Continuous configuration automation

Continuous configuration automation (CCA) is the methodology or process of automating the deployment and configuration of settings and software for both physical and virtual data center equipment.^[1]

Overview

Continuous configuration automation is marketed for data center and application configuration management. CCA tools use a programmable framework for configuration and orchestration through coding, planning, and incrementally adopting policies.^[2]^[3]

Relationship to DevOps

CCA tools are used for what is called DevOps, and are often included as part of a DevOps toolchain. CCA grew out of a push to develop more reliable software faster.^[1] Gartner describes CCA as “Embodying lean, agile and collaborative concepts core to DevOps initiatives, CCA tools bring a newly found level of precision, efficiency and flexibility to the challenges of infrastructure and application configuration management.” ^[4]

Tools

CCA tools support administrators and developers to automate the configuration and Orchestration of physical and virtual infrastructure in a systematic way that give visibility to state of infrastructure within an enterprise. Generally thought of as an extension of infrastructure as code (IaC) frameworks.^[1] CCA tools include Ansible, Chef software, Otter, Puppet (software), Rudder (software) and SaltStack.^[5] Each tool has a different method of interacting with the system some are agent-based, push or pull, through an interactive UI. Similar to adopting any DevOps tools, there are barriers to bring on CCA tools and factors that hinder and accelerate adoption.^[6]

Notable CCA tools include:

Tool	Developed by	Initial release	Method	Approach	Written in
Ansible	Red Hat	2012; 12 years ago (2012)	Push	Declarative and imperative	Python
CFEngine	Northern.tech	1993; 31 years ago (1993)	Pull	Declarative	C^[7]
Chef	Progress	2009; 15 years ago (2009)	Pull	Imperative	Ruby
Otter	Inedo	2015; 9 years ago (2015)	Push	Declarative and imperative	-
Puppet	Puppet	2005; 19 years ago (2005)	Pull	Declarative	C++, Clojure since 4.0, Ruby
Salt	VMware	2011; 13 years ago (2011)	Push and Pull	Declarative and imperative	Python
Terraform	HashiCorp	2014; 10 years ago (2014)	Push	Declarative	Go

Evaluation factors

Evaluations of CCA tools may consider the following:^[8]^[9]

Skills, training, and cost required to implement and maintain tool
Content and support of the Platform and Infrastructure – tool specified for Windows or Linux etc.
Delivery method and likening flexibility – important for scalability
Method of interacting with managing system
Support and training availability and cost
Incorporation of orchestration with configuration management
Security and compliance reporting

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Fletcher, Colin; Cosgrove, Terrence (26 August 2015). Innovation Insight for Continuous Configuration Automation Tools. Gartner (Report).^{[dead link‍]}
^ Ramos, Martin (4 November 2015). "Continuous Integration: Infrastructure as Code in DevOps". easydynamics.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
^ Infrastructure As Code: Fueling the Fire for Faster Application Delivery (Report). Forrester. March 2015.
^ Phillips, Andrew (14 May 2015). "Moving from Infrastructure Automation to True DevOps". DevOps.com.
^ Venezia, Paul (21 November 2013). "Puppet vs. Chef vs. Ansible vs. Salt". Network World. Network World. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
^ Garner Market Trends: DevOps – Not a Market, but Tool-Centric Philosophy That supports a Continuous Delivery Value Chain (Report). Gartner. 18 February 2015.
^ "CFEngine 3.18.0 Documentation - What is CFEngine?".
^ Fletcher, Colin; Cosgrove, Terrence (25 March 2016). How I&O teams can combine CCA tools With Containers to Achieve Operational Efficiecies. Gartner (Report).
^ Fletcher, Colin; Cosgrove, Terrence (8 December 2016). Market Guide for Continuous Configuration Automation Tools. Gartner (Report).