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https://github.com/pcfens/mabug2016


https://github.com/pcfens/mabug2016

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README 

        
## Configuration Management to Encourage Collaboration and Avoid Repetition



Phil Fenstermacher



[email protected]



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## Who am I?



Systems Engineer for ~6 years



Fan of automation and old keyboards 



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## Configuration Management

* A tool to manage and enforce server/software configurations

* Popular options include Chef, Salt, Ansible, and Puppet (we use Puppet).

* For the sake of this discussion, they're kept in code 



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![Model M](keyboard.jpg "Model M")

The only clicky-clicky that goes on



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## Collaboration

Working across traditional silos (e.g. Banner Software Team and operations)



Note:

Next piece is discuss why we need these things



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## Configuration Management

Keeping configuration in code lets us:

* keep it in SCM

* test it

* roll back when I break something



Note: Testing is important because it lets you move faster with greater confidence



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## Collaboration/Shared Risks



* Shared risks reduce overall risks

* Fewer issues

* Faster recovery from issues



Note: State of devops report is an interesting read on how IT performance can be

measured in terms of these things



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## Repetition

* It's boring: when people get bored they start to make mistakes

* Time spent not solving problems you still have



Note:

* Computers are good at repeating things without fatigue



* Banner web tier machines were set up manually, supposedly identically,

but they were different, one was broken, and nobody knew why



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## On the ops team

* Configuration Management data is kept in git

* On a push to git, tests are run

* If tests pass, the new config is deployed to our puppet server for enforcement

* Failure is announced in the group chat



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## On other teams

* A change is proposed using a git merge request

* Operations looks at the code to see if it should be merged

* Tests are run on the MR

* Merged code that passes tests are deployed automatically



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## Testing

* Static analysis

* Unit/Spec Testing

* Acceptance Testing



Note: Useful for collaborating with untrusted groups



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## Static Analysis



* File/folder structure

* Basic Syntax

* Style/Lint Checking



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## Unit/Spec Testing



* Test output with a known input

* Catches logic errors in complex situations



Note: Compiles everything - useful for upgrade testing



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## Acceptance Testing



* Apply configuration to a machine/container and test for success



Note: What beyond ability to collaborate safely?



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## Other Gains



* Backup data only, not full systems

* Copy paste infrastructure

* Writing documentation == configuring servers 



Note: Discuss the piece running in AWS



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## Everything in git



* VM Templates are built using packer

* Documentation lives with the code



Note: Docs must be markdown or plaintext - viewable in vi is a must



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## Getting Here



* 5 Years

* Small Goals 

* Build the Culture 



Note: Tooling has come a long way, much easier to do full testing today



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## What Next?



* Device/Appliance Configuration

* Existence of resources

* Running containers



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[github.com/pcfens/mabug2016](https://github.com/pcfens/mabug2016)



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## Demo Time