We're probably already working with Puppet, or we are planning to use it in the near future. In any case, we have to face the daunting task of automating the configuration and reproducing the state of a variable number of different servers.
Using Puppet for a server infrastructure involves analysis, planning, and decisions.
In this chapter, we will review the different aspects to be considered in our journey towards infrastructure automation:
The possible scenarios we might face can involve new setups, migrations, and updates of the existing systems
How we can manage Puppet migrations with a step–by-step approach divided in reiterated phases such as information gathering, priorities definition, an evaluation on how to proceed, coding, testing, applying the changes, and verifying their reports
The cultural and procedural changes that configuration management involves