commit 6938ef75f35e83f75276a31e5fbbe91d0b22def1 Author: ministicraft Date: Mon Apr 13 20:06:38 2026 +0200 first commit diff --git a/index.html b/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1085efb --- /dev/null +++ b/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,435 @@ + + + + + + Configuration as Code — Puppet vs Ansible vs Terraform + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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⚙️ Configuration as Code

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Puppet · Ansible · Terraform
— What's the difference and when to use what? —

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Finistère Dev Meetup · 2026

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📋 Agenda

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+
01
What is Configuration as Code?
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02
The IaC landscape
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03
Puppet — Declare your state
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04
Ansible — Automate everything
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05
Terraform — Provision infrastructure
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06
Comparison & when to use what
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🤔 What is Configuration as Code?

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+ Managing infrastructure and system configuration through machine-readable files stored in version control — just like application code. +
+
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  • ✅ Reproducible — same result every time
    • +
  • ✅ Versionable — Git history, pull requests, rollbacks
    • +
  • ✅ Auditable — who changed what, and when
    • +
  • ✅ Scalable — apply to 1 or 10 000 servers identically
    • +
  • ✅ Collaborative — code review, CI/CD pipelines
    • +
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🌍 The IaC Landscape

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Three main problem spaces:

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🐾 Configuration
Management

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  • Install / configure software
    • +
  • Enforce desired state on servers
    • +
  • Puppet, Chef, Salt
    • +
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⚡ Orchestration &
Automation

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  • Run tasks across many hosts
    • +
  • Deploy apps, pipelines
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  • Ansible, Fabric
    • +
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🏗️ Infrastructure
Provisioning

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  • Create VMs, networks, DNS…
    • +
  • Cloud-agnostic
    • +
  • Terraform, Pulumi, OpenTofu
    • +
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🐾 Puppet Configuration Management

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    +
  • Born: 2005 — one of the oldest IaC tools
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  • Language: Puppet DSL (Ruby-based) or YAML (Hiera)
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  • Model: Pull — agents poll a central Puppet Server every 30 min
    • +
  • Approach: Declarative — you describe the desired state
    • +
  • Agent required: Yes (puppet-agent on each node)
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+ 💡 Great for large fleets where continuous compliance and drift detection matter. +
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🐾 Puppet — Example

+ 

+# manifests/webserver.pp
+class webserver {
+  package { 'nginx':
+    ensure => installed,
+  }
+
+  file { '/etc/nginx/nginx.conf':
+    ensure  => file,
+    content => template('webserver/nginx.conf.erb'),
+    notify  => Service['nginx'],
+  }
+
+  service { 'nginx':
+    ensure  => running,
+    enable  => true,
+  }
+}
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+

🔁 Run again → idempotent: only changes what diverged from the desired state

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⚡ Ansible Automation & Orchestration

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  • Born: 2012, acquired by Red Hat in 2015
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  • Language: YAML (Playbooks)
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  • Model: Push — the control node connects via SSH
    • +
  • Approach: Procedural (tasks run in order) with idempotent modules
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  • Agent required: No — agentless, just Python + SSH
    • +
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+ 💡 Great for ad-hoc tasks, app deployments, and quick automation without setup overhead. +
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+ + +
+

⚡ Ansible — Example

+ 

+# playbook/webserver.yml
+- name: Configure web server
+  hosts: webservers
+  become: true
+
+  tasks:
+    - name: Install nginx
+      ansible.builtin.package:
+        name: nginx
+        state: present
+
+    - name: Copy nginx config
+      ansible.builtin.template:
+        src: nginx.conf.j2
+        dest: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
+      notify: Restart nginx
+
+    - name: Ensure nginx is running
+      ansible.builtin.service:
+        name: nginx
+        state: started
+        enabled: true
+
+  handlers:
+    - name: Restart nginx
+      ansible.builtin.service:
+        name: nginx
+        state: restarted
+
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🏗️ Terraform Infrastructure Provisioning

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    +
  • Born: 2014 by HashiCorp (open-source fork: OpenTofu)
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  • Language: HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language)
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  • Model: Plan → Apply — preview changes before applying
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  • Approach: Declarative — describe your infrastructure graph
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  • Agent required: No — uses provider APIs (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)
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+ 💡 Great for creating and managing cloud resources — VMs, networks, DNS, databases… +
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🏗️ Terraform — Example

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+# main.tf
+terraform {
+  required_providers {
+    aws = { source = "hashicorp/aws", version = "~> 5.0" }
+  }
+}
+
+provider "aws" { region = "eu-west-3" }
+
+resource "aws_instance" "web" {
+  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
+  instance_type = "t3.micro"
+
+  tags = { Name = "meetup-webserver" }
+}
+
+output "public_ip" {
+  value = aws_instance.web.public_ip
+}
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+

🗺️ terraform plan shows a diff · terraform apply creates resources · terraform destroy removes them

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📊 Comparison at a Glance

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🐾 Puppet⚡ Ansible🏗️ Terraform
Primary focusConfig managementAutomation / OrchestrationInfrastructure provisioning
LanguagePuppet DSLYAMLHCL
ApproachDeclarativeProcedural + idempotentDeclarative
Push / PullPullPushPush (via API)
Agent neededYesNoNo
State fileCatalog (server)None (stateless)Yes (.tfstate)
Cloud resourcesLimitedYes (modules)Excellent
Learning curveHighLowMedium
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🎯 When to Use What?

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🐾 Use Puppet when…

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  • Large fleet (100s–1000s of servers)
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  • Continuous compliance / drift detection
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  • Enterprise, strict governance
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  • Long-running servers (pets)
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⚡ Use Ansible when…

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  • Agentless is a must
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  • Quick automation or one-off tasks
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  • App deployment & pipelines
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  • Already using Red Hat / AWX
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🏗️ Use Terraform when…

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  • Creating cloud infrastructure
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  • Multi-cloud or hybrid environments
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  • Preview changes before applying
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  • Immutable infra (cattle, not pets)
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🤝 They Work Together!

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+ These tools are complementary, not mutually exclusive. +
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A common real-world stack:

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  1. Terraform provisions the VM on AWS/Azure/GCP
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  2. Ansible bootstraps the OS, installs base packages, deploys the app
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  3. Puppet continuously enforces compliance and manages config drift
    4. +
+

+ → Right tool for the right layer of the stack +

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💡 Key Takeaways

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  • Configuration as Code → reproducible, auditable, scalable infrastructure
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  • Puppet — continuous compliance on large server fleets (pull, agent)
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  • Ansible — agentless automation & orchestration (push, YAML)
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  • Terraform — cloud infrastructure provisioning (plan/apply, HCL)
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  • They complement each other — choose based on the layer of your stack
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🙋 Questions?

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Thank you!

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+ Slides made with Reveal.js
+ Finistère Dev Meetup · 2026 +

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