Chapter 1. Configuration management with Puppet in Satellite

Puppet uses a server-agent architecture. OpenVox server communicates with OpenVox agents on hosts registered to Satellite to manage the Puppet configuration of these hosts. Satellite components integrate with that architecture to provide configuration management capabilities in Satellite.

Puppet architecture in Satellite comprises the following components:

On each run, the OpenVox agent collects Puppet facts about the host and sends them to the OpenVox server. The OpenVox server forwards those facts to Satellite.

Satellite acts as an external node classifier (ENC) for the OpenVox server. Based on the facts and other definitions Satellite receives from the OpenVox server, Satellite constructs the ENC answer to the OpenVox server.

Based on the ENC answer, the OpenVox server compiles a catalog for the host and sends it to the agent.

The agent evaluates the system state on the host. If the agent finds differences between the desired state defined in the catalog and the actual state, known as drifts, it enforces correction of the state of the host.

The agent reports correction results back to the OpenVox server. The OpenVox server receives correction results from the agent and reports them to Satellite.

If the Puppet modules you are using support the use of parameters, you can override parameters of the module by using Smart Class parameters in Satellite. In Satellite, you define the parameters as key-value pairs, which behave similar to host parameters or Ansible variables.

After you deploy an OpenVox agent on a host, use Satellite to manage Puppet modules, import classes, set parameter overrides, and assign classes to hosts so configuration is applied automatically or on demand.

Configuration management with Puppet involves the following high-level steps:

After assigning Puppet classes or config groups, Satellite runs configuration management automatically in the configured intervals to enforce Puppet configuration on your hosts, or you can initiate it manually on demand with the Run Puppet Once feature.

Before you begin with the Puppet integration, review which versions of the OpenVox server and OpenVox agent are supported for integration with Satellite.

OpenVox Server 8 is supported on Satellite Server and Capsule Servers.

OpenVox Agent 8 is supported on hosts registered to Satellite.

Additionally, Puppet agent 7 remains compatible with OpenVox in Satellite as a legacy alternative. Hosts registered to Satellite that run Puppet agent 7 can still integrate with the OpenVox implementation in Satellite. However, Puppet agent 7 is end of life. Red Hat recommends to use OpenVox agent 8.