DevOps engineers and administrators often need to work on consistent servers. It is paramount for these professionals to change and provision multiple servers simultaneously with consistent configurations. Remember that the reliability of your infrastructure will depend on it.
You will come across multiple configuration management platforms to solve this issue. Two of them are Ansible and Puppet. But DevOps professionals find it difficult to pick one between the two configuration platforms.
So, we have decided to put together some points related to Ansible vs. Puppet. Hopefully, you will be able to pick one configuration platform at the end of the comparison between Ansible and Puppet. So, let’s get started.
Overview of Ansible
It is effective for automation and setting up an application. The setup method is easy and doesn’t rely on any additional software, client daemons, or servers. Between Ansible and Puppet, the former is primarily used as a DevOps tool and can deal with many duties that are usually time-consuming, repetitive, and complex.
Overview of Puppet
Between Ansible and Puppet, Puppet is an open-source management platform. It is an effective administration and deployment tool. Puppet is usually used with Windows and Linux to operate a few utility servers simultaneously. Puppet is free and can be changed and customized. Users get a full device with core CM performance and abilities.
Comparing Ansible and Puppet
Let’s consider some aspects to understand the difference between Ansible and Puppet. But if you want to know more about the two configuration management platforms, you should check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1s16cYzC10
● Ease of Use
Ansible can be set up easily and quickly. The playbooks are written using YAML, a familiar and user-friendly language. Users will be able to pick up Ansible faster than Puppet.
Puppet uses a Ruby-adjacent language because of its PuppetDSL. The client-server architecture makes Puppet time-consuming to set up. Time is required to approve all managed nodes or to automate the approval of nodes.
● Flexibility
Apart from speed and ease-of-use setup, we need to consider various other factors to compare Ansible vs Puppet. The flexibility of the two configuration platforms is highly significant when comparing them. Puppet’s manifests have a competitive edge over Ansible’s playbooks.
Ansible’s playbooks include a list of commands that must be run in order. But the manifests and modules of Puppet are reusable segments that can be used modularly and run in any order.
Puppet operates a ‘puppet apply’ every fifteen or a duration you choose. It will ensure that your servers get enforced during the whole day. It supports Puppet’s ability to work as a compliance automation tool.
● Platform Maturity
An advantage of Puppet is maturity. Puppet came seven years before Ansible. But when you compare Ansible vs Puppet, you should know that Red Hat backs up Ansible. Meanwhile, Puppet is owned by a private company and can be a blessing for some users.
Ansible always had clear goals and precise implementation. When users stay away from Ansible for a long time, it’s not difficult to get back to it. But sometimes Puppet users seem to stand on shifting ground.
Suppose you have used Puppet 3 and stopped at Puppet 4. If you try to get back to Puppet 6 without using Puppet 5, it feels like you will have to learn everything from scratch. This experience is not expected with other configuration management platforms.
The difference in the number of resource types between Puppet 5.5 and Puppet 6.22 is evidence of that. While Puppet 5.5 has 48, Puppet 6.22 and beyond have 12. These changes aren’t necessarily bad. But it is important to note that Puppet has undergone several substantial changes throughout its lifetime when comparing Ansible and Puppet.
Difference between Ansible and Puppet: a Tabular Representation
You can understand the difference between Ansible and Puppet from this table.
| Aspect | Ansible | Puppet |
| Written Using | Python | Ruby, Clojure, C++ |
| Architecture | Control node Clientless over SSH | Client/Server The client needs to be approved by the server |
| Installation Method | Can be installed only on control mode | Long installation process Packages can be installed on both the server and client side |
| CM Language Style | Procedural | Declarative |
| Configuration Management Language | YAML | PuppetDSL |
| Extensible | Extensible in all languages that have JSON output | Extensible in Ruby |
| Ease of Use | Existing YAML language is useful Playbooks are written for the ease of the user | PuppetDSL is Ruby-based but also has its own domain-specific language Puppet is more system-oriented |
| Properties | Configuration management, provisioning, deployment, continuous delivery, orchestration automation | Configuration management, provisioning, orchestration, remediation, event-driven automation, compliance |
Puppet: pros and cons
Pros:
- Easy to install
- Graphical User Interface and Command Line Interface
- Support for all primary operating systems
Cons:
- Responds slowly
- Lacks lifecycle management
- Tough for beginners
Ansible: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Open source
- Easy to learn
- No dependency on agents
Cons:
- Complex data structures
- Inability to handle large data sets
- Limited windows support
Ansible Vs Puppet: which is better?
While comparing Ansible vs. Puppet, it’s difficult to choose the best. But you need to determine your needs to understand which platform is better for you. Before considering the differences and choosing one, you should be hands-on with both platforms.
Apart from Ansible and Puppet, you can also consider other options like Salt, Chet, or Terraform according to your needs. But both Ansible and Puppet are highly scalable platforms and support automation. The two platforms offer cloud provisioning functionalities, extensive enterprise support and offerings, and more.
Ansible has a lower entry barrier than Puppet. But Puppet’s DSL demands more time to learn because of its declarative language. In a nutshell, both Ansible and Puppet are perfect for keeping your configuration management up and running.
Wrapping up
Both configuration platforms are pretty useful. It won’t hurt to learn in detail about the platforms. So, watch videos, read blogs, or enroll in a course to learn more about Ansible and Puppet.
