Centralizing Server and Workstation Provisioning, Configuration, and Management with Foreman and Puppet.

Abstract

As a lone system administrator, efficiency is key. As our Computer Science and Digital Forensics programs grew, and student enrollment continued to increase, one thing became clear: I needed a better way to control the provision / configure / management lifecycle of our servers and workstations. This paper will chronicle the journey from several disparate systems to a single console capable of managing the entire lifecycle of both servers and workstations. From Zero-touch provisioning of bare metal and virtual machines, to ensuring up-to-date configurations, as well as software deployment across both Windows and Linux systems alike.