This document discusses Agile systems administration using tools like Puppet, Rake, Ruby, Subversion, and CruiseControl. It summarizes how these tools can be used together in an iterative and collaborative manner to continuously test and deploy system configurations from a versioned code repository. Key benefits include always deploying tested configurations, versioning infrastructure configurations, visibility of project status, and enabling continuous integration practices for system administration work.

1. Agile Systems Administration
Julian Simpson, ThoughtWorks Ltd.

2. Who the hell are you?
● I am Julian Simpson
● I've been a Solaris Admin since 1997
● Now that I work on software projects I need
excuses to do interesting things like this

3. And what's this Agile business?
● Agile is an iterative and incremental
(evolutionary) approach to software
development
● which is performed in a highly collaborative
manner
● with "just enough" ceremony
● that produces high quality software
● which meets the changing needs of its
stakeholders. (Scott W Ambler)

4. Programming before Agile ...

5. Otto, since you checked in that last
change, I can't deploy the application ...
it works on my machine ...

6. And after ...

7. Otto, you broke the build ...
Oh, I didn't check in
FooBarImpl.java ... thanks

8. CruiseControl helps us in
Agile software projects ...

10. But is it any use in an
infrastructure context? ...

11. So I decided to find out: by
building a web and mail
server using Puppet, Rake,
Ruby, SVN and
CruiseControl

12. Ruby
● Dynamic Language
like Perl
● Object oriented
● has a good testing
framework
● big in Japan

13. Puppet
● Sysadmin framework
● Very open
● Declarative
● Developed by a
sysadmin for
sysadmins

14. Rake
● Make, for Ruby

15. Subversion
● favourite source control

16. cruisecontrol
● Continuous
Integration tool
● listens for Subversion
commits and
executes Rake
● available in Java,
.NET and Ruby
versions

17. How does it all work then?
● all configuration is in source control

18. How does it all work then?
● changes are picked up by cruisecontrol

19. How does it all work then?
● Cruise runs rake to run tests against the config

20. How does it all work then?
● Puppet applies the config if the tests pass

21. How does it all work then?
● Other puppet clients in your network can now
retrieve the tested version of your configuration
and apply it.

22. What is the benefit?
● you always apply configuration that is tested
● you can version your configuration

23. What is the benefit?
● status is visible to everybody
● and you can even drive a lava lamp off of it

24. Short Film

25. What do you think?

26. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-
Share Alike 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to
Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco,
California, 94105, USA.