New Training: Configuration Management for IOS XE

In this 6-video skill, CBT Nuggets trainer Ben Finkel teaches you how to use Chef, Ansible, and Puppet to automate the configuration of your IOS XE devices. Watch this new Cisco training.

Watch the full course: Cisco CCNP Automating Cisco Enterprise Solutions

This training includes:

• 6 videos

• 21 minutes of training

You’ll learn these topics in this skill:

• Configuration Management for IOS XE

• Why do we use Configuration Management?

• Using Ansible for IOS XE Configuration

• Using Puppet for IOS XE Configuration

• Using Chef for Configuration Management

• SummaryConfiguration Management for IOS XE Summary

Chef vs Ansible vs Puppet: What's the Difference?

These three configuration management tools are widely used for DevOps, allowing administrators to deploy, configure, and manage servers. They're conceptually simple but also very powerful, providing the ability to automate complex multi-tier IT applications. The pros and cons vary, so digging into each one and understanding their differences will allow you to select the best one for your organization.

Ansible is the easiest of the three to set up and configure. It uses Yet Another Markup Language (YAML, or a language with syntax similar to English), while Chef requires you to be able to program in Ruby. Configuring Puppet necessitates learning a proprietary code called Puppet DSL.

Chef is designed to be developer oriented, while Puppet and Ansible were created to revolve around the system administrator role. Ansible is the new kid on the block, while Chef and Puppet have existed for much longer. Established systems designed for developers are more likely to utilize Chef, while legacy systems that focus on sysadmins stand a good chance of leveraging Puppet. However, over the past decade, Ansible has become far more popular than all other DevOps configuration management tools combined.