The need for configuration management systems is traced to an enterprise’s ability to control its IT and service resources. That’s while businesses integrate configuration management tools to track and control IT resources and services. In all, it proves that a company knows how its technology assets are set up and how they connect to each other. Let’s take a peep at what the configuration management systems are all about, examples of top best tools use for CM as well as its benefit to businesses.
What Are Configuration Management Systems?
Configuration management systems (CMS) are sets of tools and databases used to manage a customer’s IT infrastructure and services’ configuration data. We can also say that the configuration management systems let businesses define settings in a consistent way and then build and maintain them based on the baselines that were set. Generally, configuration management systems (CMS) have information about users, suppliers, locations, business units, and customers. It also contains tools that make it easy to manage, search and view data.
What Are The Key Features Of Configuration Management Systems?
The following are the primary features of configuration management systems (CMS) according to Oracle;
- Provides the required level of information
- Manages the assets of customers
- Makes it possible to export to CSV or MS Excel format
- Identifies Customer Assets
- Provides views of the inventory and summarized views at the management level
What Are The Key Benefits Of Configuration Management Systems (CMS)?
The following are some of the benefits of the configuration management systems;
- With configuration management systems, businesses can easily track and manage their assets which are also known as configuration items (CIs)
- It allows businesses to view customer-level statistics associated with a Configuration Item (CI).
You can save and retrieve the level of service (LOS). - It enables users to search for configuration items (CI) based on multiple criteria.
- It enables users to export lists of configuration items and their properties to CSV and MS Excel formats.
Configuration Management Tools
The management of configuration systems wouldn’t have been possible without tools. The traditional ways of attending to anything are always time-consuming and less productive. Luckily, there are tons of tools out there that help make the management of configuration systems easy. We will highlight these below, but before then, let’s get to see what these tools are.
What Are Configuration Management Tools?
Configuration management (CM) tools are software programs that make it easy to find, document, and keep track of changes in hardware, software, and devices in an IT environment. Generally, these are tools that show the system administrator all of the connected systems, how they work together, depend on each other, and how changes affect different parts of the system.
#1. Puppet Configuration Tool
First on our list of configuration management tools is Puppet. Puppet’s general uses include server setup, management, and deployment. It’s actually great for managing software configurations that are free to use. Puppet uses declarative languages like Ruby, to describe how the system is set up. It is set up in “modules,” and the “manifest” files hold the “desired-state goals” that keep everything working as it should.
Since Puppet is mostly model-driven, the learning curve isn’t as steep. A system administrator who has spent their whole career at the command line will find it much easier to understand JSON data structures in Puppet manifests than Ruby syntax.”
Puppets have two versions: the open source, which is absolutely free, and the puppet enterprise, which is free for just about 10 nodes.
What Are the Key Features of Puppet Configuration Tools?
Here are some of the most important features of Puppet configuration tools;
- Inspection of event
- Reporting and Keeping the Rules
- Orchestration
- Automatic Supply
- Get all-day enterprise support
#2. Ansible
Compared to Chef or Puppet, Ansible is still a babe. However, it is one of the best open-source tools for configuration management, deployment, orchestration, and automation. In fact, it comes with Linux distributions like Fedora. It helps automate IT infrastructure, like software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment, which leads to big gains in productivity. These amazing features are one of the reasons why it has gotten a good reputation among DevOps professionals. It’s also quite easy to use and manage.”
Another stunning feature is that Ansible can run the same command from the command line on more than one server and it can automate various tasks. If you want to get things done in a jiffy without agents’ help, trust Ansible.
What Are The Key Features Of Ansible?
The following are the primary features of Ansible;
- It doesn’t need an agent.
- It uses SSH to make connections secure.
- It follows a push-based architecture for sending configurations so that the user can control the changes made on servers.
- It can be used more than once.
- There isn’t much to learn.
#3. Juju
If you want free configuration management tools for your systems, you should check out Juju. Juju is an open-source tool whose main goal is to reduce the amount of work needed to run new software.
What Are The Key Features of JUJU?
The following are the key features of Juju in the management of configuration systems;
- JUJU allows integration and scaling to happen right away.
- Runs more than one PaaS.
- Provide software provisioning
- Kubernetes cluster deployment.
- Juju uses charm to solve almost all of the problems that come up when scaling a service.
#4. TeamCity Configuration Tool
Next on our list of configuration management systems tools is TeamCity. TeamCity is a management and continuous integration server based on the Java programming language.
It was built to take 3 agents at a time, and users can add more if they choose to. One astounding thing about TeamCity is that it can handle up to 100 build configurations (jobs) and can run an unlimited number of builds. Additionally, its bud tracker is accessible by all users.
What Are The Key Features Of TeamCity
The following are the primary features of the TeamCity configuration management tool;
- It has a feature that avoids code duplication.
- TeamCity supports building history.
- It creates technological awareness.
- TeamCity helps make integrations work.
- It is quite comprehensible.
- TeamCity gives you many ways to work with your server, customize it, and add to it.
- TeamCity provides support for integrations.
- There is also support for cloud integration.
#5. Rudder
If you’re out to get a list of the top most widely used configuration management tools, that list will be incomplete without Rudder. The Rudder is one of the most well-known and widely used free web-driven, role-based solutions, configurations, and audit management tools for automating system configuration and compliance across large IT organizations. It’s actually an all-in-one tool. Rudder’s server-side web interface is written in Scala, and its local agent is written in C. It has a unique asset-management function that can find nodes and their properties.
What Are The Key Features Of Rudder?
Rudder configuration management tool has the following features;
- It offers a very unique custom policy editor.
- It hosts the inventory.
- The Rudder tool has a Web interface that can be used to manage the nodes and set up policies.
- Rudder lets you talk to Rudder Server using the FULL REST API.
- Rudder makes easy administration tasks like installing or configuring run by themselves.
- The back of the rudder has GIT on it.
#6. Chef
Chef is a platform for automation that lets you set up and manage infrastructure. It uses Ruby and DSL to write its infrastructure code. The fascinating thing about these infrastructure codes is that tasks are done by writing code instead of doing them by hand. It manages servers that are in the cloud, on-premises, or even both. If you are cloud-agnostic, you can manage both the data center and the cloud at the same time, even if you switch cloud providers. Chef is based on a master-agent model, and a Chef installation needs both a master server and a workstation to control the master.
Others Include;
- CFEngine
- Saltstack
- Docker
- PowerShell DC
- SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor
- Auvik
What is an example of configuration management?
It is possible to preserve OS configuration files using configuration management. Examples of systems include Chef, Nix, Otter, Puppet, Quattor, SaltStack, Terraform, Pulumi, and Vagrant. To establish and maintain configuration, many of these systems use infrastructure as code.
What is CM and why is IT important?
System engineering technique known as configuration management (CM) establishes and maintains consistency between a product’s performance, functional, and physical attributes and its requirements, design, and operational data across the course of the product’s life.
Which type of tool is used for configuration management?
According to several experts, Ansible is the most widely used configuration management tool. It offers a straightforward automation solution that aids IT workers in avoiding tedious grunt work, freeing them to address more difficult development-oriented activities.
Who is responsible for configuration management?
The Configuration Management Plan will be created by the Project Manager and included in the Project Management plan. accountable for ensuring that everyone involved in the project is informed about and comprehends the Configuration Management Plan.
What is cm explain?
A unit of displacement (distance or length) in the cgs (centimeter/gram/second) system of units is the centimeter (abbreviated, cm). One linear inch is equal to approximately 2.54 centimeters, while one centimeter is equal to 0.01 meters.
What are SCCM tools?
An enterprise can manage, install, and secure devices and applications using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), a Windows program. In addition to other potential applications, administrators frequently utilize SCCM for software distribution, patch management, and endpoint security.
Configuration Management System PMP
What is PMP and what does it have to do with configuration management systems? PMP stands for Project Management Professional. The Project Management Professional (PMP) is the most important certification in the world for project management.
Now how does this relate to configuration systems management? The PMP includes predictive, agile, and hybrid approaches and shows that you know how to lead projects in any way. This means that anyone with a PMP certification is expected to understand the rudiments of managing configuration systems. Furthermore, the PMP is one certification that gives project leaders in all fields(including configuration systems management) a big boost in their careers and helps companies find the people they need to work smarter and better.
Finally, the PMP certification was made by project professionals for project professionals.
What Does Having the PMP Certification Mean?
Having the PMP certification is proof that you are the best when it comes to the following;
#1. People
In terms of being the best at people, it means focusing on the soft skills you need to lead a project team well in today’s changing world.
#2. Process
In terms of process, it means you put more emphasis on the technical aspects of managing projects well.
#3. Business Environment
In terms of the business environment, this means you have what it takes to build a connection between projects and organizational strategy.
In summary, the PMP certification shows that you have the skills employers want in a project leader.
What Are the Approaches to PMP certification?
The three most important parts of the new PMP are:
- Predictive
- Agile
- Hybrid
What Are The Main Purpose Of Configuration Management?
The goal of configuration management is to keep systems in the way that you want them to be.
What Is Configuration Management Example?
Ansible, Bcfg2, CFEngine, Chef, Nix, Otter, Puppet, Quattro, SaltStack, Terraform, Pulumi, and Vagrant are all examples of configuration management.
Which are The Best Configuration Management Tools?
- SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor.
- Auvik.
- CFEngine Configuration Tool.
- Puppet Configuration Tool.
- The CHEF Configuration Tool
- Ansible Configuration Tool.
- Saltstack Configuration Tool
- JUJU Configuration Tool
Who Is Responsible For Configuration Management?
The project Manager. The person in charge of configuration management puts it into place, keeps it up to date, and makes it better within the guidelines set by management.
What Are The Stages Of Configuration Management?
- Planning and Identification.
- Version Control and Baseline
- Change Control
- Configuration Status Accounting
- Audits and Reviews
Conclusion
While it’s true that configuration management is paramount and must be upheld by organizations, we must understand the need for privacy when integrating one. This should guide our decision when using configuration management tools.
Configuration Management Systems FAQs
What is the purpose of configuration management tools?
Configuration management tools speed up changes and deployments, eliminate the chance of human error, and make system management more consistent and scalable. They also let you know how your resources are doing and stop you from doing the same thing twice, like installing the same package twice.
Is git a configuration management tool?
Yes, it is. In fact, Git is one of the most important tools for configuration management at a higher level.
What is the first step of configuration management?
Planning and identification. The first step is to plan and figure out what needs to be done. In this step, the goal is to plan how the software project will be made and figure out what goes into the project’s scope.
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