Who This Book Is 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 user-friendly 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

In Detail

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.

Style and approach

This book uses a step-by-step and easy-to-learn approach that helps make your Windows environment manageable with Puppet. Each chapter is explained in detail and with many screenshots. Almost all the scenarios and examples are taken from real-world scenarios.